Sweden - Lavish Cities and Enticing Coastlines

July 21 - August 10:

Ian and Sue along the wind-blown limestone coast of Gotland

Sue at sunset on a lovely point on Gotland

Ales Stenne - ancient Viking meeting place on Sweden's south coast

Swedish chateau

Bike facility along a major highway

Sweden is known for its recent environmental initiatives and we were excited to come and take it all in. However, we did not anticipate that our bank cards would not work at the ATMs and that our Visa card would only work half the time at stores and not at all at the ATMs. Clerks often had to manually enter our Visa number for it to work and, for the ferry to Gotland, we missed our first reservation because none of our cards were accepted by their machines. Our sense is that there is a hiccup between banks in our two countries, and sometimes a strong and not always effective bureaucracy in Sweden... As we debated leaving the country, we discovered that our backup Citizens Bank Visa card could withdraw cash from an ATM, and thus we were flush for our Swedish excursions.

Due to the bike-train system, we had to travel from Oslo, Norway, south to Goteburg, Sweden, and then north-east to get to Stockholm. Bikes on trains and accessible stations are quite limited in Sweden and there is an extensive booking system that tried our patience. Still, our night in Goteburg was interesting as the world youth soccer championships were starting the next day and the city was buzzing with soccer fans; the place had a great vibe.

Once in Stockholm, we found that there is no camping in close proximity to the centre and some further venues were booked up. We found a fine youth hostel, which turned out to be a blessing because it rained a lot during our several days' stay. Stockholm's centre islands are compact and walking and riding between sites was a pleasure with its many bike lanes and trails. The city museums' displays on design, innovation and building conservation, the numerous boats, the winding waterfront parks, and architecture caught our attentions.

Our route in Sweden then took us south from Stockholm to the coast at Nynashamn, then on to Gotland and Oland Islands, to Kolmar and along the coast south to Ystad. Once on our bicycles in Sweden, we found our stride and had some of our best bicycle touring yet. The sites are interesting, the terrain varied and the longer routes made it easier to stretch out and get some momentum going.

We enjoyed the unique history of the islands of Gotland and Oland. These are long, narrow islands off the east coast with sand beaches, some cliffs, and a thriving agriculture. It was too windy to sail directly to Oland by ferry, so we got our own extended ferry and bus combo that ended with a campsite on the beach, just next to the hotspot for the local yard sale the next morning! On these islands there are graveyards made of large, upright rocks placed in the shape of stone ships, quaint churches, flat limestone alvar ecosystems, lots of birds, and great riding, especially on Oland. The town of Visby on Gotland Island was a treasure to visit with much of its medieval buildings, walls and character maintained, as well as its great location on the sparkling blue waters of the Baltic.

We were also enthralled with the city of Kolmar, on the mainland across from Oland Island. The castle there is fairytale-like and the streets full of charm. Highlights along the way included the huge Viking stone ship landmark called Ales Stennar on the windswept south coast, the dynamic world heritage naval city of Karlskrona, some cycling just north of there, grand beach vistas, and camping inside the protective walls of the quaint town of Kristianopel.

Along the coast of Sweden, we had some terrific roads with reliable and effective accommodation for cyclists. We saw some touring cyclists, but given the quality and length of the cycling infrastructure, we expected to see more. We had one challenging day where our route disappeared into a hiking trail that witnessed us lugging our bikes over ancient stone fences and around the staring cows! The weather was mixed with some gorgeous sunny days and a couple of dismal rainy ones too. Our rainiest day was rescued by a little local restaurant that was catering to the whole region, including those from the next town where there had been a power blackout. It never gets very hot in Sweden, so it was a great place to ride while heat (and tourists) permeated central Europe.

As we finished our coastal trek in Ystad, we enjoyed the historic downtown, a fine lunch, and then took the ferry to Bornholm Island (a Danish outlier) and on to Rugen Island, on the northeast coast of Germany. We thus bid farewell to our adventures in Scandinavia (for now ...).