Start:  Angelholm

Finish:  Skummeslovsstrand

Distance:  19

Total:  1989

Today’s route took me farther north along the Swedish Coast to the beach town of Skummeslovsstrand. 

The day once again got started with early rain showers that ended by the time I started walking at 8:15. Today’s temperature was cool enough to need long pants and a shirt with sleeves. It stayed overcast most of the day but never rained on me. 

About two hours into my walk, I started a climb of about 700 feet. The road was a little crooked but the traffic was so lite that it did not cause any problems. At the top of the climb was a truck stop, which I reached at the perfect time for lunch. Immediately after leaving the truck stop, the descent began and I went back down the 700 feet I just climbed. Only makes sense because I started at sea level this morning and I’m staying in a hotel at sea level tonight so I went up and came right back down. 

Tonight’s accommodations are very spacious and nice. The owner and manager is Marlin Bengtsson, 27 year old business woman and Innkeeper extraordinaire.  She has made her little hotel perfect for her guests. I’m lucky to find a place like this in such a small town. 

Tomorrow it’s another 18 miles north along the coast to Halmstad, Sweden. The weather forecast calls for rain showers in the morning until about 10:00, so I may get a later start tomorrow.  That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. JB. 

Start:  Helsingborg 

Finish:  Angelholm

Distance:  17

Total:  1970

What a nice day I had for my first full day walking in Sweden.  Let me tell you about it. 

I got on the road this morning at 8:15 after a good breakfast at my hotel in Helsingborg. The weather forecast called for rain starting at 10:00 and lasting for about two hours. When I walked out the door it was sunny and in the mid-50s. After about an hour, I was out of town and walking on a bike trail close to the freeway. Then it started clouding up and the wind got up. I took a look at the radar with my phone and it looked like I was about to get wet. I sped up and just made it to a freeway overpass where I stayed for 30 minutes until the rain stopped. After that there were sporadic light showers but not enough to get too wet. 

My route took me through mostly farmland and there were small farming communities every few miles along the country road I was on. The Swedish countryside is beautiful and the people take such good care of their homes and property. Even the farmers keep their equipment in tip-top shape. A few days ago in Denmark I saw a man who had been using his combine to harvest wheat. He had his shop vac out vacuuming the wheat and straw off the outside of his combine. Also their tractors are always clean and well kept. I’m just impressed with the tidiness of Europe and Scandinavia in general.  And one other thing I’ve observed especially in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. At crosswalks, no one ever walks across the intersection until the signal says pedestrians can cross. Seriously; I’ve seen pedestrians stand at an intersection for 3-4 minutes waiting on the signal to change for them to cross and there’s not a car anywhere in sight. 

Tonight I’m staying in a very cool town on the North Sea coast of Sweden.  And I’m in the nicest hotel. It’s called the Hotel Lilton and it’s been owned and run by Yvonne Nilsson for 32 years. She’s the nicest lady, and you can always tell when there’s a lady in charge. There just seems to be that added little touch that makes the difference. Also, she was nice enough to do a load of laundry for me so she gets my vote for Innkeeper of the Year. 

Tomorrow I continue on up the coast. There’s suppose to be rainy weather coming up in the next few days. I’ll have to play my schedule by ear. I’m still two days ahead so I could sit out the rain if need be. That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. JB. 

Start:  Vedbaek, Denmark

Finish:  Helsingborg, Sweden

Distance:  15

Total:  1953

Today was significant in that I completed my walk across Denmark. That’s five countries down, two to go. 

The day got off to a somewhat slow start. When I woke up this morning and looked outside, it was raining right down. I wasn’t expecting that, but it just delayed me for a short time because it temporarily stopped raining at 8:30. As soon as it lightened up, I headed out. Unfortunately, I only got an hour down the road and the rain was back and it showered off and on the rest of the day. I put my backpack cover on and then wore my poncho from that point on. 

The day was fairly short; 15 miles from my hotel in Vedbaek to the ferry terminal in Helsingor. My route had a nice wide sidewalk and followed the coastline all the way.  I got to the ferry terminal, figured out where to go for a ticket, and caught the first ferry across the Baltic to my first town in Sweden; Helsingborg. It’s only about two mile across and the ride took 20 minutes. 

Helsingborg is a beautiful Swedish coastal city and the fourth most populated region in the country. It’s geographic position on the Oresund Sound, the narrow passage from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea, has made both Helsingør, Denmark and Helsingborg, Sweden strategically important for many centuries. Each town has a fortress along the coastline which kept watch on the narrow, two mile wide strait.  

So like I said earlier, Denmark is in my rear view mirror. I only spent eight days in that beautiful country, but they were memorable. Like central and northern Germany, Denmark was a very agricultural country. Wheat and corn was the most predominant crop I saw, and most of the wheat had been harvested. Copenhagen was a beautiful, but very sprawling and busy city. I wish I would have had more time to see the sites there. 

Now it’s on to Sweden. I’ll need 15 days to walk along the North Sea coastline of this country. And some of my longest walking days in the entire trip are in Sweden due to the distances between towns. But the weather is cool and I’m looking forward to exploring the backroads along my route. 

I posted a new video today. I hope everyone enjoys it. JB. 

Start:  Copenhagen 

Finish:  Vedbaek

Distance:  1938

Total:  16

I had a great day walking north out of Copenhagen and 16 miles along the Danish coastline to Vedbaek. 

I made a commitment that before I left Copenhagen, I would do whatever it took to go see their most famous and photographed street, Nyhavn Street. Since I didn’t go there on my day off on Saturday, it had to happen today or I’d miss it. So I modified my route through town today and walked along Nyhavn Street at about 9:00 this morning. That was good because the herds of tourists had not arrived yet so I didn’t get pushed off in the canal trying to take some pictures. I’m really glad I went by there; it was an amazing site. 

After seeing Nyhavn Street, I walked through the north part of Copenhagen and right out of the city. I spent the rest of the day walking along the Baltic Coast north of town. There are some really nice beach homes all along the road and a nice wide sidewalk for bikes and people. The wind was out of the south again today, but not as strong as yesterday. 

The town I’m in tonight, Vedbaek, is a nice little seaside town with a good size marina. This is my last night in Denmark. Tomorrow I walk 15 miles north to the port town of Helsingor, Denmark, and catch the ferry over to Helsingborg, Sweden where I’ll spend tomorrow night. I believe the ferry ride lasts less than 30 minutes, but it’s the only way to get there; there’s no bridge. 

That’s about all for today. I hope you all have a great week. JB. 

Start: Solrod

Finish:  Copenhagen 

Distance:  17

Total:  1922

Today’s walk from the suburban town of Solrod into Copenhagen was a piece of cake. I was slack packing plus there was a 30 MPH wind at my back. I made great time walking on a sidewalk all the way. 

The day got started with a stop at a local grocery store for some breakfast to eat on my 45 minute train ride from Copenhagen back out to where I stopped walking two days ago in Solrod. I had a little trouble with the train ticket kiosk but a nice gentleman helped me figure out the problem. 

Once I was off the train and on my route heading north toward Copenhagen, the wind was really strong from the south. There were a lot of folks out riding their bikes and the ones riding south were really struggling against the wind. I was loving it with the wind pushing me along all day. 

As I got closer to Copenhagen around 12:00, there began to be more businesses and I stopped into a little burger joint for some lunch and a quick break.  After lunch I had about 2 1/2 hours to walk to my hotel. 

Tomorrow I have a 15 mile walk through the heart of Copenhagen and then north to another  suburban town on the Baltic Coast. 

That’s all for today. I hope you all had a great weekend. JB. 

Start:  Solrod

Finish:  Solrod

Distance:  0

Total:  1905

Today I took the day off from walking.  It was a nice day here in Copenhagen where my hotel is located, and it would have been a good day to walk, but I took advantage of the sunshine, took the day off, and went looking around the city for part of the day. 

My hotel is 2.5 miles from the center of Copenhagen. I could have taken the train into the city, but decided to walk there instead. Once I got downtown, I found that Copenhagen is like most other large cities; there are a lot of things to see, but it’s really spread out, especially if you are walking.  I walked around with the other gazillion tourist out on a sunny Saturday trying to see the sites. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of the sights seen because quite honestly, I got tired of walking and IT’S MY DAY OFF!  But I have one more opportunity on Monday when I walk right through the center of the city on the way out of town. 

Tomorrow, I take the train back to the suburban town of Solrod where I stopped walking yesterday. Then I’ll walk the 17 miles back here to the hotel. It’s forecast to be really windy tomorrow, but it will be at my back. 

That’s all for my Saturday in Copenhagen. I hope everyone’s weekend is going well. JB. 

Start:  Dalby

Finish:  Solrod 

Distance:  17

Total:  1905

Today I made it into the southern outskirts of Copenhagen. It was a beautiful day to walk, I knocked out another 17 miles, and I made a new friend along the way. 

I got on the road at 8:30 this morning after a good night’s rest and a good breakfast at the Dalby Hotel. As was the case at the end of the day yesterday, I had a reasonable shoulder on the road to keep me out of traffic. I originally was suppose to only walk 12 miles today, then 22 tomorrow to get to Copenhagen. Instead, I walked farther today and took the train into Copenhagen. That leaves me 17 miles to actually walk into the city, probably day after tomorrow. 

As I was walking along on the sidewalk, with about two hours left to the train station, a gentleman passed me walking in the same direction as me. He had a day pack on his back and appeared to be out walking for exercise. Before he got too far ahead of me, I called out and asked him where he was walking to. He slowed down and we started what ended up being a two hour conversation as we walked.  We talked about all kinds of things; education, exercise, travel, politics, guns, Denmark, America, you name it. His name was Michael Soloed, a 39 year veteran of the Solrod Police Department. He joined the police force at 21, and has been a police officer ever since. He and his wife travel. They are leaving soon to visit Vietnam. It was so enlightening to talk to someone about the things we had in common, even though we live a half a world apart. 

Tomorrow’s weather forecast doesn’t look too good. Rain is likely most of the day. Originally I had planned for Sunday to be a day off. However, I may take the day off tomorrow if the weather is bad and walk Sunday. Either way, I’m staying here at the Moxy (Marriott Hotels) in the Sydhaven (South Harbor) section of Copenhagen for at least the next three nights. 

That’s all for today. The weekend is here again so I hope you all stay cool and have a good two days. JB. 

Start:  Vordingborg 

Finish:  Dalby

Distance:  22

Total:  1888

I said in yesterday’s post the weather was forecast to be somewhat bad today, especially in the AM with a 90% chance of rain and showers until mid-afternoon. I got up this morning and it was beautiful outside. 

I got on the road at 7:30 after a good night’s rest.  Temps were in the 50s with clear skies. The wind has been from the southwest for several days so that’s a tail wind for me.  I’ve seen a lot of bicyclists riding south having a hard time with the wind in their face. My bike trail only lasted a couple of miles, but there was somewhat of a shoulder on the road with the bike lane emblem painted on it so maybe Denmark provides a shoulder for the bikes when they don’t have their own path. 

By mid-morning, the clear skies started to change to low, grey clouds; the kind that look like they hold rain.  At 10:30, I noticed it started to sprinkle. I turned around to look behind me and there was a pretty good shower building. Then the wind gust hit. I was sure I was about to get wet. Then, out of the blue, there was a Circle K station about a hundred yards down the road. There was no town, just the intersection of two roads. I hustled to the Circle K and just made it before the deluge hit. I took advantage of the situation and ate an early lunch. 

Since I ate lunch so early, I still had the majority of the 22 miles I needed to walk today ahead of me. The skies continued to look threatening the rest of the day, and I was saved by a covered bus stop when the second thunderstorm hit. Luckily, I never got wet all day. 

I’ve been seeing a lot of cross country bikers since I got to Denmark. Today I was about three miles from the end of the day when I saw a couple of bicyclists taking a break on my side of the road. They had pulled over in the ditch, pulled out their lawn chairs, and were relaxing. I stopped  to say hello and met Frederik and Mikkel Schelde. They were off on a cross country ride for a few days. They are from Koge, Denmark where I will end my day tomorrow.  We talked for a few minutes and I was on my way. The closer I got to my destination of Dalby, the darker the skies got. It was very dark straight in the direction I was going. I couldn’t tell if I was going to get to my hotel before I hit the rain or not. Cars and trucks were coming from the direction of Dalby with their headlights and wipers on. But once again, the rain was just past my hotel so I stayed dry. 

I’m closing in on Copenhagen. Tomorrow’s destination is one day’s walk from the center of Copenhagen. So tomorrow, if the weather allows, I’m walking half way to Copenhagen, about 17 miles, and catch the train into the city and my hotel there. Then Saturday I’ll catch the train back out to where I stop walking tomorrow and finish my walk to Copenhagen. I also have a day off coming up so I’ll be in the same hotel for three nights. 

That’s all I can report today. It was a long one, but I’ve got several of these 20+ mile days coming up. I’m also still two days ahead of schedule so I will be looking to split some of those long days up so I finish on time in Oslo. JB. 

Start:  Sakskobing 

Finish:  Vordingborg

Distance:  21

Total:  1866

Today’s 21 mile walk took me deeper into the heart of Denmark’s farmland. 

I had a fairly long day ahead of me, so I went down to breakfast at the hotel at their earliest time, 7:00. That got me out the door and on the road at 7:30. It was forecast to be a nice day until about 1:00 when showers were suppose to begin. And that’s exactly what happened. 

My morning was straightforward, through mostly wheat fields. There was a bike path along my route all day and because there’s a freeway paralleling my route that goes to Copenhagen, the traffic on my less traveled road is fairly light. I do see a lot of tractors pulling trailers full of wheat heading to the nearest town with a grain elevator. 

At about noon, I reached a bridge that was about three miles long.  The two traffic lanes on the bridge were quite narrow and it was in disrepair. Luckily, I had my own walking/bike lane to keep me out of the traffic. On the opposite side of the road from the walking path was a railroad track. It took about an hour to walk across the bridge, and just as I reached the end, it began to come a rain shower, just like the forecast predicted. I stopped and put the rain cover on my pack, but it never rained hard enough for me to need my rain gear. 

By 2:00, it was still showering, but I had reached the edge of the town where I’m staying tonight. My route had me walking along the left side of the road and just as I got into town, I was suppose to take a right and walk under the highway and railway tracks using an underpass. When I got to the underpass, it was closed. There have been many times when there has been a detour for vehicles due to construction, but I’ll just use caution and walk right on through the construction. However, this time the underpass was completely boarded up with plywood and there was no way to get through. I continued along the walking path, looking for another way to get across the road and train tracks to the town on the other side. However, I couldn’t see an alternate route on the map and google maps wouldn’t offer one either. There was a cable repair guy sitting in his van in front of a house so I asked him how I could get across the road and train tracks. He showed me on my phone that the only way was to backtrack down the route I’d just walked, take a dirt trail under the highway at a bridge, and then I’d be on the right side to get into town. I’ll tell you, I don’t like going backwards, especially at the very end of a 20 mile day. But I did, and the day ended up being 21 miles. 

My hotel tonight is so-so. It had terrible reviews online, but there are only two hotels here, and the other hotel sounded even worse. But it beats the alternative; sleeping in a tent. So I’m not complaining. 

Tomorrow I get 22 miles closer to Copenhagen, where I’ll be this weekend. Rain is in the forecast until mid-afternoon tomorrow. I could leave here as late as 2:00 and make my destination by dark. I’ll wait and see how it looks tomorrow. That’s it for today. JB. 

Start:  Puttgarden, Germany

Finish:  Sakskobing, Denmark

Distance:  17

Total:  1845

Today’s walk was filled with some anticipation and anxiety, mostly due to the unknown situation I would encounter in Denmark. I had traveled in Greece, Italy, Austria and Germany before, but I have never been to Denmark. I am curious about their language, currency, road conditions, and how I’d be received by the locals. I’ve started to get some of those questions answered, but there is still much to learn. 

The day started on the Baltic Coast of Germany. I got to breakfast early and then walked next door to the ferry terminal. The ferry company, Scandlines, runs a ferry ship between Puttgarden, Germany and Rodbyhavn, Denmark, every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. The ferry’s carry mostly trucks going back and forth between the Scandinavian countries and mainland Europe. There were also a few cars onboard.  I was the only pedestrian. I got on the ferry departing at 8:15 and arrived in Rodbyhavn at 9:00. 

As I mentioned a few days ago, priority one after gettin off the ferry was to find a place to exchange my leftover Euros for Danish Krone.  However, the ferry terminal had absolutely zero services. No currency exchange, no cafe, no nothing. I didn’t see one single individual when I walked through the terminal; not even someone to check my passport. So off I set, following the map on my iPhone, keeping my eyes pealed for a place to get some money. Unfortunately, the actual town of Rodbyhavn is not near the port terminal so I didn’t see any place around there. 

I was quickly out in the countryside with the next town a few miles away. Once I got there, I saw a grocery store so I went in to buy a soft drink and while checking out, I asked the checker about a place to exchange money. She had no idea. She said banks in Denmark “DON’T HAVE MONEY.” I thought in my mind “Oh come on now. All banks have money.”  But I didn’t question her on it.  She wouldn’t take my Euros so I used my credit card to buy a coke. On down the road, I came to another town; this one larger than the first. I saw a bank so I went in and inquired about exchanging currency. The gentleman that helped me said most banks in Denmark DON’T HAVE MONEY.  He said only a few have actual cash on hand, and the ones that do only have access to it late in the work day. Hum!!!  Banks with no money?  So I went outside to their ATM and got some Danish Krone the easy way; with my debit card. Maybe Swedish banks have money to exchange.  I’ll be there next week. 

I made it to my hotel here in Sakskobing at about 3:00.  The town is small, population 4,500, and has one hotel. However, the owners really like their hotel because it’s expensive to stay here. That’s to be expected though. Denmark is the third most expensive place in Europe for tourists; right behind Switzerland and Morocco. 

Tomorrow I have a 20 mile day to another one-hotel town. There’s also a chance of rain tomorrow, but later in the day so I’ll get up and hit the road early; relatively speaking. So that’s about it for day one in the Scandinavian country of Denmark. Thanks for reading. JB.