Dwti Draig

So we eventually got around to actually sitting down and starting to plan our trip. Exciting times, right? Only it proved to be harder than we expected. 

It was not made any easier by not having any preconceived ideas other than we want to go via the Harwich – Hook of Holland ferry. That’s it! That’s all we have decided on. No idea on dates other than some time mid to late August, so it makes it hard to search for the ideal time or price. 

That’s almost the easiest bit to sort. After that things get way more complicated. What do we do next? Do we go Germany to Sweden then onto Finland? Or do we go Germany straight to Finland?

I thought I’d take a little look at Direct Ferries to get a little insight. Duh, not a good idea. I soon had spreadsheets with distances from Harwich to the German ferries such as Kiel, Travemunde and Rostock to work out driving times and distances, which soon evolved into a need for a spreadsheet that categorised the 5 different ferry companies that sail to Sweden with so many different possible sailings from 3 different German ports to different Swedish ports, some of which we’d never heard of. Then we would need more on the spreadsheet to work out possible ferries from Sweden to Finland. Plus we would need more entries to look at different sailings from Germany to Finland. We would also need to look at the costs involved in driving distances involved and offset the cost of fuel against the cost of the ferry. All without being able to drive the damn ferries as we have no idea of dates! Agghhh. Anyway, I’m useless at spreadsheets, and the local spreadsheet expert is too busy building the bloody truck in order to even be able to leave home to even consider making a spreadsheet, no matter how nicely I ask!

So I think it’s going to be down to a toss of a coin…… maybe Kapellskar to Naantali, or Travemunde to Helsinki. We loved the Baltic coast of Sweden when we last visited, but is it time for a change and a 30 hour ferry direct to Finland? Like I said…… decisions, decisions!