O.K. Roy and the rest of you, we mentioned it off-line, and someone had to start posting on this section.
What about the Baltic Sea Expedition ? Are we up for it, or what ?
You all know, I have rather a lot on right now, but I still fancy this trip later this year if any of you are SERIOUSLY interested.
I recon it will take about ten days solid driving, so allow three weeks to have plenty of time to smell the roses etc.
Basicaly, what I am thinking of is to circumnavigate the Baltic Sea. It will be mainly a road trip, possibly with the odd off-road excursion and camping most of the time. I would suggest a night in a motel / hotel for a bath when necessary, or, in other words when we all begin to smell like a herd of sweaty goats !
According to Auto Route, it's about 4600 miles, so it will be quite a serious undertaking. Spares and maintenance will be a big consideration, but with a number of vehicles, I recon about four or five, backup should not be a serious problem.
Roy, ask Nastia if she has ever been to St Petersburg, it's on the route, but can be by-passed if necessary (visa problems and such). She will obviously be called upon as interpreter, what are her views ?
Come on lets get this show on the road. Give me some feedback.
Cruisermik.

Mik, do you think my little one will be happy on the road for that long? That's the only think that's holding me back right now.
Apart from that I would love to do this trip, but I really think that we should not bypass russia/st petersburg. Nastya has been up there and I'll probably be going next month so I'll check things out. We can sort visa's out for russia no problem, but vehicle entry is complicated - i am already on with this as i plan to drive the land rover over to moscow if any more work comes off in russia.

Without going and looking at a map I can't quite remember the countrys that surround the baltic.. can you list them down here then we can check the requirements and plan the best route into/out off russia.

I'm well up for it especially if the house sells! I should have enough money to back me up then. I agree it would be nice to see a list of countries to cross..

Thought this one would get you going.
As to taking the new arrival on a long trip, only you and Nastya can decide that. I agree it will take considerable thought, but I would rather take one of her age as opposed to one at about three years old. They don't call it 'The terrible twos' for nothing !
I would rather not by-pass Russia, but also realise that entering Russia with a vehicle can be a minefield and I would also be a little concerned about the possibility of hyjack by criminal groups !!!
Hope you get somwhere with the info on vehicle entry. If you do, please let us know A.S.A.P. We would possibly be entering Russia twice, there is a small isolated piece of Russia situated between Poland and Lithuania which you would have to drive round if you did not cross it. So please bear that in mind when enquiring.
As to the countrys we would travel through, see the list below.
U.K.
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Germany
Poland
Russia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Russia (The main bulk of it).
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
Germany(On the way back)
Netherlands(On the way back).
Belgium(On the way back).
France(On the way back).
U.K.
Come on Accywingy and Davido, what about you guys ?
Cruisermik.

That sounds like fun seeing that my girl is 4!
Never mind at least she like the car hehe

Fancy a trip beastie??

nice one, cruiser

i have been half-heartedly planning a trip out to friends in Finland for the last yr. i have been thru EVERY possible permutation with regard land routes and ferry crossings (thank the lord for that wonderful toy, autoroute). however, it should be said that i first considered this undertaking before the LR came into fold - it seemed a lot comfier in a volvo estate.

ultimately, the most interesting route - culturally and geographically speaking - that appealed was working my way the long way round thru germany, poland, the baltic states (latvia etc) and russia. to see krakow, tallinn and st petersburg was high on agenda. but like a lot of life's big ideas...........(took me all this time to get a landy)

as for kids, i have two 5yr olds, and a 6 yr old (telly on blink one year) and i reckon they would cope no bother, even more so if i suggested we do it in a landrover. UNFORTUNATELY, due to afore-mentioned snappers and their determination to make dad buy a big toy, i can't see me having time nor money to join exp'...which i'm gutted about. camping? off-roading ( see http://drive.to/volvovalp ) in scaninavia?? the culture??? are you kidding?! AND i'm not even fussy about the occasional hotel. why ruin all the fun by getting clean?

i haven't gotten as far as checking visa and vehicle entry into russia as yet, so i can't comment on the logistics such an expedition will entail. all i will say is, get on with it and have a blast...and tell us wannabes how good it was. jammy gits

oh, and by the way...my plea for help re: harnesses for back which many have read and none have any ideas. its because quite frankly, there are none. i have exhausted all possibilties and finally came to conclusion it was a false sense of security (necks sideways into shoulder straps?) so lap belts it is. all that for all that

cheers

Hey There Struy,
Thanks for the moral support, we'll probably need all we can get before we are done.
It's somthing I have been kicking about for some time (read - 'years') now, but this time we have a few lads who are keen enough, and can scrape together the time / money to do a trip of this nature.
I'm lucky in that my kids are grown now, and in fact, one of them will no doubt be coming along in his Disco.
I saw a bumper sticker on a car once, it said :-
"If we had known how much fun grandkids are, we'd have had them first"
Believe me, it's true.
As time goes by, I feel drawn more and more to expedition driving, either on or off the blacktop, and yes, I'm looking forward to this trip more and more.
One thing I haven't mentioned to Roy and the others is a short excursion up to the most northerly point in Norway, North Cape, overlooking the Barents Sea. Don't know how that little cherry will go down, so keep it to yourself mate.
Once again, thanks for the support, and we'll keep you posted.
Cruisermik.

hey mik

up north, eh? yes. was another possible route i considered; aberdeen or newcastle to bergen and up and over to finland. ach, so many possibilities. did i mention you're all a bunch of jammy gits?

ferry crossings from estonia to finland are like hopping on a 42 bus. they don't faff around with their boats over there - even on the shorter crossings. in fact, the finns make the trip as a duty free run, and like to let their hair down doing so (you would too if you payed what they pay for their beer). it is an option i guess if russia is too troublesome, and still lets you travel into the far east of europe too. though driving even in the baltic states can be risky enough. swedish colleagues of my wife also confirm this. they strongly advise against travelling with young children, as do our friends in finland.

one last thing....do you think my new garden fence would benefit from being constructed from personally selected, cut and extracted scandic softwood timber. the stuff at my local merchants looks so....uninspiring? if so, would any of you mind testifying this to the wife?? and don't worry, that little 'cherry' is safe with me - not a word.

Well words have been had with the relevant people over here about entry to russia. Fortunately we have people employed here who do nothing but deal with customs, so we have a few contacts. Like I have said before the visas wont be a problem.

Hi struy as well, thanks for your input so far! I'm actually thinking that with my daughter so young that this year would probably be the best time to do it for the next few years. I/we also have the advantage of the fact that my girlfriend is russian and I currently live and drive in russia so have a reasonable amount of knowledge of the pitfalls and problems - the biggest being the authorites rather than the criminals! I've recently over to belorus, and spoke to a few people there regarding travel between europe and belorus. They do it a lot and generally don't have any problems. I'm wondering with poland coming into the eu that this should make things a lot easier, in the past the polish border control has been one of the most difficult to pass through with 'ease'.

Hy Roy,
Thanks for making the enquiries, we can talk about it in greater depth when you & Nastya arrive back here, hopefully sometime soon.
All the best to you both. Sandra says 'Hy Nastya'
Cruisermik.

Hi. I run World 4x4 Adventures with off-roading trips to the Baltics and Russia so you might be interested in looking at our site, seeing as you guys are planning a trip up that way. We'll give you all the pre-trip advice you need and will sort out your paperwork, even escort you through the border as I speak Russian. We also use local 4x4 guides so that you will get the best off-roading experience. We are also involved in humanitarian aid work for anyone interested in giving something back to the places you visit. Have a look at the site www.world4x4.co.uk even just to see how easy it is to get yourselves out there.
Yours, Robb

Hi Robb! Or should I say прйвет. I've had a look at your site and it all looks like great fun. I'm currently living in Moscow but do not know anyone who is into off roading around here. I can't even find and clubs! Also, I have had to leave my beloved land rover at home in the UK, don't want to be risking that on the streets of moscow! Can you tell us how easy it is to get a UK vehicle through the russian border? I understand you have to use a temporary import notice and it lasts for 6 months. Our customs people here just keep saying we can help, but it is gonna cost you a lot in bribes.

(oh and welcome to landyzone)

So, does anyone know if this circum-Baltic trip was ever made? Several of us are interested in doing it in 2006, and would like to benefit from your experiences. Thanks for any help you can provide.