In June 2017 me, my girlfriend and our dog went on a roadtrip through Scandinavia. Our ride is our home for the next 4,5 weeks.
The Plan: Drive from Germany, over Denmark to Sweden, up to Lapland, Northern Norway and all the way back to Oslo and Germany, through the mountains and fjords.
Some thousands of kilometeres and a sun that is not setting anymore, north of the arctic circle.
Sounds like fun and some great photos!
Watch the Photography VLOG from our Trip
At first we wanted to buy an old camper, but when I found out that i could just pack a “mobile camper cabin” on the back of my VW Amarok pick up, I teamed up with Nordstar and the wohnkabinencenter.de in Germany. They rented me the cabin for the trip and we were ready to go with 4×4!
We started our way from the north of germany where we filmed a new episode of my german tv series “Der Abenteuer Fotograf” and decided to drive over the bridges of Denmark to Malmö in Sweden.
The Distances are quite long and we underestimated them a bit, because in germany you usually can drive on the autobahn straigth with at least 100km/h (more wasn’t possible anyway because of the cabin on the back and a height of 3,10 meters)
In Sweden you can drive 100 km/h as well, but often there are slow lorries, farmer or speed limit and cameras that make you slow down.
We decided to only drive 200km a day to see more and have an easier time traveling. We were not in a rush and planned 4-5 Weeks for the whole trip. We took the longer road through the middle of the country, because Norway was full of water and the sea anyway and we thought that the inner of Sweden might be more remote and interesting to roam around.
Our Route through Sweden
My favorite Places in Sweden to photograph
Orsa Björnpark
A Wildlife Park with predators only. Kind of Jurrasic Park like feeling with huge space in a forest like enviroment. Awesome to watch and photograph.
Ristafallet Waterfall
A big waterfall near Åre with a Camping Place right next to it. Spend here two days with great weather, friendly staff and great photos.
Tännforsen Waterfall
Biggest waterfall in Sweden also next to Åre. We had bad weather and tons of water. But anyway, pretty spectacular.
Lapland Region around Sarek National Park
Around this famous National Park you can find plenty of remote nature to roam and explore and of course take photos of.
The south of Sweden was not so interessting for us. Pretty crowdy and a lot of “no camping” signs along the lakes. The further north you drive the remoter it gets and the more beautiful and enjoyable nature gets. Excactly what we’ve been looking for.
A long side the road are tons of lakes, forest and when you are lucky, animals to spot. Most I liked the North of the Country which reminded me of Canada.
Here you can see herds of reindeer along the road. So drive carefull around here. They are around all day even in broad sunlight.
The weather was pretty bad in the south and middle with a lot of rain and temperatures around 15°C.
In the North we had plenty of sun with temperatures around 20°C which felt quite comfortable.
Sarek National Park was one of our goals, but we could not visit it because of the long 3 day hike to get in and out. In June there are also still parts with lots of snow, that you can’t get through easy. But still on my list for a longer trip.
From Northern Sweden we moved over to Northern Norway. We are allready North the Arctic Circle. In the End of June that means: Sun is not setting. Great photography light all night long.
Our Route through Norway
Our first stop was Senja, a beautiful Island on top of the Lofoten. When we crossed the border, there still was snow next to the road and temperatures were at night around 5°C and at day around 10°C in the valleys.
Senja was totaly green at sea level with rainforest like nature but still snowy up the mountain roads. pretty surreal feeling but great to take tons of photos.
At day it was raining so we decided to sleep and chill for the day and go out for hikes at night. We usually started around 10pm and went out till 4am.
The light was amazing and also the weather. It’s like photographing a sunset for 4 hours. Epic light and atmosphere the whole night.
We then took the ferry a few days later from gryllfjord to andenes on lofoten.
Our goal there: The Reinebringen.
I am at Lofoten in Winter a lot with my photography workshops, but never was there in summer.
Compared to Senja there are not many trees or forests, but still beautifull with all the clear water and mountains.
We had some great sunny weather and went up to Reinebringen at around 10:30pm . The Hike itself is not long or very high, but dangerous as f***! Super slippery and no real track. (The main track is closed due to a landslip and the ongoing construction work) It’s super steep and a serious risk hike.
But worth the hike for us and we had, at around midnight, the most epic view ever!
Our Journey goes on till the south of Norway at the famous Trollstigen.
A road that sneaks and winds up the hill like made from trolls.
On Top there is a great new viewing plattform and you get a perfect view over the valley. It’s such a great area around there. Tons of waterfalls, the road itself, mountains, lakes, forest…crazy.
We photographed there the whole night and next day.
Our last stop is Geiranger Fjord. One of the most beautiful Fjords in whole Norway. Crazy Water Color, steep cliffs and again: Tons of Waterfalls. Here you can spend some great days and we did too.
Weather was great, Camping Side was great, Location was great: Jaworskyj is Happy!
All in all it was an amazing expirience, but on the other hand pretty exhausting, espeacially with ongoing rainy weather at around 10°C (which was at least 1/3 if not half of the trip)
I can definetly recommend to start an adventure in those northern european countries. They are amazing for nature lovers and photographers.
I think Norway is better to fly to the area where you want to stay and rent a car there, because distances there are crazy long, with curvy and slow roads.
Sweden is great to camp especially the northern area. Very wild and remote.
Equipment that I used for photographing and filming
Vlog and Lifestyle Shots Sony a6000* ➡️ http://amzn.to/2vSOavF
Samyang 12 mm 2.0* ➡️ http://amzn.to/2es9YaY
Movie and Landscapes: Sony a7rII* ➡️ http://amzn.to/2esl1Bi
Sony 16-35 4.0 *➡️ http://amzn.to/2x08ArD
Phorex by #jaworskyj ND Polarizer and Graduated Filter* ➡️ http://goo.gl/767Fq6
Vanguard Stativ *➡️ http://amzn.to/2explTg
Pilotfly H2
DJI Mavic *➡️ https://goo.gl/y9uU2N
Sigma 300mm 2.8* ➡️ http://amzn.to/2ws6MpL
Phorex by #jaworskyj EF to E Mount Adapter *➡️ https://goo.gl/GtFx7X
The * marked products are Affiliate-Links. When you buy something over those links I get some small amount for that. The price does not change for you or gives you any disadvantage.
Great blog buddy. Enjoyed every sec of it. The view from every location that u shows was mesmerising.
Do u suggest me to use A6000 for my kind of photography or something else. I currently use nikon d5300 and iphone. Do chk @rollingcamera on instagram.
Very good article. I certainly appreciate this site.
Keep it up!
Great, I think you had a lot of fun…..
great article….
good job..
from india
great blog, nice work, I really enjoyed.
keep it up.
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like yours these days. I seriously appreciate people like you!
Take care!!
This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am actually impressed to read all at alone place.
Hi
We are planning to start from Stockholm, drive to North Cape.. All the way down via Lofoten to Oslo. And then back to Stockholm to fly back home.
We are choosing to drop the car back in Sweden due to the heavy One Way car hire fee. Can you help us understand the costs involved while entering Norway and re-entering Sweden?
I have not got any response from Avis yet on their policies yet. My nationality is Indian. So I am not having any EU related documentation on cross-country travel.
Regards
Vinney