Summer 2025 is upon us, so before it gets too busy, we are off on one of our van travels. A seven-and-a-half week outing. This time we are off to Norway and other parts of Scandinavia. We are planning to go from Calais, through Belgium, Holland, then northeast through Germany and across to Poland, where we will grab a ferry from the Polish port of Świnoujście, (yes, we can’t pronounce it either!), landing at Trelleborg in Sweden.
From there, we plan to go up through Sweden, then cut west into Norway, down along the west coast, doing a bit of snaking as we go, whilst heading south, taking a ferry from Kristiansand to Hirtshals in Denmark, finally making our way home.
This is the third attempt to see Norway in Jess. Our first attempt was stopped by crazy COVID-19 rules between the different countries to get there. The second attempt was cancelled for family reasons.
This is a diary of our travels, for our friends and family. We like to share our trip with you all, and we are so happy to hear from you. If you have stumbled upon our site, then you may find some parts of our journey interesting, so please subscribe by clicking the button on the right to receive a weekly update, normally on a Saturday. You can easily unsubscribe at any time by hitting the unsubscribe link in the weekly mailshot.
Let the journey begin…
Week 1. 1st – 6th June 2025. Home to Lieblingshof, Germany – 764 miles
Sunday, 1st of June 2025. Home to Calais, France – 181 miles
It’s a bright, warm, and sunny day as we set off with a fully loaded van for a 7-week adventure on Jess. It’s a familiar route: taking the ferry from the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth, followed by a 6:05 pm crossing to Calais from Dover. The drive from Portsmouth feels like a bit of a long slog… it takes forever!
We arrive early for the ferry, so we begin with a comforting cup of tea while waiting to board.
The crossing is smooth and uneventful. It’s windy, but the sky is clear and blue, and the sun is shining. During the crossing, we enjoy dinner, and before long, we arrive in Calais. After disembarking, it’s just a quick 10-minute drive to a paid camping aire. Once we’ve settled in, we unwind with a glass of red wine before heading to bed.
Monday, 2nd of June 2025. Calais, France to Poperinge, Belgium – 50 miles
A smashing day today. We enjoy a very relaxing breakfast this morning. We’re leaving Calais and heading to a campsite, a regular one of ours, which was our first European stop when we started this motorhoming thing back in 2018. The site, Stal ‘t Bardehof, is located in the Vleteren area of Belgium. We have a lovely spot tucked away, and without much delay, we unload the bikes and set off on a short six-mile cycle.
Our first stop is at the Sixtus Abbey, where they brew the world’s best beer (according to ChatGPT). You can only get this beer here; it’s not available anywhere else in the world. Visitors can enjoy a glass in the garden, which we do, paired with some abbey cheese, or purchase boxes to take away.
It’s fantastic. Afterwards, we cycle back to the campsite via one of the many Commonwealth Military Cemeteries, very sobering, very peaceful places of which there are many in this area.
Back at the farm, enjoy one of our favourite beers, a St. Bernardus 12.
The weather is perfect—clear skies, warm and sunny. It’s so lovely that we shower early and then have a fantastic dinner outside.
After dinner, we clean up and settle down to watch a couple of episodes of Clarkson’s Farm 4. It’s 10 pm, and it’s still light outside…
Tuesday, 3rd of June 2025. Poperinge, Belgium to Hapert, Holland – 131 miles
Del collects our bread order from the office.
We have breakfast outside today. After a full service, we get on the road, northeast towards Germany. H finds a nice place near a small Dutch town called Hapert, which is not too far away from Eindhoven. The stop is perfect, and the surrounding area is beautiful, so it’s off on the bikes again.
Today we manage 13 miles, stopping at a holiday park (like a rather fancy Butlins in a forest) and the small town of Hapert. Very equine, lots of manicured fields and horses. The town is so smart, clean and tidy. Back at Jess, we get showered and H makes us a nice, simple, tasty dinner. A very nice but short day in Holland.
A good day today; a good long cycle and lovely dinner.
Wednesday, 4th of June 2025. Hapert, Holland to Bockholt, Germany- 147 miles
It’s a wet, drizzly start to the day. As we reach the German border, the weather begins to clear, but we’re warned that rain may return later and persist throughout the weekend as we head into Poland.
We stop at a marina on a canal, which is okay; the camping spots border the canal with a decent-looking restaurant nearby. However, the internet here is terrible, we are struggling to get any data.
Del falls asleep for a while, feeling a bit under the weather for some reason. Luckily, he soon starts to feel better, gets up, reads, and takes a shower. We have dinner at the local marina restaurant, which is okay, costing about 50 euros. Afterwards, we take a walk along the canal during the early evening, watching the setting sun.
It’s lovely and genuinely lifts Dels’ spirits. We enjoy these camping spots near rivers or canals; they’re so peaceful.
Thursday, 5th of June 2025. Bockholt, Germany to Horst, Germany – 155 miles
A late departure today, 10 am. We are heading north towards Hamburg. Another long drive today, 150 miles of German motorway. We fill up with diesel. It’s expensive. Depending on where you stop, for approximately half a tank, it is between 50 and 60 euros.
Germany is a big country. We arrive at the town of Horst, SE of Hamburg. We are here as there is supposed to be an excellent restaurant specialising in the food of the region. The Horstner Muhle is a restaurant that allows overnight parking if you eat at the restaurant, it’s located on a river with a working water wheel.
We have arrived early, at 2 pm. We settle in for the day until our reservation for dinner. There are heavy showers on and off for the rest of the day, so we stay in the van catching up on paperwork. Dinner out tonight is fantastic.
We have lots to eat, big portions and very tasty. We finish off with a gentle walk by the river with the sun setting. The birdsong is deafening, and there are a couple of deer near the van.
Friday, 6th of June 2025. Horst, Germany to Lieblingshof, Germany – 126 miles
It rained a little in the night. We are wild camping, so we are not connected to anything, so after a short breakfast, we set off in search of a supermarket. Supplies are low. We find an Edeka supermarket.
Very nice. Like Waitrose on steroids. Fantastically clean, fantastically expensive, so much so we put some stuff back, and leave in search of an Aldi. We know our place.
It’s another long drive today. We are passing Hamburg and taking a right to go east towards Poland, where we expect to be tomorrow. We arrive at a farm on the way at a place called Lieblingshof, where we will stay the night. The rain has been on and off all day.
We have befriended a little cat that has been dumped by some campers. Bad, very bad.
The rain is on and off all day, but we manage a walk across the barley fields to a small swimming pond that the farm has made available to people staying. Not sure we would go in it ourselves, but the idea is brilliant and the location is fantastic.
We get caught out in the rain and run back to the van to find our towels blowing away across the grass. These rainstorms come out of nowhere. It seems every time we come to Germany, it rains a lot.
It’s the season for asparagus (Spargel) here in Germany at the moment, especially white asparagus, which is referred to as ‘white gold’. It’s the same vegetable as the green variety, but it’s grown underneath the soil away from sunlight. Tonight we are having asparagus with Hollandaise sauce (a traditional combination) with ham, potato salad, sauerkraut and a good German Weiss beer (white beer).
Tomorrow we will be in Poland. All being well…
Hiya Karen. Yes, it was a lot of meat in one go! Very tasty though... xxx