Well it’s about time one of us started a new thread for this trip so here goes.
After seeing the video from Geko Expeditions on You Tube, I was really keen to sign up for the trip. Andy, Tom and Sam were of the same mind so we contacted Geko and awaited a response. To cut a disappointing saga very short, we decided that we’d just do it ourselves. Read into that what you will.
The basic stages of the trip were: select a date, get Russian Visas, book a ferry across the Baltic, get a tunnel booking and get going.
We leave in the morning, so all of that clearly fell into place. It’s not been that hard, nor really that costly but it wasn’t without its frustrations. We got a cracking deal on the ferry all sharing one cabin and going all-inclusive. Cheaper than one way to Santander! Visas came in at around £200 including having to go to London. Chunnel was about £160. Other than food, fuel and the odd hotel, that’s it. We booked a nice place to stay on the first night in Russia for the princely sum of £11 each. I think that indicates the way that living costs will to pan out.
The route takes us up through the Netherlands, into Germany leaving from the Baltic port of Travemunde and arriving 24 hours later in Helsinki. Then on up through Finland, Lapland and crossing into Russia somewhere up near Sala in the Arctic Circle. We’ll then travel down to the White Sea, up through the Khibiny Mountains, on to Murmansk then exit through into Norway and back down to Helsinki.
We’ve planned to take the whole month to do this so it’s not a race; it’s a holiday. We plan to leave each day after a relaxing breakfast and stop in plenty of time to set up camp, do a little fishing, build a fire and so on. Nothing worse than a mad dash. We'll also fit in some coffee stops and sightseeing along the way.
A good deal of the route simply doesn’t appear on maps. Some is little more than logging track and some just isn’t a road at all but lake shore or just open terrain.
Not sure how much updating we’ll be able to provide, as there simply won’t be any signal of any kind for the most part. First stop, the Eurotunnel.
More as it happens.
After seeing the video from Geko Expeditions on You Tube, I was really keen to sign up for the trip. Andy, Tom and Sam were of the same mind so we contacted Geko and awaited a response. To cut a disappointing saga very short, we decided that we’d just do it ourselves. Read into that what you will.
The basic stages of the trip were: select a date, get Russian Visas, book a ferry across the Baltic, get a tunnel booking and get going.
We leave in the morning, so all of that clearly fell into place. It’s not been that hard, nor really that costly but it wasn’t without its frustrations. We got a cracking deal on the ferry all sharing one cabin and going all-inclusive. Cheaper than one way to Santander! Visas came in at around £200 including having to go to London. Chunnel was about £160. Other than food, fuel and the odd hotel, that’s it. We booked a nice place to stay on the first night in Russia for the princely sum of £11 each. I think that indicates the way that living costs will to pan out.
The route takes us up through the Netherlands, into Germany leaving from the Baltic port of Travemunde and arriving 24 hours later in Helsinki. Then on up through Finland, Lapland and crossing into Russia somewhere up near Sala in the Arctic Circle. We’ll then travel down to the White Sea, up through the Khibiny Mountains, on to Murmansk then exit through into Norway and back down to Helsinki.
We’ve planned to take the whole month to do this so it’s not a race; it’s a holiday. We plan to leave each day after a relaxing breakfast and stop in plenty of time to set up camp, do a little fishing, build a fire and so on. Nothing worse than a mad dash. We'll also fit in some coffee stops and sightseeing along the way.
A good deal of the route simply doesn’t appear on maps. Some is little more than logging track and some just isn’t a road at all but lake shore or just open terrain.
Not sure how much updating we’ll be able to provide, as there simply won’t be any signal of any kind for the most part. First stop, the Eurotunnel.
More as it happens.
