Part 1: road trip to Scandinavia: Denmark and Sweden
We just love the outdoors & camping life! The best way of traveling for us is with our own caravan, or as some call it, mobile home. We traveled in Europe with our mobile home to: Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Swiss... And still counting. Here is our caravan adventure to the North of Europe, Denmark and Sweden in Scandinavia...
On to the north
This time we wanted to explore Scandinavia. The nice thing about these types of destinations is that you don't have to book anything in advance; for our family with a caravan, there is always availability somewhere at one of the many nature or beach campsites. We call it travel 'without an itinerary' of 'where the wind takes us'.
Here is our itinerary (which was only drawn up after this trip) ⬇️
The Netherlands – Rostock (1 night)
Rostock - Gedser (Crossing Direct Ferries)
Gedser – Køge (2 nights)
Sightseeing Copenhagen
Køge - Ringsjön lakes (5 nights)
Sightseeing Malmö
Ringsjön lakes - Mölle-Höganäs (Kullaberg Nature Reserve) (3 nights)
Mölle-Höganäs – Halmstad (1 night)
Halmstad - Grenaa (stena Line crossing) - Silkeborg (3 nights)
Silkeborg - Billund Legoland (2 nights)
Billund - The Netherlands
Number of km: 2,150 of which approximately 200 km traveled by ferry.
Visa
As we have a Schengen passport, we didn't need a visa for Denmark and Sweden to enter. Citizens from countries needing a visa to enter the Schengen Area must go through the standard visa application process instead.
Read our full blog about this caravan adventure: Denmark & Sweden
A holiday with the caravan
… that is of course great fun, but there is quite a lot involved. For those who aspire to this, a few tips:
Good preparation is necessary. This starts with packing the car and caravan; there must be a fair ratio between caravan and car. This way there is more balance, which has advantages when driving. A rule of thumb is: the loaded caravan should not be heavier than the empty weight of the tow vehicle. That is the right distribution, it prevents dangerous situations on the road, but above all it drives best, because then the caravan does not easily sway.
Not every car is suitable for towing a heavy caravan. It is therefore important to check this carefully in advance, so that you are not faced with unexpected surprises. The car may not legally tow more than the maximum (braked) towing weight as stated on the registration certificate (AHW). Nowadays modern cars all have sufficient pulling power to tow a caravan that is legally allowed. Depending on your travel plans, it is of course nice if you can drive comfortably and have some reserve of power in the mountains.
Before you leave; check whether the load is properly distributed (see above) and whether the connection is properly secured. Also check the nose weight of the caravan (maximum vertical weight on the towbar). And of course the lighting and tire pressure of the caravan must be in order and your caravan mirrors must be properly adjusted.
Traveling with a caravan is significantly slower than a road trip with just a car. In addition, driving is much more tiring; 500-600 km in a day is really the max for us, especially with children in the backseat.
But once you finish the preparation and get started, you have complete freedom. After all, you have your holiday home with you, so you can stop anywhere and actually spend the night anywhere.
