Around the Baltic to St. Petersberg

[VagueShot]

In the early summer, I've decided that I'm going to take the Elan to Den Haag to pick up my navigator/2nd driver, then over the bridges through Denmark to Malmo. Then we'll go up through Sweden and round the Baltic to Helsinki and hopefully on to St. Petersberg. Whether we actually, so there by car, would be up to the difficulties of visas etc. It would be down through Latvia etc. (I can never remember the order) and then into Poland. From there who knows. I might go via Bratislava and Budapest to Thessaloniki and then back through Italy.

Is there anybody on the route, who would like to share a drink or discuss any problems?

[JIMBO]

Wow!
Thats going to be some trip. I hope you get Gerald (GST) to give the car a good
going over before you set off.
I'm hoping to take the Elan on a drive through Belgium , France and into the Swiss
Alps during the summer. Theres no reason why our cars can't undertake either trip
without problems, but I will definately take out extra insurance just in case.
I wish you well with this and await your report / write up on the trip.
Good luck
Jim

[VagueShot]

I suspect Gerald will look after me. I don't think it will that difficult a trip. Just checking the weather and working out the logistics of what to take. Probably the most difficult choice is whether to take a spare tyre, but I suspect that on most of the route, something vaguely similar will be available. I'll take my workshop manual and a reasonable set of tools tough!

I've not taken the car that far in one go, but I've driven it quite a lot on the continent. The longest journey I've done with it is Ipswich-Aberdeen and back to Edinburgh in one day and then back to Ipswich the next. That was a 1,000 miles fairly hard driven. I've also gone to Cornwall and the Scottish Borders in it recently.

It will have a full service before I go though and I might swap to new tyres, as mine are quite old now.

I could get sponsored in aid of pancreatic cancer research. After my wife's death from cancer of the heart in 2007, my youngest son now has pancreatic cancer. Apparently my wife had a rogue gene. Perhaps I should do all the EU countries and see how much I could raise. Something needs to be done, as pancreatic death rates haven't got any better in years.

[niall]

Hi,
Good luck with the trip.
Post a link to your sponsorship page or whatever when you get that organised.

[niall]

On second thoughts, organise to post pics and a log of your journey as you travel so that we can travel with you, in spirit at least.

[VagueShot]

Whatever I do, I'll post on my blog.

[VagueShot]

Just been talking to my Russian travel expert and he advised against taking the car to St. Petersburg. Lots of fines, expenses and permits. So at the moment it'll be the car ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn in Estonia.

[tigerdog]

I'll follow this trip with interest. I'm in the US but work for a company based in Stockholm. I was stunned by how car-crazy the Swedes can be in high-summer. I've seen more old American iron in Stockholm than here in California! I know there's an active Lotus club in Sweden and one of my co-workers is a member. I'll see if he has any recommended "must-do" items while your on his home turf.

Please post a link to your blog so we can follow you!

[VagueShot]

Thanks! I will post.