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Route description for From the Black Forest to the winter market in Jokkmokk 2023


From the Black Forest to the winter market in Jokkmokk 2023

A long-cherished wish to see the Northern Lights live is now about to come true. After we got to know Sweden on a few summer trips, a winter trip to the winter market in Jokkmokk and the surrounding area is now on the agenda. We will start our tour on January 16th, 2023 in Weisenbach and make the first stop in Wernigerode. If the weather cooperates, a hike to the Brocken is planned. The next destination will then be Kiel on January 20th, 2023, where we will use the ferry to Gothenburg in the evening. Unfortunately, the map does not record the ferry connection, which has a negative effect on the km indication.

Day

Weisenbach, Deutschland

Finally the time has come.


The Womo packed and headed north. Via Frankfurt, Kassel in the rain and sleet to Hann.Münden, where we visited the beautiful old town and spent the night on a parking space near the old town.

76599 Weisenbach, Germany

48° 43' 44" N 8° 21' 16" E

48.7288830 8.3544377


☍ 498,8 km (4 hrs. 43 min.)

Day

Wernigerode, Deutschland

City tour: City Hall, Marktstraße in the old town with wonderful half-timbered houses and a trip to Wernigerode Castle in wonderful weather with a unique view of the city.

Wernigerode, Germany

51° 50' 12.5" N 10° 47' 3.9" E

51.8368113 10.7844266


☍ 1,0 km ( 3 min.)

Day

Wernigerode Tag 2

Ride on the Harz narrow-gauge railway to the Brocken. At -7 degrees, no wind, wonderful tour around the Brocken, very interesting visit to the Brocken Museum with "stairs" ascent to the former listening booth.

Am Katzenteich, 38855, Wernigerode, Germany

51° 50' 18" N 10° 46' 52" E

51.8383333 10.7811111


☍ 182,1 km (2 hrs. 21 min.)

Day

Lüneburg, Deutschland

Continue on the A391 and B4 to Lüneburg in sunshine. Tour of the old town in Lüneburg. Overnight stay at the Sülzwiesen campsite.

Lüneburg, Germany

53° 14' 52.3" N 10° 24' 57.8" E

53.2478704 10.4160637


☍ 152,6 km (1 hrs. 32 min.)

Day

Schwedenkai Kiel, Deutschland

Continue to Kiel. A short flying visit to a shopping street before boarding the Stena Germanica at 5 p.m. for the crossing to Gothenburg. After the Womo was well stowed away, we went to the Skand. Buffet on deck 7. Then a deck tour before we went to our cabin.

Schwedenkai 1, 24103 Kiel, Deutschland

54° 19' 12" N 10° 8' 20.8" E

54.3200075 10.1391171


☍ 713,7 km (6 hrs. 55 min.)

Day

Stena Line, Elof Lindälvs gata, 414 55 Göteborg, Schweden

Morning arrival at the port of Gothenburg and check out. Continue on the roads 190 and E 20 towards Falköping through a powdery landscape to the Mösseberg campsite, which is located on a hill.

Elof Lindälvs gata 11, 414 55 Göteborg, Schweden

57° 41' 42.2" N 11° 54' 52.2" E

57.6950543 11.9144881


☍ 128,4 km (1 hrs. 40 min.)

Day

Mössebergs Camping & Stugby AB, Scheelegatan, Falköping, Schweden

An overcast day in Falköping, Mösseberg campsite. Evening walk and spectators at a downhill race of young Swedish skiers.

Scheelegatan, 521 30 Falköping, Schweden

58° 10' 33.2" N 13° 31' 38" E

58.1758881 13.5272179


☍ 166,2 km (2 hrs. 11 min.)

Day

Karlskoga, Schweden

In search of an LPG filling station (Autogas) we had to make an unscheduled stop in Karlskoga, as the filling stations were only open again on Mondays. The LPG filling stations are very sparsely located in Sweden, therefore: take precautions and inform yourself in good time!!

Overnight in a public parking lot by a snowy frozen lake.

Karlskoga, Sweden

59° 19' 43.1" N 14° 32' 11.1" E

59.3286340 14.5364140


☍ 222,5 km (2 hrs. 36 min.)

Day

Ccs Sollerö Camping

Instead of the planned stop at a campsite in Eg, we drove further north to the campsite in Sollerö, where we had already stopped twice in previous years. Here we stay 2 days and tomorrow maybe go skiing and/or visit Tomte (Santa Claus) in nearby Tomteland where we will send mail/greetings for our grandchildren (as promised).

It's evening and it's starting to snow again.

Levsnäs, 79290, Sollerön, Sweden

60° 54' 4" N 14° 34' 54" E

60.9011100 14.5816700


☍ 249,7 km (2 hrs. 55 min.)

Day


Day

Åsarna Skicenter

The onward journey this morning was delayed because of the mirror-smooth, icy square. It went in the direction of Orsa to the Asarna ski center over various snow-covered roads and required prudent action from the driver.

After this technically strenuous day, we arrived safely at our planned destination.


The weather was mixed, sunshine alternated with cloudy skies and rain. Overcast in the evening, with no prospect of the long-awaited Northern Lights. But we don't give up hope.

Olstav. 45, 84031, Åsarna, Sweden

62° 38' 29" N 14° 22' 17" E

62.6413900 14.3713900


☍ 369,1 km (4 hrs. 29 min.)

Day

Storumans bad och camping, Lokgränd, Storuman, Schweden

The further journey along the E 45 led in glorious sunshine to our next destination, the campsite in Storuman, where we were almost alone, apart from a few overnight guests in the huts on the site. There was also a sauna on site that you could use for free.


The starry sky gave hope for more, but unfortunately there was no polar light in sight.


It was an icy night at -14 degrees, but we mastered it without any problems.


Lokgränd 3, 923 31 Storuman, Schweden

65° 5' 57.8" N 17° 6' 59.4" E

65.0993864 17.1164924


☍ 154,6 km (1 hrs. 53 min.)

Day

Arvidsjaur, Schweden

Today it didn't want to get light at all in the morning. The sun fought behind the clouds. The weather was dreary, with occasional light snowfall.


On the way we met our first reindeer, which relaxedly crossed the road.


In Arvidsjaur we took a little walk through the town where we also came across a "wooden" moose family.

It was already getting dark at 3:30 p.m. and the day felt a lot shorter.

Arvidsjaur, Sweden

65° 35' 31.5" N 19° 10' 49" E

65.5920768 19.1802828


☍ 157,8 km (1 hrs. 54 min.)

Day


Day



Day

Arctic Camp Jokkmokk, Jokkmokk, Schweden

The Artic Camp was still pretty snowed up and again it was time to clear the site. A clearing vehicle also came by here, but it was too late for us or we were too fast.


We made a short trip into the city to see the closer conditions.


In the village itself, people were already busy making preparations for the upcoming winter market.


We spent the evening comfortably in the mobile home with an outside temperature of -20 degrees.

Notudden, 962 22 Jokkmokk, Schweden

66° 35' 40.4" N 19° 53' 30.7" E

66.5945510 19.8918500


☍ 1,035,1 km (11 hrs. 38 min.)

Day


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Day


Day

Solbacken, Schweden

The day was very varied in terms of weather, great sunrise in the morning, sometimes a little overcast during the day, beautiful sunset in the evening.


Interesting impressions in between, eg ice crystals in a harbour, a ferry making its way through the partially frozen Baltic Sea....


As there weren't many open campsites/carports, finding one here was a little tricky.

However, we found a campsite for "spontaneous" campers in Solbacken, which was open with confidence.

A delicious dinner in the mobile home rounded off this day in a relaxed manner.

Solbacken , Huddinge kommun, Schweden

59° 13' 43.1" N 18° 2' 17.5" E

59.2286362 18.0382013


☍ 386,6 km (3 hrs. 51 min.)

Day

First Camp Sundsvall-Höga Kusten

The journey continued towards Sundsvall, where we refueled on gas the next day.


In Sundsvall we happened upon a place to stay at First-Camp. The place was right on the Baltic Sea, was unfortunately totally icy and very difficult to commit. The situation between the road and the railroad was also somewhat unsettled.


In the morning we experienced a sensational sunrise and after a good breakfast the journey continued.


We drove to Östersund and visited the ski stadium, where the 2019 Biathlon World Championships took place.


Then it was on to the large, well-known ski area in Are.





Norrstigen 15, 854 68, Sundsvall, Sweden

62° 21' 30.7" N 17° 22' 13" E

62.3585200 17.3702650


☍ 290,1 km (3 hrs. 30 min.)

Day

Åre, Schweden

The journey to Are was very time-consuming and finding accommodation was initially quite difficult.

However, we found a campsite just before Are that was "öppet" and checked in briefly.


Then we went to the village, where we took care of lift tickets and looked for a nearby parking lot so that it was already taken care of for the following day of skiing.

Then we went back to the campsite, where we again spent a relaxing evening.


The next morning we went to the valley station of the cable car. The weather was a bit overcast and unfortunately no sun in sight. But there were great descents and not so busy due to the weekday, so there was enough space on the slopes.

In the afternoon we finished our day of skiing and, after everything was in the right place in the mobile home, we drove on towards Trondheim/Norway.

Åre , Schweden

63° 24' 3.9" N 13° 4' 56" E

63.4010888 13.0822241


☍ 164,8 km (2 hrs. 20 min.)

Day

Trondheim, Norwegen

Unscheduled, we continued towards Trondheim/Norway.

We found an RV site in town that we have stayed at in previous years. Here, too, everything was totally frozen.


In the morning we went to the center of Trondheim for "shopping". It was slightly cloudy and had + 5 degrees. After a successful tour we went back to the mobile home and we decided to continue the route south via Norway to Oslo.



Trondheim , Norwegen

63° 25' 50" N 10° 23' 42.7" E

63.4305658 10.3951929


☍ 126,0 km (1 hrs. 48 min.)

Day

Oppdal, Norwegen

By chance we met mobile home owners from Switzerland who gave us a tip for a small parking space in Oppdahl, which we gladly accepted.


We were warmly addressed in German by the owner of Magalaupet Camping. Her mother was German, hence the good language skills. This also made it easier for us to communicate with each other.


After an extremely stormy night, it had snowed in the morning and we put on snow chains as a precaution. The descent from the campsite to the road was quite steep and we didn't want to take any chances.


When we reached the street, the snow chains were packed up again and we continued with icy gusts of wind and snow flurries on snowy, partly icy roads to an altitude of 1,068 m in the direction of Otta to Lillehammer, where blue skies greeted us again.


The search for a place to stay was no problem today and we were happy to be welcomed by a nice host at the family campsite in Granli.

However, the place was quite icy and so we spent the rest of the evening comfortably, with the appropriate comfortable temperature, in the mobile home.




Oppdal , Norwegen

62° 32' 6.6" N 9° 37' 23.9" E

62.5351785 9.6233041


☍ 370,5 km (5 hrs. 3 min.)

Day

Sigernessjøen Camping

The overnight stay at the family campsite was very pleasant, the sun was shining and after a good breakfast and a warm shower we continued towards Avika.


Sometimes there was no more snow here and sometimes the green meadows were already visible.


We continued towards Karlstad. There we found a nice parking space at Vänern (lake) and went for a stroll into the city.



Strengelsrud Gård, 2210, Granli, Norway

60° 7' 56" N 12° 2' 20" E

60.1322200 12.0388800


☍ 141,5 km (1 hrs. 48 min.)

Day

Karlstad, Schweden

The sunrise in the morning was glorious again and promised a wonderful day.


Karlstad is a beautiful small town. We also visited Park Mariebersskogen which has something outdoors for all ages; Unfortunately, many things were currently not open.


We continued south towards Mariestad, passing the Götekanal. However, there is currently no business here, but the area is beautiful and very interesting.



Karlstad , Schweden

59° 22' 51.3" N 13° 30' 9.9" E

59.3809146 13.5027631


☍ 121,3 km (1 hrs. 34 min.)

Day

Mariestad, Schweden

In Mariestad, which is also by Vänern (lake), we found a large pitch by the water, where we were happy to check in.


Strolling into town in the afternoon, we recognized a few places that we had visited years earlier on a summer vacation.



Mariestad , Schweden

58° 42' 33.6" N 13° 49' 22.4" E

58.7093225 13.8228754


☍ 172,4 km (1 hrs. 59 min.)

Day

Lisebergsbyn

Overnight at Lyseberg Camping, near Gothenburg.


Before that hike in good weather through the nearby forest.

Olbersgatan 9, 41655, Göteborg, Sweden

57° 42' 16.2" N 12° 1' 48.3" E

57.7044996 12.0300933


☍ 709,9 km (6 hrs. 34 min.)

Day

Schwedenkai 1, 24103 Kiel, Deutschland

Last day in Sweden. We booked the ferry at short notice. After an extensive buffet in the evening and a restful night, we reached Kiel the next morning and drove from there to friends in East Friesland.

Kiel , Deutschland

54° 19' 21.8" N 10° 8' 8" E

54.3227085 10.1355550


☍ 313,1 km (2 hrs. 53 min.)

Day

Leer (Ostfriesland), Deutschland

Leer (Ostfriesland) , Deutschland

53° 15' 0.8" N 7° 27' 22.7" E

53.2502087 7.4563035


☍ 109,0 km (1 hrs. 7 min.)

Day

Harpstedt, Deutschland

Overnight stay on the journey home on a pitch in Harpstedt.

Harpstedt , Deutschland

52° 54' 32.8" N 8° 35' 13" E

52.9091178 8.5869313


☍ 414,6 km (4 hrs. 9 min.)

Day

Am Usa-Wellenbad, Deutschland

Last stop/overnight stay before the final drive home.

Friedberger Straße , Bad Nauheim, Deutschland

50° 21' 12.9" N 8° 44' 32.4" E

50.3535914 8.7423262


☍ 206,7 km (2 hrs. 13 min.)

Day

Weisenbach, Deutschland

End of a wonderful, interesting and varied journey.

Almost all expectations were met except for the "Northern Lights", which unfortunately did not appear as we had hoped.


But: After the trip is before the trip......

Weisenbach , Deutschland

48° 43' 46.8" N 8° 21' 13.9" E

48.7296780 8.3538550