Baltic 2009

Richard P

Guest
Hi everyone

Looking to start the planning process ( over a glass or two ) of next year's tour

The theory is a tour of the Baltic starting and finishing Rotterdam for approx 10 days in June

Any advise / suggestions ?

Richard
 
I'm looking to do the same sort of thing next year. Start from Hull, go across Germany/Poland then Baltic states (including the Russian area of Kaliningrad) up to St Petersburg, then across Finland into Sweden then down through Denmark.
Would be interested to know what you find out. Decent places to visit, good roads, accomodation, etc, etc.......
 
Hi everyone

Looking to start the planning process ( over a glass or two ) of next year's tour

The theory is a tour of the Baltic starting and finishing Rotterdam for approx 10 days in June

Any advise / suggestions ?

Richard

Try this for size ... http://http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92991

....... and a couple of rest days here in northern Poland are well positioned for trips to Hitler's Wolfs Lair and some of the Concentration camps

http://http://www.pension-teresa.de/pension.htm
GPS N 53.54.728 E021.51.112
 
welcome_to_estonia.gif


:)
 
Thanks guys

Rough plan is

Hull - Rotterdam - round Baltic anti clockwise - ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm and back to Rotterdam via Denmark

Should be manageable in 10 days I think
 
Elblag-Ostrad channel you can start from
N54 03 06.0 E19 31 13.8

That picture was taken somewhere near
N54 00 30.8 E19 36 22.4
and
N54 00 30.2 E19 36 22.7

Got a good GPS map for Poland. It was worth of it.
 
I'm looking to do the same sort of thing next year. Start from Hull, go across Germany/Poland then Baltic states (including the Russian area of Kaliningrad) up to St Petersburg
[..]
Would be interested to know what you find out. Decent places to visit, good roads, accomodation, etc, etc.......

OK, well I've done this sort of thing in 2005 and again this year. Here are some thoughts:

Germany
  • watch out for the really high speed nutters on the autobahns
  • roads are pretty well always good
  • Colditz is well worth a visit
  • otherwise, nothing special to report

Poland
  • used to feel very foreign, terribly EU now
  • can have a lot of road works
  • roads usually in good condition (ish)
  • signage can be confusing
  • trying to find what's left of Treblinka can be difficult
  • Warsaw is busy
  • Poznan has a great municipal camp site right in the centre
  • going South is rewarding too (Krakow & Auschwitz are compulsory if you go that way)
  • the Tesla mountains are incredible

Lithuania
  • there are abandoned missile silos to be seen (a must in my opinion)
  • the start of the mosquito & midges problem
  • prettier than northern Poland
  • language problems start to become more serious
  • buying fuel becomes more of a problem (pay before fill)
  • Garmin maps don't cover the country, just the capital
  • you just have to go to Grutos Park
  • camping by just turning off the road and pitching tent in the woods perfectly acceptable & easy to do

Belarus
  • Belarus is difficult to get into and very Soviet - more so than much of Russia, in fact.
  • Unless you're sure you want to go there, you might find it not worth the trouble.
  • I found the long roads, open spaces and very run down towns to be sad and shabby but an incredible view right into an unreconstructed heart of the Soviet Union (except Minsk, which is apparently very developed).
  • There are a profusion of Soviet statues and parks.
  • Brest Fort is stunning.
  • From Belarus into Russia is allegedly another difficult border.
  • If you want to see Chernobyl (I have, it's well worth it - chilling but really fascinating) then you can get South into the Ukraine to Kiev to visit it. Don't forget the Chernobyl Children's Project if you do.

Latvia
  • small, rode across it in less than a day
  • nice
  • er, that's it

Estonia
  • the Police do not like you speeding and the fines are large. Er, I'm told ;-)
  • very pretty
  • outside the capital, there's very little going on in the evenings
  • camp sites harder to find
  • stunning views on the ride up to the Russian border

Russia
  • on a Sunday afternoon in the rain, the border is dead easy (1hr, 40 mins total)
  • don't hide your paperwork away, you'll get stopped approx 3km inside the border by the Police
  • the roads from the border to St. Petersburg are in very bad condition - very pot-holed, often low on tarmac and with a lot of lorries on them
  • have a hotel in mind (pref. booked) in St. Petersburg as going in on-spec is expensive (don't ask me how I know, I just know, OK?)
  • even on a Sunday afternoon, St. Petersburg has a lot of traffic
  • St. Petersburg is a large, European city. You'll feel like you're not really anywhere properly foreign. Hey ho.
  • road signs are usually in cyrillic and european script, but not always
  • lots of lorries on the roads. Think of a lot of lorries. It's more than that. Really.

Slovakia
  • amazing, absolutely amazing. Can't recommend the place enough
  • the Ducati dealership in Banska Bystrica is run by wonderful people
  • castles in abundance
  • great roads in good condition
 
Cheers for that. Great list and some interesting ideas.
Read your other thread on traveling in russia. Some useful things to note there.
:)
I'll no doubt come back with some questions once I get into the propoer planning stage!
 
Go and have a look at www.bestbikingroads.com and speak to 'Rabbit' the GS riding site owner. He goes by the name of Rabbitson on UKGSER. He's got an Estonian wife and regularly goes up that way. He might be able to organise something for you . He's based in Brussels so hooking up in Rotterdam would be easy. There are some routes on his site to consider.
 
have a look at the following. super spot to stop just accross
latvian estonia boarder. highest point in the baltics. ::. UKGS'er.com .:: > Travel Information & Advice > Travel > Eastern Europe, Baltic and Russia
Accommodation Estonia / Latvia

can supply garmin way point if needed.
 
Richard

Did a similar trip in 2006 http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116675

We have now bought a derelict farm in Latvia (just outside Liepaja). I will be there for most of the summer working on the house so if you plan on passing through let me know. I can offer free (in barn) camping but as the buildings are all derelict thats about it, there are plenty of cheap hotels in the area.
I found lots of logging roads in the area last time I took the bike, this summer I might take some time off renovations to do some off roading.

Steve
 
I'm thinking of a very similar trip this year but was going to wait until August as it'll be warmer in the Baltics then.
 
I'm looking to do the same sort of thing next year. Start from Hull, go across Germany/Poland then Baltic states (including the Russian area of Kaliningrad) up to St Petersburg, then across Finland into Sweden then down through Denmark.
Would be interested to know what you find out. Decent places to visit, good roads, accomodation, etc, etc.......

I'm in Nottingham and am planning a circumnavigation af the Baltic too... :thumb
 
I've just come back from a week in Lithuania

What a fantastic country! Fags and booze are really cheap - petrol's a bit cheaper than here. The local economies are about to go tits up, so go before they start stealing windscreen wipers and the like again....

http://www.sovietbunker.com - made me laugh and the locals gave me a really funny look when I mentioned it. It seems not everyone wants to e treated like a soviet citezen again :neau

If you are going to Vilnius - quite a nice old town centre - eat at http://www.bistro18.lt/index_eng.htm - stunning food for peanuts and run by an Irish woman!!
 
Did you find any good riding roads over there? I'm more used to heading towards mountain ranges (always find some good roads in mountains) so am a bit skeptical about finding some enjoyable tarmac in the Baltics.
 
Excellent! :thumb2 When you going? Figured out any places of interest/great riding roads yet?

Early days yet (in other words I'm too bloody dis-organised to have got much done...).

Fully intend to remedy that soon... :thumb2

What's your route, will you go up into Scandinavia.?
 


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