Cycling training camps/holidays in Sweden?

[Jon in Sweden]

Hello all,

As some of you might be aware, we recently moved to Sweden and have been greatly enjoying being here. I work in forestry, but enjoy cycling and swimming in lakes in my free time.

I've always had the notion of starting something to get British tourists over here to enjoy the lake swimming and the page we set up for that on Facebook has proved to be rather popular. It's called Swim Stuga Sweden:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085383722965

On that page I have been fairly heavily promoting the cycling too, and wanted to pick your collective brains here as to whether Sweden would be somewhere you'd consider coming for a cycling holiday?

I've absolutely loved it since arriving. I've done a little over 3000km since we arrived just over 3 months ago. Mostly road but some gravel and MTB. The roads are deserted here, perfectly surfaced and it's very scenic. You can find largely flat rides on the road (under 10m/1km climbing) but it can be fairly hilly (15m/1km is typical). Gravel and MTB are much hillier.

Before I change the Facebook group name to Swim Cycle Sweden, does a week staying in a picturesque cabin in the forest with endless, largely traffic free cycling appeal? We're one hour from Växjö, which has twice weekly flights to Stansted with Ryanair.

I'm just trying to gauge appeal at the moment, rather than sell anything

You'll find loads of photos and some videos on the Facebook page.

Any guidance or pointers are much appreciated.

[geomannie]

It would be a yes please from me. It ticks all our boxes, except that we are very much trying not to fly except for emergency reasons. With the dearth of ferries from the UK to Scandinavia it's hard to see a non-flying option of getting there, unless you or anyone else knows good non-fly options.

Good luck in any case.

Cheers

[Jon in Sweden]

It would be a yes please from me. It ticks all our boxes, except that we are very much trying not to fly except for emergency reasons. With the dearth of ferries from the UK to Scandinavia it's hard to see a non-flying option of getting there, unless you or anyone else knows good non-fly options.

Good luck in any case.

Cheers

Thanks for the encouragement

Unfortunately, it's a long way by road. About 1300km from Hook of Holland to here.

I'm hoping to build up a stock of fairly decent bikes to hire out very cheaply too, to save on transportation costs. I'd be looking to offer airport pickups too, so that car hire wasn't needed. If you can get some of the very cheap flights (can be as little as £25/return with minimal baggage, though probably closer to £100 by the time shoes/helmets/cycling gear is included) it could be an extremely cheap holiday.

I'm still doing 180-250km a week at the moment. It's warmer than average, but well above freezing at the moment. The rainfall is pretty minimal at this time of year though it's a bit grey. With the lack of clay in this area, the roads are completely clean though. Unless you MTB or gravel bike, the bikes stay very clean indeed.

[foxyrider]

I think Sweden is great for cycling holidays, the Elephant is getting there from the UK. But of course that applies to anywhere beyond the Pays de Calais!

Maybe it would appeal to Dutch/German cyclists for whom getting there is much easier if not neccesarily cheaper than flying, i know someone who drove from the Leipzig area up into Lappland a couple of weeks ago for a long weekend

Good luck and do keep us informed

[geomannie]

Yes, please do keep us informed. I know that pressure is growing for re-establishing ferry connections from the UK to Europe but it may take a while. There are reports of a Scotland Rosyth to Zeebrugge connection being re-established in the next year or so. It's not great for Sweden, but a start.

Cheers

[Steve]

Another "Elephant" might be the price of beer.

[Philip Benstead]

According to Google you can reach this location by public transport but there are many changes,s could rather tiring

[SimonCelsa]

.......................................................

I've absolutely loved it since arriving. I've done a little over 3000km since we arrived just over 3 months ago...............................

See if you feel the same once the winter is upon us....maybe some dark and dreich days ahead

Hopefully you'll pull through OK and emerge into Spring full of wonder and awe!

All the best.

[Jon in Sweden]

Another "Elephant" might be the price of beer.

I've really not found it to be that bad.

We are in the sticks, so no pubs to go to anyway, but buying beer from the shops isn't much different from the UK. Albeit, up to 3.5% you can buy in supermarkets (and it's if anything cheaper than the UK) and above that it's the Systembolag, which is maybe 10-20% more? I don't drink much, so not much of any issue.

[Jon in Sweden]

.......................................................

I've absolutely loved it since arriving. I've done a little over 3000km since we arrived just over 3 months ago...............................

See if you feel the same once the winter is upon us....maybe some dark and dreich days ahead

Hopefully you'll pull through OK and emerge into Spring full of wonder and awe!

All the best.

Haha! I love winter and don't really feel the cold, so will continue on throughout. I have my dubbdäck (studded winter tyres) ready and waiting for the snow to come and I have full winter gear. Unless it's whiteout blizzard conditions, I'll be out

[Jon in Sweden]

I think Sweden is great for cycling holidays, the Elephant is getting there from the UK. But of course that applies to anywhere beyond the Pays de Calais!

Maybe it would appeal to Dutch/German cyclists for whom getting there is much easier if not neccesarily cheaper than flying, i know someone who drove from the Leipzig area up into Lappland a couple of weeks ago for a long weekend

Good luck and do keep us informed

Yeah, very good point for continental cyclists to come here. We're chock full of Germans and Dutch in summer here anyway (well, insofar as they are the main tourist groups, along with the Danes - it's still incredibly quiet here).

I realise that flying isn't everyone's cup of tea now, but I guess if it's offset with a week or two's holiday without a car, it's not so bad.

[De Sisti]

, does a week staying in a picturesque cabin in the forest with endless, largely traffic free cycling appeal?

Yes indeed. Which months would be the best for road cycling.

[Jon in Sweden]

, does a week staying in a picturesque cabin in the forest with endless, largely traffic free cycling appeal?

Yes indeed. Which months would be the best for road cycling.

May to September would give you the best chance at good weather. It's very sunny here at that time of year, with rain mainly falling torrentially but very infrequently. July and August can be very hot (average high here in August this year was close to 30c) but there are thousands of lakes to cool off in.

[st599_uk]

Used to be easy to get to, Bergen boat then a decent train link to Sweden.

Hopefully with the urgent need to cut flights, we may see these ferries back.

[Galactic]

Currently thinking seriously Sweden (Skane, Smaland, maybe further) for next year's summer hols, will check out your facebook page.

As others have said, getting there is a pain (I don't fly any more), but am now planning to do ferry to NL, IC train to Berlin, either cycle or train to Rostock (depends on time) then ferry to Ystad/Trelleborg, or possibly up to Nynäshamn. A reasonable and not too stressful trip with a nice break in Berlin.

I'm sorry, I'm unlikely to pay for an organised cycling holiday (I enjoy the planning bit, not to mention having the freedom to change my plans whilst underway and making use of the everymans' right to wild camp), but am always on the lookout for tips about where to go/avoid (I've heard the west coast is pretty full of tourists and cycle-tourists?), mapping (old-skool paper maps) options etc etc.

The most annoying bit about Sweden is SJ's (Swedish national rail) implacable hatred to bikes - this limits rail travel with bike to the southern counties. The second most annoying thing is that the (non-SJ) Berlin-Malmö/Stockholm sleeper doesn't take bikes any more.

Good luck with the idea!

G