Ferry travel
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
August 5, 2012 10:53am CST
Today my friend told me about the trip that he is planning. He and his friends are going to sail from Copenhagen to Oslo in Norway. They will spend some time in Oslo before they return to Copenhagen and he really looks forward to the trip.
I have been to Norway, but when I was there we sailed from Hanstholm in northern Denmark to Bergen. In the past we also sailed from Denmark to Sweden, but today there is a bridge.
The first times I visited the UK I sailed from Esbjerg to Harwich. When I was going to Prague I sailed from Gedser in southern Denmark to Rostock in Germany.
Is it possible to sail from your country to the neighbour country? Do you ever choose to sail from your country to your destination? Or do you prefer to fly if isn't possible to travel overland?
5 responses
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
7 Aug 12
I've been taken ferries from Norway to and fro Germany, Denmark and Sweden, and taken the ferry back from Iceland vie the Faroes and Shetland. Sadly, Smyril Line is only sailing to and fro Iceland, the Faroes and Denmark now, and it's a bit too far south in Denmark to drive there. It would be cheaper to rent a car there. I checked when Eyjafjallajökull erupted, if they had still sailed from Bergen, I would have taken have gone there :-)
I think the main problem with all the ferries going between the Nordic countries and Germany/Estonia etc are all the drunken people :-) I took a hydrofoil from Helsinki to Tallinn this summer, it was great and it was no drunken people there, but according to my Finnish friends the ferries are filled with drunken Finns trying to get more drunk. The ones to Denmark and Sweden from Norway are filled with drunken Norwegians, between Sweden and Finland there's loud drunken Swedes and not so loud but even more drunken Finns, and on Smyril Line the Norwegians and the Icelanders suddenly understood eachother perfectly :-)
I live a bit to far north to take the ferry regularly though. I think a ferry from here to Iceland would make sense, as it would be going straight west and shorter than going from Denmark. I'd like to go back to the Faroes at some point, so I might fly to Iceland, stay there for some time, take the ferry to Thorshavn and then fly back via Copenhagen. Must be flights from Thorshavn to Copenhagen.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Aug 12
Yes, it is true that there are many drunk people on the ferries. I have travelled between Denmark and Norway and between Sweden and Finland, but I have never sailed from Finland to Estonia, but I might try that when I visit Estonia again. My husband hasn't been to Finland and we would like to combine a trip to Estonia and Finland. I have friends from the Faroe islands (they live in Denmark) but I have never visited the Faroe islands or Iceland. Your response inspired me to check the website of the Smyril line. I could be interesting to visit Iceland and the Faroe islands on the same trip. I would sail from Denmark to Iceland, from Iceland to the Faroe islands and from the Faroe islands to Denmark.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Aug 12
It is interesting to hear that you found it easier to understand the Faroese when they speak Danish. I met some people from the Faroe islands in Denmark and I like the way that they speak, I think that their way of speaking is charming I find Norwegian slightly easier to understand than Swedish, but I don't understand everything I think that it could be interesting to visit the Faroe islands one day. Some of my classmates went there in the past, but I wasn't able to join them at that time.
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
8 Aug 12
I really liked the Faroes. A lot easier to understand the Faroese when they speak Danish than you Danes, it sounds more like Norwegian :-) You can actually hear what's vowels and what's consonants :-)
We rented a car and drove a bit around, driving was a bit crazy here and there. Narrow, windy roads, cars coming the opposite direction, steep hillside up on the left side, straight down for about 50 meters on the rights side, and half the road blocked by sheep! So a bit like Iceland, except that there's usually not steep hillsides there, but volcanoes :-)
1 person likes this
@doroffee (4222)
• Hungary
6 Aug 12
Well, I'm not sure. Maybe on the Danube... but I haven't tried. It would fun, though, and I'm not seasick at all, so I'd go for it. But I've taken a ferry to visit a place in my own country when I was little and I really enjoyed it... it toook us from a beach of a lake to another beach :).
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
7 Aug 12
In 2010 when I visited Bratislava I stayed in a botel (a boat turned into a hotel) on the Danube. It a nice experience and there was a great view from the boat. On the cruise on the Danube would also be nice, I would like to try that one day. I know that you have lakes in Hungary, but I have never visited any of them. I went to Budapest 12 years ago and next time I would like to explore other parts of Hungary.
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
7 Aug 12
I thought about taking the boat from Vienna to Bratislava this summer, but I decided to go west to Wachau instead. I was supposed to take the boat from Vienna to Budapest several years ago when I was at a conference in Vienna and then went to a conference in Budapest, but since the Danube was flooded and filled with big tree trunks and other stuff we had to take the bus.
1 person likes this
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
7 Aug 12
I used to live in Kent, a county in South East England. My nearest city was closer to Calais in France than my home country's capital city, London. I liked to go on the ferry from Dover in England to Calais in France. At one time I went on a hover speed from Dover to Ostend in Belgium. In my university days I traveled from Holy Head in Wales to a suburb of Dublin on the high speed sea cat. There used to be a luxury ferry from Sheerness in Kent to a Dutch port. From there it was a train connection on to Amsterdam.
I loved traveled over land and sea from Kent to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I had an inter rail pass and traveled by train all around Europe. I reached Finland by air, then used my rail pass and came home on the hover speed from Ostend in Belgium to Dover in England. Now I live in Somerset I miss the channel crossing that I used to do.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Aug 12
It must have been nice to live so close to France. If I lived close to another country I think that would visit that country often. My brother lives very close to the German border and he often visits Germany. It is nice that you also had the chance to travel to Belgium by ferry. I want to visit Beligum, the Netherlands and Luxembourg one day. I have been there, but it was many years ago. I think that an interrail pass is a great way to travel because you are able to visit many different countries. I bought an interrail pass two years ago and I plan on buying an interrail again and exploring some of the countries where I haven't been yet.
@natliegleb (5175)
• India
5 Aug 12
i certainly love travelling and i recollect a wonderful ferry experience for me with my best friends when we to a hill station and we want to ferry by ourself and we were able to get the documents signed for ferrying but,i really wanna try ferrying one country to another.actually how long did it take to ferry for you.air travel can be realised for a short span of time whereas ferries can bring lovable and good memories always
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
5 Aug 12
Yes, a ferry trip takes much longer, and if our time is limited a ferry trip might not be the best option. If I have enough time I enjoy travelling by ferry. I enjoy looking at the view from the ferry. I especially enjoyed the ferry trip from Hirtshals in Denmark to Bergen in Norway. The view from the ferry was very beautiful and I took many pictures. I have some very happy memories from that trip.
@janiewhite35 (163)
•
5 Aug 12
I have always wanted to go on a nice cruise somewhere, canada, american, antartica, even up a river in germany or france or sail to gran canaria.
The cruises here cost a fortune though and we are not able to afford a cruise. I hope that one day we can, i would love to see different countries in a nice relaxing way.
I think a cruise would be really enoyable, something i have always really really wanted to do.
There are some fabulous looking cruise ships about these days, with everything on borad you could ever want, i think it would be the holiday of a lifetime
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
5 Aug 12
I am not able to afford a cruise either, but I think that it must be an amazing experience. I think that there are a lot of interesting places where you can go on a cruise for instance the the Caribbean sea. It is one of my dreams to go on a cruise in the Caribbean one day. I would also like to on a cruise in Russia. I have found a cruise that I am interested in, but it is too expensive for my budget. I think that it would be a very relaxing way to spend a vacation. I hope that both of us will get the chance to go on a cruise one day