05.08.2010 — At midday we started our trip to the south of Sweden. There are a lot of bicycle roads from Stockholm to the area and all of them are marked by special signs, so it’s not difficult to find the way if you know your destination. But the main challenge of our way was hills and curvature of the bicycle road. It’s going up and down crossing the highway. But, as you can see on the picture, cars weren’t faster than we, because of a traffic jams.
For Vladimir’s surprise, first day we managed to bike just 40 km. In the evening we were completely worn out and decided to stay in Sodertalje.
04.08.2010 — We really enjoyed cycling in Stockholm — the European Green Capital 2010 — in spite of the rainy weather. We biked all around the city center and then did a long ride on Djurgården. It’s quite big for walking, not good for driving and amazing cycling!
Unfortunately we don’t have statistics about cycle system in Stockholm, but it looks nice! On a bike, a journey across central Stockholm will take no longer than 30 minutes and can be faster than travelling by subway or car. There are cycle paths along most major streets and drivers are generally considerate towards cyclists.
03.08.2010 — There are 2 main companies on that route from Helsinki to Stockholm: Silja and Viking Line. We took Viking Line because it was cheaper. The ferry looks like big hotel on the water and it makes big impression when you go inside with cars, but by bicycle.
02.08.2010 — Our destination was Lisbon, which is on the south of Europe, but… First, we headed for north — to Helsinki — to see what can be done for cycling in cities with cold climate. We spent in Helsinki just 1 day and didn’t see much, but discovered it as a new city (we’ve been there few times before without bikes).
Helsinki boasts a very large bikeway network, both in an urban environment and in nature. There is history, atmosphere and exoticism along the bikeways. There are 1,200 km of bikeways in Helsinki, and about 2,600 km in the entire Metropolitan Area. Many upgrades to the network are under construction in the city centre, to allow uninterrupted rides through the city. Annually, bicycle rides represent 6 per cent of all journeys made in the city, and there are plans to increase this percentage significantly.
Helsinki is a friendly city for pedestrians too. The city is highly walkable, with well-maintained sidewalks and a dense network of pedestrian paths throughout the city.
Wish we had spent there more time in Helsinki…
Nice page to plan your cycling or walking trips in Helsinki - http://pk.hsl.fi/en/
We did European cycle trip from Russia to Portugal in 2010 (since August till October). We crossed Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
Now we’d like to share our emotions with you and we hope it will inspire you (or astonish). From June, 1th we are going to post here every day 1 or 2 photos with a peace of information in English. 74 days of our trip anew. Please help us to spread this information, reblog it.
Thank you and enjoy!
