3 weeks

7,384 km

4,615 miles

End of May 2007 I drove from Sinzig to Frankfurt/Oder, from where I drove through northern Poland to Vilnius in Lithuania. Further on to Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit. Then to Riga in Latvia and through Estonia to Tallinn.  There I took a ferry to Helsinki in Finland, drove to the Russian Border and on to Vaasa, where I wanted to take a ferry to Umea in Sweden. But the next ferry was three days later, because of maintenance work, so I drove down to Turku and took a ferry to Stockholm. Then I drove over the Öresund-bridge into Denmark and then back to Sinzig. I did this trip without Jayne, because she was in Afghanistan for 6 month at that time.

Recommended maps:

Poland 1 Northwest, by EuroCart/RV Verlag, Scale 1:300.000 Poland 2 Northeast, by EuroCart/RV Verlag, Scale 1:300.000 Lithuania, by Reise Know-How, Scale 1:325.000 (waterproof and indestructible) Latvia, by Reise Know-How, Scale 1:325.000 (waterproof and indestructible) Estonia, by Reise Know-How, Scale 1:275.000 (waterproof and indestructible) Finland, by ADAC, Scale 1:650.000 South-Sweden (East), by Kümmerly+Frey, Scale 1:250.000 South-Sweden (South), by Kümmerly+Frey, Scale 1:250.000

Guide books:

Lonely Planet Poland Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania Lonely Planet Eastern Europe

The best time to travel to the Baltic States is probably late spring and early fall. Summer is much too warm to ride a motorcycle (I had already temperatures around 30°C). Winter is not a good idea anyway, so far noth-east.

There are lots of mosquitoes in the Baltic Countries and as well in Scandinavia, especially near lakes, and there are lots of lakes! Autan and other bug repellents are available in every pharmacy and in many other stores. The local bug repellent isn't any better or worse than the German stuff, only a little cheaper.

One still needs to pay in the local currency, the Euro is not accepted in most places. Finland is the only country where you can, and have to pay in Euro. So, after crossing a border one has to look for the next town with an ATM. There are enough ATM's, and they all work in English too. Bigger gas stations and shops usually accept credit cards.

The road conditions are very different. All main roads, except for Latvia, are paved and in acceptable conditions. Deeply rutted roads and potholes are not unusual, especially in Poland.  Small roads, and as well some main roads in Latvia, are only gravel roads, but they are mostly easily drivable. There are many road construction sites, where they repair the road or build new ones with EU-money.

The general conditions are best in Lithuania and Estonia. There even very poor people paint their houses and keep them clean, in Poland nobody seems to care. A economic boom is obvious, probably because of the east expansion of the EU and the starting tourism.