Another trip south by train, this time with bike. Arrived at the station to meet the train to Inverness. It was windy.
And sunny.
Very sunny.Big blue sky with turbines in the distance.Loch FleetRiver OykelSnow on the hills Coming into Inverness
Getting on to the sleeper.
Breakfast Solar panels next to the railway line.
The sleeper was not taking its normal route meaning it arrived 40minutes later than normal. Much of the extra time was spent manoeuvring through London.
Wembley stadium in the distance.
A ride through London taking 19 minutes to get from Euston to Paddington, five minutes of which was spent stationary at traffic lights.
Green Oxfordshire.Didcot.
Oh dear, the English and Union Jack Flags being inappropriately displayed in Didcot. Very disrespectful! What can be more disrespectful than cheap Chinese made flags looking scrawny and scruffy.
From bright sunshine and blue skies in the far north to cloud in the south.
Negatives: getting food poisoning and train delays. Germany really struggles to get trains to go on time. Eurostar also had its issues. I did have a 77 minute delay on the sleeper to Stockholm, but that worked in my favour. The sleeper Stockholm was also too hot and the curtains were poor allowing flashes of bright light into the cabin while travelling.
Questionable things: seeing people smoke on train platforms in Germany was strange, and also a bit objectionable. The speed that cars drive at in Hamburg is ridiculously high and not suited to the roads. Also objectionable.
Positives: the trains in Finland, Sweden and Denmark were great, excluding the sleeper. In time. The rolling stock was high quality throughout including Germany. Met some great people. The cycle facilities in Copenhagen and seeing so many cyclists was incredible. We should be doing this in the UK.
Exceeding expectations: The ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki were amazing, good prices, amazing views, great facilities. Finland in winter, incredible, stunning snowy landscapes.
Tips:
Don’t plan to catch the last train of the day.
Don’t make connections too tight.
Travel in your sports gear, make it multi purpose. (Sensibly)
Travel as light as possible.
Plan for the weather.
Don’t arrive late and leave early, it’s exhausting.
Staying for more than one night is more pleasant .
Rucksacks are better than wheelie luggage.
Make use of the late checkouts in hotels.
Carry just in case food and drink.
Make use of sleeper services.
Double check reservations.
Download apps for local public transport. They can be used to get the correct tickets and give directions.
Double check routes given by apps, sometimes they are sending you to the wrong place.
If in doubt, ask a local.
Chat to people on the trains.
Use tracking apps so friends and family can follow your progress. It’s fun and good for safety.
Give someone your itinerary- routes, hotels etc.
Look at and enjoy the landscape, as you travel through.
I was fit to travel the next day. Decided to reduce the odds of missing connections by catching an early train than planned.
I was traveling to Cologne, we were told there had been a problem with the staff arriving from a previous train. The train departed 40 minutes late. Following the announcements was interesting, as one train to München leapfrogged the other. They were going different routes.
Back to the next delayed train, again 40 minutes and a platform change. Now heading towards Brussels.
Interesting clouds near Liège.Heading into Brussels.
The lateness of the train meant that the comfortable cushion to get through border control was disappearing.
I discovered another issue. Somehow the Interrail app had booked the wrong date for the Eurostar, and I had not spotted this, so no seat on the train. Thankfully the very helpful Eurostar employee got me on with a ticket, which strangely had no meal guarantee written on it. I was not sure what this meant.
Then another delay, by possibly an hour, dueto problems in the Netherlands. This would make my next connection in London very tight.
We left 44 minutes late.
I pointed out my non guarantee of meal when I received this meal.
Not very large portion but ideal as my appetite was not back.
It was now dark so no pictures.
The reduction in delay from an hour to 45 minutes meant I made the Caledonian Sleeper well on time. A quick walk from St Pancras to Euston.
And next morning in the Highlands…
Approaching Inverness.Inverness Station
Then heading further north.
River CononCromarty Bridge in the distance Looking north from the train.
The fog struck again when crossing the bridge from Zealand to FynFog on the bridge Unflattering picture of OdenseOdense
Crossed from Fyn to Jutland. Back to mainland Europe.
Another foggy bridge crossing Ice on the sea near KoldingHeading south
We enter Germany, At the border I am asked politely by a policeman why I was going to Hamburg, how long I was going to be there and where I was going next.
Wind turbines and saturated ground.Audörfer See
Next it is a crossing of the Kiel Canal
The track loops round to gain height. Do we travel underneath the track that we will travel on.
The bridge in the distance Still gaining height
Crossing Kiel Canal The bridge disappearing in the distance.There are some nice farm houses Approaching Hamburg HBFHamburg HBF
Walked to the hotel.
Kunst MuseumPremier Inn
I always wondered what would happen if I took unwell on one of these trips. I found out when I started feeling a bit strange. This progressed to a very unpleasant evening, I must have picked up some kind of food poisoning.
I had not reserved a seat. The train conductor pointed out that the train was going to get very full. She found a seat with a cancelled booking for me.
ÄngeslevänjokiSome of the trees are heavily laden with snow.Snow on the overhead cables.
Some pretty houses on the way.
Crossing the frozen OikolanjokiBright sunshine approaching Helsinki.Disembarking At Helsinki Central
Its then on to a tram to go to the ferry.
Helsinki Cathedral
It’s warmed up in Helsinki do the snow is getting slightly slushy.
Government Palace
We get sightings of the different waterways from the tram.
Some interesting buildings on the way.
The tram arrives at the ferry terminal
The Gabriella from the tram.
Checking in and going through passport control is fast and straightforward.
View from the walkway.Boarding
Off to find my cabin which is on the fifth deck, the level we entered on.
Bit of a mazeMy cabin
The sun is setting as we leave Helsinki giving some magical views.
A wander round the boat, some food, then to bed. There is live music on board and a massive dinner buffet. However I got up for the breakfast buffet. Again with a view.
Klara ChurchCentral Station And we’re off.Crossing the ÅrastavikenAnd the IgelstavikenPassed through NorrkopingNear Linkoping
The snow is reducing.
Gripenberg Castle
I changed to a regional train at Lund. No pictures as I spotted a train leaving before my planned connection so did a rapid change. Now I was 35 minutes ahead of schedule.
Malmo
The sky is grey with very low cloud.
Malmo sky
Disappointingly the crossing on the bridge from Sweden to Denmark is very foggy.
The bridge crossing.Modern buildings not far from Copenhagen Airport Arrived at Copenhagen station.
It’s a bright crisp morning, I have a good day for the trip north.
It’s off the local train at Helsinki.Onto the IC23 to Oulu.
Not knowing any better I sat myself in first class which has a nice place to hang coats and store luggage. Plus it’s on the upper deck.
I way politely shifted to standard class.
Big houses on the way out of Helsinki.A bridge across the frozen KeravanjokiExpanse of blue sky and snow The birches I tipped with white ice.Lakes are just white.White in the trees
Power production using wood chips?A farm – LoumanloukkoStation at KauhavaBright sun.Approaching KannusFrozen LestijokiAnother frozen river.Arrived at Oulu
I had plenty of time before checking in time for the hotel, so decided to ride the tram to the end of the line and get the flavour of Helsinki.
Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki CathedralNational Museum of Finland
Got to the end of the line having passed the central station. Hopped onto a different tram on the basis that it would go to the central station, which it did.
Central Station
It’s one stop up the line on the train to where I am staying.
From the local train.
Snowy forest near hotel.The hotel is in the Tripla mall which is attached to the railway station.Good views from the hotel dining room.
Hotel breakfast is very good.
Had some good food in Helsinki.
SoupFinnish vegetable stew A very hot Chinese dish in the mall.
View of the station from the restaurant Sun about to rise Kaiseniemeniahti – frozen.
The snow is often not cleared but strewn with grit to help the grip. Most of the time this is fine but just occasionally I found a slippery patch.
I switched to a ferry for the journey to Helsinki.
An issue with not knowing the city and the language is an over reliance on apps. Using the Viking Line app I located what I thought was the terminal by pressing a link, but I was directed to the wrong terminal. I realised just in time to be able to dash to the correct terminal arriving 20 minutes before departure. The app said arrive no later than 20 minutes before departure. That was a close call.
The Cinderella- Viking Line
Getting on the boat I was well looked after, sent to a lift where I descended into the depths of the boat. However the cabin was nice and I had it all to myself.
The cabinThe bathroom The decks
I am on deck two, below the waterline.
Stockholm catching the last rays.
As we were leaving at 1630 the sun was setting leading to a beautiful view of Stockholm from ship.
LeavingBirds on the ice
Lots of videos of the boat so slipping through the water. Listen to the sound.
Prins Eugene Wsldmarsudde
Ice
Kapellskär 2015The sun is above the horizon 0818Breakfast with a view
Pancake iceLand
Helsinki looking a bit grey
Ice porridge.
Ice patterns on tunnelAt Katajanokan terminal
Arrived at Helsinki just after 1000. This was a wonderful journey.
We crossed the divide between the Binnen Alster and the Außen Alster.
The train set off late evening? Travelling through Denmark in the early hours.
Just after crossing the border into Denmark- snow.
The train was a bit dated with a seventies vibe,
One of the toilets,Sweden is snowy
The train was sending clouds of snow into the air.Snowy village of FrinnarydHorses feeding on hay with a large barn behind.There was a bit snow ingress through the window.And between carriages.
Beginning to snow- LinköpingA bit rockier-Gläntan
Now getting close to Stockholm,
HallsfjardenÅrstavikenFrozen enough to skateRiddarfjarden
Skating and walking on the RiddarfjardenVery close to the Central Station Arrived at Stockholm Central 77 minutes late.
It’s an early start to catch the 0816 Eurostar to Brussels. The ticket tells me to turn up at 0701.
It’s still dark at St Pancras
Not off to a good start, there is a 24 minute delay. But this should not be a problem as there is plenty of time for the connection at Brussels,
Boarding at St Pancras
We travel through Kent.
Near AshfordNear Stanford- curious shaped hill.
Difficult to get decent photos from the train in Kent.
In France, near Lille
Struggled getting decent photos in France too.
Near Halle-Belgium Coming into Brussels Arrived at Brussels Midi only 12 minutes late.
I checked the notice board for the train to Cologne. Spotted that there was an issue, it looked like the train was delayed and was leaving from a different station, Brussels-Nord. I confirmed this, and was told what train to catch.
Bonus train at Brussels-MidiTravelling two stops in Brussels Waiting for the train to CologneLeaving Brussels-North- late uInteresting bridge at Liège.Liège station is an interesting building Leaving LiègeAachenArrived in Köln a bit lateThe cathedral
The next leg is to Hamburg. This train is also delayed, by maintenance work on the track.
Crossing the RhineThe train is traveling a long distance.Düsseldorf-its raining Essen Dortmund Dortmund-Ems canal near MünsterComing into Hamburg about ten minutes late.Hamburg StationHotel View from room
Insight 