It was a long drive from Göteborg to Hamburg, 614 km to be precise. A good portion of that was spent just driving south in Sweden.
Eloïse pretty much slept through the whole of Denmark. She dropped off as we came over the Øresundsbron and awoke as I was purchasing the ferry ticket at the port in Rødby.
This time, our arrival at the port was perfectly timed and the ferry departed a couple of minutes after we drove aboard. Again, the crossing offered just enough time for some quick duty-free shopping, a light meal and some time for Eloïse on the slide.
On the other side, a frustrating lorry-laden single lane road led away from the port at Puttgarden before finally opening up into a nice, unrestricted stretch of autobahn. The world passes by very quickly at 200 km and nicely elevates your average speed for the day.
We were glad to arrive in Hamburg, where we checked into our final hotel and relaxed for a while. In the evening, we found delicious galettes at Ti Breizh. Highly recommended if you find yourself in the area.
This morning, we looked around Hamburg’s city centre, grabbed some breakfast and then drove the 466 km from Hamburg to Amsterdam. Again, the unrestricted stretches of the autobahn allowed me to enjoy what our car is capable of, but they were few and far between.
Upon arrival in The Netherlands, it was raining lightly. The rain intensified the further we travelled west and it was absolutely pouring down by the time we reached Amsterdam.
Looking back, we had a tremendously successful holiday. Although the time of year was perhaps not the best for visiting even southern Scandinavia, the weather that we had was generally good. It was cold and there wasn’t a lot of sunshine, but it mercifully remained dry for the majority of our stay.
Copenhagen, in hindsight, was a disappointment. I had expected it to be a much more attractive city and feel very distinctive. It was saved by its excellent café culture, but I still can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.
Stockholm, on the other hand, was the surprise hit. I would go as far as to call it a well-kept European secret. You never hear anyone rave about the place and, having been there, it’s a mystery to me why.
Göteborg was somewhere in the middle in terms of its appeal. Our stay was short, though, so it warrants a return trip.
We’ve already started discussing ideas for our summer holiday, by which point there will be four of us. The birth is just a few weeks away now, so I suppose I should do the travel research sooner rather than later.