Touring through Scandinavia and the Baltic states - ideas?

If you are doing Poland and Germany are you planning on coming here, Czech Republic too?

Travelled round Lithuania into Latvia round to Helsinki by way of St Petersburg, then over the sea to Estonia and back to Lithuania. Bad news it was all by train or bus so the knowledge of roads is limited.
Vilnius is pretty enough. Just looked at the tourism website. The skyscrapers are all new. The tourist choice is between The Gates Of Dawn or the worlds only statue to Frank Zappa. You will end up eating the burned stale bread cheese thing, but it's about as appealing as a pork scratching to a vegetarian. Who happens to be on a low fat low salt diet.
Going north the Hill Of Crosses is eerie. The nearby Siauliai is unremarkable other than a magnificent cinema. Loads of stained glass-no this is in the entry hall it wasn't some avant garde cinema with coloured patches flickering on the screen.
Up into Latvia, Riga is a vibrant port city. Larger and less twee than Vilnius it has a larger spread of building styles including some great communist era stuff. The TV/radio tower is awesome. There is an absolutely massive market possibly the largest in Europe. When I say it sells everything I mean everything. Up to and including machining tools and ships chandlers. Most tourists gather round the halls that were Zeppelin hangers.
3 day transit visas were easily available in Riga for travel to Finland through Russia. 3 days is not enough time to see St Petersburg but a taste is better than nothing. St Petersburg is on an imperial scale beyond anything seen.
Helsinki well you have relatives there.
Tallinn, at the time I went there appeared to be a place for Finnish people to go to for a weekend on the piss. Less than charitable but it was about taking foreign currency as quickly as possible. Full of brothels and casinos. whether you think it has improved or declined will depend on what you want on your journey as much as any changes.
What I do remember about the roads was they were quiet out of town. This was travelling north south not the major transits of east west. Lots of country, lots of Stork nests. If you do go see if you can find out what the little "Citadels" of garages are. Particularly noticeable going from Riga into Russia these groups of garages were a good bus ride from the nearest towns. A quick way round the five year plan for garage building? Please if you find out do tell.
Even then not many Russian vehicles outside Russia. Bikes; saw one chopped sidevalve Dneiper and a few MZs.

If you look on the UK BMW World of Tours website they have a tour through the Baltic States including Finland. You could crib their route?

The ferry journey from Stockholm to Helsinki is magical as the sun shines on the 1000 or so Islands. Great trip to do.

Captain who is not Scarlet,

I'll second RiC's recommendation, particularly as I was dismissive before(sorry!).

Head north from Stavanger and it's an exhilarating roller-coaster ride on excellent but demanding roads. The adrenaline rush is punctuated by exquisite ferry journeys. You'll experience the midnight sun and a quality of light that artists will die for.

Depending how far north you get (watch out for elk) return via Sweden, if you like forests & rallying, or do it all again and get a ferry to Shetland from Bergen. You will have to double the budget and fly to Helsinki, at a later date!

Blimey, looks like i'll have to change my summer touring plans now.....

WARNING: Sponge + Fjord = super saturation

A note on tyre savings-be aware that the roads in Norway whilst being well surfaced are VERY abrasive-you can trash a pair of tyres very quickly over there.

John

Hi Guys, Thought I would lend my pennies worth. I have travelled from South Uk to the North cape riding up the spine of Norway along it's hightest points. It is by far one of the most beautiful and exciting trips you can do without having to ship your bike abroad. Roads in Norway especially up north suffer from suface damage due to the vast changes in temperature from Summer to winter. expect to find pot hole and volcanic peaks. Roads are windy and fun with a number of ferry crossings. Costs for eating out are extreme ( 12" sub of the day = £12.50) However, fuel is around the same price and if there is more than one of you then you can share the numerous log cabins or camp sites which are good value.

Finland is largly flat with lots of elk especially around dawn and dusk. All the speed cameras ar forward facing so 2 fingers up as you speed through them. Scenery is nice with losts of lakes all of which have saunas and swimming which is great after a days ride. Good value and use the euro. Fuel prices ok and plenty of camp site. Lost of midges in the summer. Sweden, the roads are small with lovely scenery agian good camping and alittle expensive. The crossing over the main bridge to Denmark is done at 30 degrees into wind. Denmark, well really after all the above it's a quick bash through. Major cities to stop at would be Tromso in Norway, Copenhagen, Helsinki ( you can get a boat across to Tallin from here and do a short trip via eastern Europe but it is flat and not too enspiring) Before crossing over from Sweden visit Turku on a friday Pm where they have a massive bike meet every week.
Have fun.
aurelia

Excellent! You may have just edged ahead of rocca in the pun stakes.

The missus rang last night after a disappointing client meeting in Helsinki: "Finns ain't what they used to be". Read into that what you will...