I am going on an adventure in Febuary 2007, the exact dates aren't yet known...

It is 6,250 miles, 18 DIFFERENT countries, all in 14 days.

It won't be cheap because of all the mileage, however fuel is cheaper the further east you go. Plus accomadation, I prefer cheap and tacky to plush and expensive myself. You will also need a set of winter tyres and a set of studded tyres. Which will be fairly expensive. I am looking into sponsorship!!

I plan to make the journey in an Octavia 4x4 Estate (A 1.8T one).

If anyone is interested and can make the trip please PM me to discuss more.

Wowzers! That sounds awesome. Hope it goes OK mate. Is it for charity?

Yeah going to be giving a portion of any sponsorship I get to charity. But I am not sure exactly what ratio! Maybe 35% or even 50% depending on how much I can raise.

I pretty much have the route finalised.

These are stages. There are plenty other large towns I drive through!

Calais (France) - Lubeck (Germany)

Lubeck (Germany) - Norrkoping (Sweden)

Norrkoping (Sweden) - Ornskoldsvik (Sweden)

Ornskoldsvik (Sweden) - Kiruna (Sweden)

Kiruna (Sweden) - Tromso (Norway)

Tromso (Norway) - Ivalo (Finland)

Ivalo (Finland) - Murmansk (Russia)

Murmansk (Russia) - Petrozavodsk (Russia)

Petrozavodsk (Russia) - Tallinn (Estonia)

Tallinn (Estonia) - Minsk (Belarus)

** Going through Riga (Latvia) & Vilnius (Lithuania)**

Minsk (Belarus) - Krakow (Poland)

Krakow (Poland) - Wien (Austria)

** Going through Budapest (Hungary) & Bratislava (Slovakia) **

Wien (Austria) - Luxembourg (Kind of obvious)

Luxembourg (...Luxembourg) - Calais (France)

That what I am pretty sure I will be doing. I just need to arrange places to stay!

I don't have a name for it.. Any suggestions?

I'll check the distances tonight, but I think you may be being a tad optimistic on the distances to be travelled in thde day for the more northerly stages.

Take lots of chocolate with you

Most stages are 400 - 500 miles a day.

I have been known to drive for much further in one go. I drove to Alicante without stopping, that was 16-17 hours I believe.

You'll be lucky to average 30 on the northern sections, bearing in mind it will be snowy, icy and rather dark. Also, note that if the weather turns bad (or should that be worse ) it could be even slower.

Are you planning on a support vehicle? May be a good idea as a convoy of 1 is not a great idea at that time of year.....

Yeah that's why I am advertising everywhere I can!!

I need more like minded people to come with me.

Ideally I would like 2 more cars to come just in case there is a problem!

Surely the other a few other of the 61 people who have viewed this can share their thoughts.

Would enjoy doing something similar, but with me being a wuss I'd sooner kind of do a france, spain, portugal, spain, france, italy, Switzerland, austria, germany, poland (south ) Czech, slovakia, hungary and down toward Greece.

Yeah I know what you mean.

I have done driving around pleasent climates already.

I fancy doing something totally different and freezing cold!

Maybe 2008 I shall do very warm?

But for 2007, I am sticking with my final answer of freezing my nuts off.

Should make an interesting trip.

Sounds a very interesting route.

Have you considered taking in the Czech Republic as well (and maybe calling at the Skoda factory). Might even be able to tap your delaer up for a bit of sponsorship if you do that!

Now if it were the sunnier climes you were heading to I would be seriously tempted

Just reviewed the route - hate to say it but I think you will have big problems with the sections up north ie Kiruna - Tromso, Tromso - Ivalo, Ivalo - Murmansk. The rest will be cold but passable, the above sections may not, at least in what you are driving.

best of luck m8. u must have some balls on yea. probably fall off u up there.

Put an FAO out for all Scandinavian members to review your route, get some input from them. We have quite a few Swedish members, a couple from Norway and some in Finland. I've met some of them so I'll drop them a mail and get them to have a look at your proposed route......

Just reviewed the route - hate to say it but I think you will have big problems with the sections up north ie Kiruna - Tromso, Tromso - Ivalo, Ivalo - Murmansk. The rest will be cold but passable, the above sections may not, at least in what you are driving.

...Uh-oh...

Is it really that bad??

Best of luck to you, going to follow these threads with great intregue.

I pretty much have the route finalised.

These are stages. There are plenty other large towns I drive through!

Calais (France) - Lubeck (Germany)

Lubeck (Germany) - Norrkoping(Sweden)

Jankoping (Sweden) - Ornskoldsvik (Sweden)

Ornskoldsvik (Sweden) - Kiruna (Sweden)

Kiruna (Sweden) - Tromso (Norway)

Tromso (Norway) - Ivalo (Finland)

Ivalo (Finland) - Murmansk (Russia)

Murmansk (Russia) - Petrozavodsk (Russia)

Petrozavodsk (Russia) - Tallinn (Estonia)

Tallinn (Estonia) - Minsk (Belarus)

** Going through Riga (Latvia) & Vilnius (Lithuania)**

Minsk (Belarus) - Krakow (Poland)

Krakow (Poland) - Wien (Austria)

** Going through Budapest (Hungary) & Bratislava (Slovakia) **

Wien (Austria) - Luxembourg (Kind of obvious)

Luxembourg (...Luxembourg) - Calais (France)

That what I am pretty sure I will be doing. I just need to arrange places to stay!

I don't have a name for it.. Any suggestions?

Your third stage seems a bit strange? Jonkoping is an hour and a half drive south ( at best) of Norrkoping (end stage 2) then you'd drive up past it again??????

Yeah sorry. Jankoping is a town I am stopping not a start point!

I shall edit.

Well I know that the journey from Lubeck to Norrkoping takes a good 13 hours if you do it straight ( Puttgarden,Denmark,Helsingor, Helsingborg,Norrkoping ) and if the traffic is bad then it'll be much longer especially that time of the year. Alternative is to go over bridge to malmo but think that is longer.

Also drive from Norrkoping to Ornskoldsvik take a while too and at that time of year you'll be lucky to do 90 kph with the snow.

Would definitely recommend a support vehicle and another driver in your car cos believe me driving for that distance when all you see is snow flakes coming at you doesn't half drain you. It'll make you a much better driver though!!

13 Hours... wow...

I worked it out at 9 hours plus a few stops.

Yeah I need to find a co-pilot/navigator. I might auction the seat on ebay or something to raise some funds!

I like the idea of testing myself, plus like you say I will probably learn quite a bit from it aswell.