Today was another great day in Estonia. On our way to the border town of Narva, we stopped at a place that was once top secret.

Sillamäe is a small town on the northern coast and used to be one of the Soviet Union’s closed cities. It was kept off maps and sealed off to outsiders until the early 1990s. Back in the day, it played a big role in the Soviet nuclear program, processing uranium for atomic weapons. Entry was strictly controlled, and the whole place was heavily guarded. It was pretty surreal wandering around, knowing its secretive past. There are still a lot of Soviet buildings from the Stalin era, and I found the town really interesting.

Our next stop was Narva, right on the border with Russia, separated only by a river. I loved this place! We walked along the river, looking across at Russia. Just over the water were colourful houses, or mansions really, judging by their size. It looked like any other well-off European city, which I guess it is. But the best part was still to come.

On the Estonian side of the river is a huge castle. On the Russian side? An even bigger one. It felt like the two were in a permanent stand-off. There’s a footbridge connecting the two, but it’s heavily guarded, and you need a visa to cross. We wandered around the Estonian castle, free to explore, with hardly any tourists around. I don’t know why more people don’t come here. In Tallinn, we saw loads of English and American visitors, but here it was just a few locals out enjoying their Sunday.

We tried to leave the castle a different way but ended up having to take a long detour around the border. There was a big line of people waiting to cross into Russia. I wish I had the confidence to interview them and ask where they were from, but alas, I don’t… so we’ll never know. St. Petersburg is only about a two-hour drive from the other side, so that might explain it. The crossing here is only for foot traffic, but we saw buses with “St Petersburg” as the destination. We figured they drop people off at the border, and another bus picks them up on the other side.

After Narva, we headed south and stopped at a convent with a beautiful Russian Orthodox church, similar to one we’d seen in Tallinn. There were a few people around. Babushkas in headscarves, people crossing themselves in that Catholic style. I felt like a phony, not a religious bone in my body, as I stood there marvelling at the onion-domed cathedral. The whole place had a real sense of peace, and the grounds were quiet and beautiful.

Then it was time to find a camping spot for the night. I’d saved a few forest sites to check out, but I’m not a fan of forest camping . Too many mozzies! Still, it’s free, so we gave them a look. It turns out it must be school holidays here, because the locals were out in full force, camping in the woods, music blaring, fires burning. Not really our vibe. We passed at least three camps like this. We finally found one that wasn’t too crowded, but the second we got out of the car, we got attacked and bitten. Abort! Abort!

We kept driving until we found a lovely spot right by a lake. Still a few mozzies, but at least we’re not surrounded by trees. We didn’t even have to cook dinner as we had a sausage from the local service station. Almost as good as Norway!

Today was in interesting day that started with an accidental sleep in. I woke up, looked at my watch and it was 9.45am! That is unheard of for me!

We started with a quick supermarket shop. I’m loving the different foods they have here. I got a couple of pastry type things that looked a bit like enclosed sausage rolls. Mine had cabbage inside, and Mikes had meat. They were delicious. I also bought some pickled cabbage and roasted chicken pieces to have for lunch. I do love me some good pickled cabbage.

As we left the small village of Loksa, we noticed lots of Soviet-era abandoned buildings. For some reason I find this fascinating. We stopped to explore one of the old buildings. It felt surreal, stepping through a crumbling doorway into a space that, not so long ago, would have been completely off-limits and probably even top secret. A lone security camera was still mounted on the building, adding an eerie layer to the atmosphere. Were we being monitored? Or was it a relic from the past? 

These buildings have likely been empty since Estonia regained its independence in 1991. One building still had faded curtains fluttering in the broken windows.

We continued driving along the north east of Estonia, no great plan. We are the worst tourists, and google isn’t much help either. We stopped at a little food truck set up on the seaside that was selling smoked perch, so we stopped and had some for a snack. It was yummy.

Then we turned down a rutted gravel road, with no idea what we’d find. In the distance, I spotted some castle ruins, and this excited me. So we took a short walk to check it out.

It turned out to be Toolse Castle, an impressive structure perched on the edge of the Baltic Sea. Though crumbling, it’s still clinging to the life, hanging on since the 1400s. It’s one of the northernmost medieval castles in Europe. Wandering around the ruins was fascinating, and best of all, it was free to visit. Bonus!

Tonight we are camping in a campground again as the free spots we’ve seen are not that great. We are planning to go to Narva tomorrow, a town on the border with Russia.

Today we left the city of Tallin, and headed east for Lahemaa national park. We had a bog walk lined up that we wanted to do. It sounds gross eh, but it’s actually quite cool.

Viru Bog is one of Estonia’s most famous peat bogs, and it’s really neat. You walk along a wooden boardwalk that winds through twisted little pine trees, rust-red mosses, and dark pools that reflect the sky. It feels untouched, probably because you would sink and drown if you stepped of the boardwalk. But even if you did, you wouldn’t disappear completely. Keep reading and I’ll tell you why!

The bog here is ancient. The peat beneath is up to metres deep, built up over thousands of years. And it grows about 1 millimetre each year. 

Even cooler, bogs are great at preserving things. Because the water is low in oxygen and packed with peat, things don’t rot like they normally would. Archaeologists have found ancient tools, animals, even human remains in bogs, perfectly preserved after thousands of years. So Viru Bog is basically a time capsule. 

It’s also full of life. Tiny insect-eating plants, birds, frogs, and bugs all call this place home. It’s strange, peaceful, and a little bit spooky. But definitely not gross.

After our walk, we found a camping ground. It was only 1pm, and Mike said it was too early to stop, but I put my put down. We needed to shower, do laundry, and most importantly, empty our toilet!

It was a really nice spot overlooking the Baltic sea. And the sun had come out and it was toasty warm. We had our much needed showers, and put our laundry on. The washing machine had signs asking not to touch the buttons. So we loaded up, pressed start, and were surprised to see it would take 4 hours! Is this washing machine so smart it knows how dirty our clothes are? Was it like, FFS, I’m gonna need 4 hours to get that smell out! (We had been doing hand washing so I don’t think it was that bad) I’ve never known a wash to take that long before, but we just had to roll with it. The lady on reception didn’t speak very good English, and it seemed more of an effort to let her know. Just as well we stopped early!

We spent the afternoon lounging in our chairs, soaking up the sun and the view of the calm sea. It was hard to believe we were in a campground. It felt more like a freedom camping spot that we had to pay for. Apparently this place gets very busy in summer, so I think we got lucky being a Friday night and it being quiet. They even had internet, so I was able to upload next weeks video.

This is what I love about campervan travel.  It’s the little things you learn to appreciate, like sunshine, clean clothes (eventually) and a nice view.

Today we were up bright and early to drive to Helsinki and catch a ferry to Tallinn, Estonia. It’s about a one-hour drive to Helsinki, and since our ferry was at 10:30 am, we planned to leave at 8:00 to arrive by 9:00. In the end, we left at 7:00, and still only made it there at 9:00! We got a bit lost along the way. Finland didn’t exactly make it easy to find the ferry terminal.

The ferry was super big and super flash. It was also super crowded. But we managed to find a seat at the rear of the boat which was covered in glass. So, out of the wind and cold, but still with a nice view.

It was a 2 hour crossing to Estonia, and it went very smoothly. When we arrived we parked in a carpark in the main city of Tallinn. It was a paid carpark, but we were able to stay the night and it wouldn’t cost us more than 18 euros for a 24 hour period. And it was right on the edge of the old town so that was ideal.

We walked up a steep hill and the first thing we saw was the old Russian orthodox church. But first, a little history about Estonia. Estonia’s been passed around a bit over the centuries. First, it was taken over by Danish and German crusaders in the 1200s, then ruled by the Teutonic Order – a German religious-military group. After that, the Swedes took over in the 1500s, followed by the Russian Empire in the early 1700s. Estonia declared independence in 1918, but during World War II it was occupied by the Soviets, then the Nazis, and then the Soviets again. It wasn’t until 1991 that Estonia became fully independent, and it’s stayed that way ever since.

So that’s why there’s a Russian Orthodox church sitting at the top of the hill. It was really striking with its bulbous onion domes and it’s got to be the coolest church I’ve ever seen. It’s called the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and was built in the late 1800s when Russia was still in charge. 

Tallinn is such a neat town full of charm, cobbled streets, and medieval towers that make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. We spent the day wandering around, taking in the old stone walls, colourful buildings, and hidden courtyards. Every corner had something interesting, whether it was a quirky shop, a creepy pub, or a view over the rooftops.  It’s the kind of place that’s perfect for our type of exploring with no real plan. And the guys here talk with a kind of Dracula accent which makes it extra cool!

I wanted to go for a medieval feast at one of the tourist restaurants, where they all dress in character from the period. A guy with a Dracula accent almost talked me into it, but Mike reckoned it would be too touristy, so we opted for a normal restaurant just on the edge of the old town. It was actually really good. 

We had a great day being tourists, and exploring the old town. It was just so nice to be able to walk around and see something other than trees and not get attacked by mozzies.

The first part of the day was a driving day, the second part much more interesting. The weather was awful today. As we were driving along the main road, the rain pelted down, so heavy at times that the road ahead disappeared in the blur of water and wiper blades. Puddles formed, and every passing truck sent up a wave that swamped us.

Visibility dropped to just a few metres, and I found myself literally gripping the edge of my seat. We decided it wasn’t worth pushing on blindly, so first opportunity we pulled into a service station to wait it out.

The service station just happened to sell sausages that looked a lot like the ones we enjoyed in Norway. But looks can be deceiving. This one wasn’t wrapped in bacon, and the first bite confirmed it was more of a standard hotdog than the smoky, savoury version we remembered. Not terrible, but definitely not the same. Still, it filled the gap while we waited out the worst of the weather.

We drove for 4 or 5 hours in the terrible weather before arriving in the small town of Porvoo, just an hour’s drive from Helsinki. We parked in a free carpark where we can also stay the night.

It was just a short walk into the old town, but this wasn’t your typical European historic centre. Instead of the usual stone or brick buildings, Porvoo’s charm was in its beautifully preserved wooden houses, many of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. I’m not surprised they are made of wood, with all the forests we have seen! We wandered around the cobblestoned streets admiring the different coloured houses. The iconic red shore houses lining the river added to the town’s uniqueness, but there was construction going on so it was hard to get a good view.

We went to a restaurant overlooking the river and it was by far the best meal I’ve had in a long time. I had the chicken katsu poke bowl, and I have no idea how they packed so much flavour into a salad! Mike had the steak with a chimmichuri sauce.

We ummed and aahed about exploring Helsinki, but we don’t do big cities very well. So we booked a ferry to Estonia for the morning. It meant an early start to the day, but it was the cheapest ferry for the next few days.

Our night in the carpark wasn’t exactly peaceful and I had a bit of trouble falling asleep. I looked out the window at 1:00 am as I quite often do, and it was dark!  After so many nights under the magic light of the midnight sun, the darkness felt strange.  It was a reminder that we were moving on, and that a unique chapter of the journey had ended.

Okay, I’m done sugar-coating it: I am officially over forests and mosquitoes. Finland, I wanted to love you. I really did.  I was hoping for solitude and reflection, instead I got pine trees and itchy bites. Norway set the bar high, and it seems like Finland tripped over it and face planted into a swamp.

That sounds really mean, but it hasn’t been all bland. We’ve had some stunning camping spots, viewed through the van window of course, because stepping outside means donating blood to the locals. On the upside, it’s been warmer, so we haven’t needed to worry about our diesel heater being on holiday. I’m just wondering if It knew what was coming! 

Originally, we’d planned to explore here, but we’re now fast-tracking it south toward Helsinki,  where we hope to catch a ferry to Estonia so we can explore eastern Europe. It’s time to leave the wilderness and vampires behind and become tourists, exploring historic cities and cobblestoned streets.

Today was mostly highway driving, though to be fair, in Finland the scenery doesn’t really change whether you’re on a main road or a goat track. The only real difference is how often a logging truck overtakes you.

But then, just when we were ready to leave, Finland drew us back in. Tonight, we stumbled upon a free camp spot by a perfectly calm lake, the kind of place that makes you forget all your petty complaints. The pine trees reflecting in the water were perfect, like a forest growing upside down. It’s like Finland wasn’t happy with the amount of trees it already had and decided it needed MORE! 

We admired the view for a few minutes and promptly fell asleep.

We had a slow start to the morning. Neither of us wanted to get out of bed too early, as we didn’t have a diesel heater to warm us up!

Today we drove through more beautiful pine trees, and sometimes even birch trees! And another  thing Finland has going for it, is it has great supermarkets. We struggled to get decent fresh food in Norway, but here in Finland there is a great selection of stuff. So I had a smoked salmon salad for lunch and Mike had a smoked salmon roll.

We hunted around for a new pump for our diesel heater, but nowhere stocked it. So it will probably have to wait until we’re back in England. We’re hoping it won’t matter as the sun was shining today, and when the temperature reached 14 degrees we stripped down to shorts and t-shirts.

Today we crossed the Arctic circle line again. On the border was the Santa Claus Village, so of course we had to stop and have a look. There were only two tour buses there so it wasn’t too busy. We wandered into the Santa Claus Village, used their toilets, then left. It was sad to be leaving the arctic, it has probably been my most favourite part of the trip, especially in the far north.

The rest of the day was spent driving through forests. It was relentless… I mean beautiful. The other thing Finland has going for it, is restaurants that are open. I’d been yearning to eat out in Norway, to try the local cuisine, but we didn’t find a restaurant open for the entire trip, apart from the reindeer stew we had at the arctic circle centre. So when we stumbled on a restaurant in the middle of nowhere at dinner time, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for some local Finnish cuisine. I had a burger and Mike had a steak. It was yummy.

Then came the time to hunt for a camping spot. The first spot I had lined up was beside a lake. As we drove down the rutted dirt road, ahead looked like somewhere we might get stuck. So I got out to check and as I was walking down, I was swarmed by mosquitoes. And ants! I ran back to the car, and a pile of mozzies and an ant had followed me in. I caught the ant biting me on the ankle, so I swiftly put an end to him.

We aborted that camping spot, and continued. We eventually settled on a spot overlooking a lake. It’s off the road and is very peaceful at the moment. There are a few mozzies around, but I think that is to be expected this time of year. I can hear a dirt bike in the distance. At least I think it’s a dirt bike and not a really angry mosquito.

Ok, it’s not quite a disaster, but it will mean a change to our trip. The day started like this.

We had a quiet night sleep next to Russia and headed on this morning. We stopped in the town of Kirkenes but it was Sunday and everything was shut. So, we continued on our way south. Thankfully we didn’t have to backtrack too much before we turned off towards Finland.

It was a cold dreary day, as we drove into Finland, admiring all their wonderful pine trees. It’s probably been cold and dreary other days, but we never noticed as the scenery was too busy wowing us.

We stopped at a scenic little spot where tree islands dotted the lake, and water trickled over some rocks. It was pretty but too cold to sit outside. We had some lunch, then settled down for an afternoon nap. I snuggled under my blanket but it was still cold, so I put our trusty diesel heater on. Except It’s decided not to be trusty anymore. The frikking thing has stopped working! It’s like It decided that as we are heading south, It’s no longer needed. It’s going on its summer holidays. Prick. But to be fair, It has done us well in Norway. Imagine if It had decided to pack up in the middle of a snow storm!

I’m sure Finland has its own charm but it’s very hard to find it in the forests. Or maybe that is the charm! We had two failed walks today. The first one headed downhill to a lake, and was supposed to go around the lake, but it was very overgrown. And we couldn’t be bothered with it. Our second hike was from the Aurora village, which was deserted for the summer. It was a pretty trail through the trees, but when bird sized mosquitoes came at us, we retreated quickly to the van. I had head nets in the van, but hadn’t thought to take them with us!

Today we drove through forests, alongside lakes, and through tourist villages, set up for the northern lights. We are thinking we’d like to come back some time to see the auroras, from September onwards (not this year)

As our heater has packed up, we now have a new system. We drive until it’s time to go to bed. Then the car will be warm from driving, and bed is always warm. This means we’ll be heading south much quicker than expected.

Maybe we’ll just keep driving until we hit warmer weather. But then there is the fact we have no air-conditioning in our cab. So no doubt I’d then be suffering from the heat (I mean, I’m stripping off when it’s 15 degrees at the moment!). So at this point I will shut the fuck up and stop talking about the weather because we’re in Europe having an amazing holiday.

Around 8pm, I found a perfectly good camping spot in a clearing in the forest. No wind, no people, but not particularly scenic. Just trees… and gravel. And staying the night didn’t fit in with our plans to drive until sleep time. So we cooked our dinner there instead. Soup and garlic bread, the perfect winter treat. Then we continued driving. I’d found another spot by a lake about 30 minutes away, but when we arrived, there was scaffolding lying around ready to be erected. Plus a whole lot of power lines and a power station. Yeah… not for us.

As we drove, we kept checking side roads for little pull-offs, but some had ropes or stones blocking the way, clear signs they were private. We saw plenty of campervans parked in pull-offs along the main road, but that wasn’t for us. We’d have to be really desperate to sleep there.

At 9pm, we turned down a gravel road off the main highway, trees on one side and a lake on the other and no mozzies that I could see. It was the perfect spot, sheltered from the wind, no traffic, and nobody else around. And the car was still warm from the drive.

Grense Jakobselv

Today we left our charming arctic ocean spot and tiki-toured to another town called Batsfjord. We stocked up on supplies, then back-tracked as everything is an in and out road here.

We had decided to start heading south, but as we drove, I realised I wasn’t quite ready to leave Norway behind. There was still one more place where we could reach the Arctic Ocean, in the far east of Norway, near the Russian border. So we made a last-minute decision to take the detour.

It was a two-hour drive to the town of Kirkenes, which is Norway’s only legal border crossing with Russia. The journey was stunning and the road followed a fjord, with rocky mountains rising steeply on one side. Across the water, we could see the area we’d been a few days earlier. I know my descriptions probably all sound the same: fjord, mountain, snow, rocks. But somehow, this road had its own unique beauty. I don’t know how Norway does it, but it’s beautiful at every bend.

On the way, we had to pull over for a huge herd of reindeer crossing the road. There were hundreds of them, streaming across on an important mission. They came in all shapes and sizes, some white, some black, big ones and babies. It was really cool to see.

We decided not to stop in Kirkenes and carried along a narrow, bumpy, winding road that led us towards the Arctic Ocean, to a remote spot called Grense Jakobselv. About half an hour in, the road turned to gravel, and the landscape felt more rugged and remote. Then, through gaps in the trees, we caught our first glimpses of Russia, so close. Soon, the border markers appeared: tall yellow posts on the Norwegian side, and bright red ones on the Russian side. The closest we got was about ten metres.

The final ten kilometres hugged the Russian border, with only a narrow river separating us. It felt surreal, like we were brushing up against another world that looked exactly like this one! 

We drove all the way to the end of the road, expecting solitude as we hadn’t seen any vehicles on the way in. So it was a bit of a shock to find about five campervans crammed together like sardines, all lined up for the same sea view. Admittedly, it was a lovely spot: white sandy beach, endless ocean. But camping elbow-to-elbow with others wasn’t exactly our style. And there was no view of Russia from here anyway… so really, what was the point?

So we rattled our way back along the gravel road for a short way and found a large pull-off to camp for the night, no one else in sight. Just how we like it. To our right, dramatic cliffs; to our left, Russia. And casually wandering through the middle… reindeer. The sun was out, the view was incredible, and for a moment, it felt like there was peace in the world.

We wandered down to the border post and peered into the river. Someone had laid a rocky path leading out to a small island in the middle. Tempting, but definitely not worth getting shot over, not with three watchtowers staring us down: two Russian, one Norwegian. 

It felt like the end of the road in more ways than one. Gravel behind us, Russia beside us, and the ocean ahead. Tomorrow it’s time to turn around and head south. But what a place to end our trip in Norway.

We loved our Arctic Ocean spot so much we decided to stay another night.

Mike was convinced he saw a whale over spent a good part of the morning filming that. I think it was just rocks.

It was a strange sunny day so we decided to put our feet in the Arctic Ocean. It was like putting our feet in a bucket of ice. I’ve never felt water so cold! The Arctic last year was much warmer.

I spent the day editing and Mike worked on our maps and our Patreon page. We even sat outside on our chairs in the sun.

In the afternoon the wind picked up and it got bitterly cold, so we packed everything up and brought it inside and stuck our heater on. It was too blustery to enjoy the midnight sun so we were in bed by 9pm.