Instead of sliding this in my own thread I figured it was worthy of its own thread- being quite the monster of a trip, the best part of a year in the planning.
The route had been constantly tweaked, with Norway, Poland and Croatia being knocked off in favour of more time in Sweden and Hungary, due to engineering works in Stockholm mucking up the timetable of the Oslo-Stockholm service, and the farcical nature of Polish reservations along with the fact that I decided I'd rather have a proper look at Budapest than sit on a train to Zagreb and constantly be on the move.
Day 1/26: 26/06/18
And so June 26th had rolled around with me packing my two bags and feeling my back and neck sink a little as I threw them on, with my parents bidding me farewell at Newcastle Central. This was quite a big deal, as I’d never been out of the country alone for more than a few days. It was 185135 taking me along to Manchester Airport on the 10:15 service, being an odd one that calls at Chester-le-Street, Durham then fast to York. It was a smooth journey as far as around Slaithwaite where we found ourselves up the back of the ex-Hull semi fast, meaning that we ended up around 9L into Victoria, before making our way around the Ordsall Chord at a glacial pace where the inevitable announcement was made after just 13 minutes of delay- “The decision has been made to terminate at Piccadilly” which just ticked me off as I knew the thing would clag up Platform 13 while everyone jumped off before getting clearance to go somewhere else. 142028/150101 then trudged in behind with a stop at Mauldeth Road before running fast to the Airport, where I thankfully still had ages.
I availed myself of the 1903 Lounge, which was £31 including fast track security, and had a good two hours to fill up on the food, cut in the middle by a fire alarm meaning that I had quite the view of a bunch of Ryanair planes for a few minutes (not today, Satan) before joining the 16:35 Flybe/Stobart service to London Southend. A nice, half full flight meant that I had a pair of seats to myself and it was a smooth hour’s trip down south where I got myself a single to Stansted (valid for two days so good for the full journey in the morning) for £21.80 and spent some time linear hopping on 321s before noting one of my last TfL 315s out and about. I ended up running through to London, heading to my hotel (easyHotel Old Street) and getting some food before catching 315853 in tow with another unit (my notes for the first day and a half are out of sync and on another phone) and returning to Zone 1 via the Central Line and walking from St Pauls meaning that the system calculated it as a single £1.60 journey despite me going out and around in a massive loop
Manchester Airport 1903 Lounge by Richard Green, on Flickr
Flybe BE6237, approaching Southend by Richard Green, on Flickr
321363, Wickford by Richard Green, on Flickr
315853, Stratford by Richard Green, on Flickr
I then headed for bed, needing to be up early, but that was delayed slightly but the couple next door getting...acquainted, shall we say.
Day 2/26: 27/06/18
I woke up bleary eyed and noted reception as closed, so ended up stealing a post-it from behind the desk, scrawling my room number on it, and sticking the card to it before heading for the 04:40 Stansted Express which left from Platform 13, meaning that we went via Stratford and Temple Mills which was a first for me. This train was also a bit of a stopper, meaning that Cheshunt and Broxbourne were paid a visit before we arrived, the driver doing some utterly terrible French and German announcements (particularly the French where he made up his own words) while I headed for Costa seeing as I was indeed rather early for FR52, the 08:05 Stansted to Stockholm Skavsta. I also availed myself of FastTrack security here as following my horrendous experience of it in April, I did quite feel like actually making my flight. Smart move as the place was packed, while it took me all of three minutes to glide through, and purchase some sunscreen as well as a meal deal from Boots.
It was then a brisk walk to the gate, where I headed forwards to the plane just behind an Arab family (we had Priority boarding passes), and I did think it rather bizarre that the door had just been left open to head to the plane as it was still 20 minutes to departure (out of the 25 that Ryanair have to turnaround). Some ground control twit screamed at us to get back inside and accused us of forcing our way out. The family didn’t speak English so it was down to me to explain that all the doors had been left open and we assumed we were fine to head outside (onto a barriered/segregated path, we weren’t exactly wandering on the tarmac with our eyes shut) but he was still rather tetchy and probed the family even more which started to upset them as they didn’t understand why he was practically yelling. It took me explaining yet again for him to eventually back off and put the barrier across and get on with what he was doing before boarding eventually commenced. I understand that an Airport is a high security environment but staff attitude at Stansted stinks at all levels. A calm and pleasant flight then thankfully followed, with a new layout plane meaning that I actually had some legroom
Ryanair FR52, Stansted. by Richard Green, on Flickr
At Skavsta Airport, I headed for the Flygbussarna Coach to Stockholm. Why coach? Well I could have caught the train, but the local bus to the station was badly timed, and with two seats to myself that reclined, WiFi and sockets, £13 wasn’t a terrible deal for the 75 minute trip. A simple scan of my phone on the reader, a nod from the driver, and away we went. The coaches are timed to flight arrivals too, so no long waits there. I was dumped at T-Centralen, the main station, and headed to buy my smartcard and 24hr pass (useful, meaning it was good until 1pm tomorrow) before descending onto the Metro for a hop to Hötorget, which was where my hotel, the Haymarket by Scandic, was located. A bag dump and a lie down later, I headed off and jumped on the same Metro set (2073/2209/2232) to Gamla Stan where I wandered in the sunshine for the next hour or so, and Stockholm did indeed come across as a very pretty city.
View from Helgeandsholmen, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
Kungstrådgården, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
I ended up walking around to the tram stop of Kungstrådgården for a trip on an Urbos A35 model (similar looking to Edinburgh’s plastic heaps, except it was better in every way) for a full line trip to Waldemarsudde, where I noted a rather large cruise ship making its way out. On my way out of the first station en route, I’d noted a heritage tram in service, and indeed, it was timetabled to be due. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes, no tram of any kind arrived and I was content with getting the first service (an older model, peculiarly just numbered 3) around the loop (single sided trams) and as far as Skansen, where I snapped a shot of the obligatory ABBA museum and walked along to Djurgården Ferry Terminal for a boat across the river to Slussen. It was a rather nice trip, probably the first ferry trip where I hadn’t froze to death, and it was of course included in my pass. From Slussen I had a walk around to the Metro station, and joined a service to Liljeholmen where I nipped into a Supermarket for a drink.
461, Waldemarsudde by Richard Green, on Flickr
View from Djurgården Ferry, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
2157, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Sweden were of course in the World Cup at the time, and the whole store was watching the match when their home team happened to score! Definitely the happiest 7/11 I’ve ever been in I then headed for a tram to Årstaberg, operated by the same Urbos A35s but with a different method of revenue and operation, being under concession to Arriva. You were obliged to touch in prior to boarding on these (whereas the SL ones had you checked on board). After this, I decided to try out the SL network, seeing as it wasn’t valid on Interrail passes. And I soon saw why, considering the Smartcard only with unattended gates model. Though, unlike in Spain, i’m willing to bet that you could probably get yourself some help a lot sharper and not from a complete airhead. But that’s a story for later I jumped on the first service to Stockholm-Södra, noting that these units were fairly pleasant, were walkthrough, and had decent seats. They weren’t very rateable in terms of noise, but hey ho. I followed this up by getting on the service behind all the way to Märsta, the extremity of the network.
6005, Solna by Richard Green, on Flickr
It was empty a few stations prior, seemingly as we’d gone out and beyond into the countryside, and on arrival, I noticed that the service heading back south hadn’t left yet, so I dived across onto it. There was then an announcement from the driver in Swedish before we sat around for a few minutes, eventually taking off back towards Solna, where I jumped off and joined a tram to Solna Centrum for the Metro. And this is where the famous Stockholm Metro stations made an appearance. I'll let the pictures do the talking here, although they do little justice for what I can safely describe as one of the most beautifully dramatic Metro systems in the world.
Solna Centrum (Stockholm Metro) by Richard Green, on Flickr
Solna Centrum, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
2138, Västra Skogen by Richard Green, on Flickr
T-Centralen (Stockholm Metro) by Richard Green, on Flickr
Östermalmstorg, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Stadion, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Stadion, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
After the fun of the Metro, I headed up to Stockholms östra station, and onto another network operated by SL (The narrow gauge Roslagsbanan). It had some older units, and I pondered how far to go, deciding on a few stations out with a walkable Metro Interchange, rather than going all the way out as I was keen to get myself something to eat and shower back at the hotel. I was also rather confused as to how ticket validation worked as all of the validators were out of use but I assumed that nobody would care. When I bailed at Mörby, some RPIs got on, so I guess I narrowly escaped finding out what the answer to that was It was a 5 minute walk to the completely unpronounceable Danderyds sjukhus Metro Station for a trip to Universitetet where I hopped aboard a bus back into Stockholm of Man Lion's City vintage, just for some variety, where I nipped into the Central Station for some dinner.
Stockholms östra Station by Richard Green, on Flickr
Danderyds sjukhus, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Man Lion's City, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
I was greatly amused by a drunk bloke (clearly pleased by the World Cup win) wandering around shirtless with his dog off the leash, accompanied by some rather embarrassed family members. Security came and told him to put the dog on the leash, so he said ‘OKAY!’ and put in on the leash, then let go, argument being that technically he’d done as asked In the end, a family member grabbed the dog and dragged the guy away, having clearly had enough of his nonsense A walk was then had back to my hotel, followed by a much needed sleep.
Day 3/26: 28/06/18
I got up for breakfast at around 6:30, munched down some buffet items, and left my bag in the locker room before heading out for what was to be a split day. Up to 1pm, I was to stick with SL and local transport, then move onto SJ.
Another visit to the Supermarket was made before I joined a Metro all the way to Ropsten, at the northern end of the network. Interchange was possible here with the Lidingöbanan, which has recently been modernised up to standard with Urbos A36 trams. I took one of these to the end of the line at Gåshaga Brygga, which was a pleasant little place that had onward ferry connections. I however decided to stay put, and took the same tram back to Brevik where I’d noted a supermarket, and, dying of thirst, jumped off and got a service 20 minutes behind, bottle of water in hand.
2195, Ropsten by Richard Green, on Flickr
557, Ropsten by Richard Green, on Flickr
Gåshaga Brygga by Richard Green, on Flickr
557, Gåshaga Brygga by Richard Green, on Flickr
I ended up taking this to one stop short of Ropsten, that being Torsvik, as it was a nice day and I noticed that the tram line shared a bridge with a footpath and cycle path on the final approach over the Lilla Värtan into Ropsten. It was a pleasant walk, too, with some decent views, although I don’t know too much about where exactly I was looking out onto
Lidingöbron, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
The Metro was taken back to Karlaplan, where my camera batteries promptly died. The charger was in my bag at the hotel so I ended up jumping on a bus (Route 50) towards Kungstrådgården where there was a rather large shopping centre which contained a Mediamarkt, so temporary replacement Duracells were sourced for around £4. Another bus (Route 69) was then taken forwards to the Central Station for a much needed McDonald’s, before I pulled out the Interrail pass and headed for the platforms for train number 1, of what was to be 225.
An apt place to end, seeing as the pass officially is now about to start.
The route had been constantly tweaked, with Norway, Poland and Croatia being knocked off in favour of more time in Sweden and Hungary, due to engineering works in Stockholm mucking up the timetable of the Oslo-Stockholm service, and the farcical nature of Polish reservations along with the fact that I decided I'd rather have a proper look at Budapest than sit on a train to Zagreb and constantly be on the move.
Day 1/26: 26/06/18
And so June 26th had rolled around with me packing my two bags and feeling my back and neck sink a little as I threw them on, with my parents bidding me farewell at Newcastle Central. This was quite a big deal, as I’d never been out of the country alone for more than a few days. It was 185135 taking me along to Manchester Airport on the 10:15 service, being an odd one that calls at Chester-le-Street, Durham then fast to York. It was a smooth journey as far as around Slaithwaite where we found ourselves up the back of the ex-Hull semi fast, meaning that we ended up around 9L into Victoria, before making our way around the Ordsall Chord at a glacial pace where the inevitable announcement was made after just 13 minutes of delay- “The decision has been made to terminate at Piccadilly” which just ticked me off as I knew the thing would clag up Platform 13 while everyone jumped off before getting clearance to go somewhere else. 142028/150101 then trudged in behind with a stop at Mauldeth Road before running fast to the Airport, where I thankfully still had ages.
I availed myself of the 1903 Lounge, which was £31 including fast track security, and had a good two hours to fill up on the food, cut in the middle by a fire alarm meaning that I had quite the view of a bunch of Ryanair planes for a few minutes (not today, Satan) before joining the 16:35 Flybe/Stobart service to London Southend. A nice, half full flight meant that I had a pair of seats to myself and it was a smooth hour’s trip down south where I got myself a single to Stansted (valid for two days so good for the full journey in the morning) for £21.80 and spent some time linear hopping on 321s before noting one of my last TfL 315s out and about. I ended up running through to London, heading to my hotel (easyHotel Old Street) and getting some food before catching 315853 in tow with another unit (my notes for the first day and a half are out of sync and on another phone) and returning to Zone 1 via the Central Line and walking from St Pauls meaning that the system calculated it as a single £1.60 journey despite me going out and around in a massive loop
Manchester Airport 1903 Lounge by Richard Green, on Flickr
Flybe BE6237, approaching Southend by Richard Green, on Flickr
321363, Wickford by Richard Green, on Flickr
315853, Stratford by Richard Green, on FlickrI then headed for bed, needing to be up early, but that was delayed slightly but the couple next door getting...acquainted, shall we say.
Day 2/26: 27/06/18
I woke up bleary eyed and noted reception as closed, so ended up stealing a post-it from behind the desk, scrawling my room number on it, and sticking the card to it before heading for the 04:40 Stansted Express which left from Platform 13, meaning that we went via Stratford and Temple Mills which was a first for me. This train was also a bit of a stopper, meaning that Cheshunt and Broxbourne were paid a visit before we arrived, the driver doing some utterly terrible French and German announcements (particularly the French where he made up his own words) while I headed for Costa seeing as I was indeed rather early for FR52, the 08:05 Stansted to Stockholm Skavsta. I also availed myself of FastTrack security here as following my horrendous experience of it in April, I did quite feel like actually making my flight. Smart move as the place was packed, while it took me all of three minutes to glide through, and purchase some sunscreen as well as a meal deal from Boots.
It was then a brisk walk to the gate, where I headed forwards to the plane just behind an Arab family (we had Priority boarding passes), and I did think it rather bizarre that the door had just been left open to head to the plane as it was still 20 minutes to departure (out of the 25 that Ryanair have to turnaround). Some ground control twit screamed at us to get back inside and accused us of forcing our way out. The family didn’t speak English so it was down to me to explain that all the doors had been left open and we assumed we were fine to head outside (onto a barriered/segregated path, we weren’t exactly wandering on the tarmac with our eyes shut) but he was still rather tetchy and probed the family even more which started to upset them as they didn’t understand why he was practically yelling. It took me explaining yet again for him to eventually back off and put the barrier across and get on with what he was doing before boarding eventually commenced. I understand that an Airport is a high security environment but staff attitude at Stansted stinks at all levels. A calm and pleasant flight then thankfully followed, with a new layout plane meaning that I actually had some legroom
Ryanair FR52, Stansted. by Richard Green, on FlickrAt Skavsta Airport, I headed for the Flygbussarna Coach to Stockholm. Why coach? Well I could have caught the train, but the local bus to the station was badly timed, and with two seats to myself that reclined, WiFi and sockets, £13 wasn’t a terrible deal for the 75 minute trip. A simple scan of my phone on the reader, a nod from the driver, and away we went. The coaches are timed to flight arrivals too, so no long waits there. I was dumped at T-Centralen, the main station, and headed to buy my smartcard and 24hr pass (useful, meaning it was good until 1pm tomorrow) before descending onto the Metro for a hop to Hötorget, which was where my hotel, the Haymarket by Scandic, was located. A bag dump and a lie down later, I headed off and jumped on the same Metro set (2073/2209/2232) to Gamla Stan where I wandered in the sunshine for the next hour or so, and Stockholm did indeed come across as a very pretty city.
View from Helgeandsholmen, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
Kungstrådgården, Stockholm by Richard Green, on FlickrI ended up walking around to the tram stop of Kungstrådgården for a trip on an Urbos A35 model (similar looking to Edinburgh’s plastic heaps, except it was better in every way) for a full line trip to Waldemarsudde, where I noted a rather large cruise ship making its way out. On my way out of the first station en route, I’d noted a heritage tram in service, and indeed, it was timetabled to be due. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes, no tram of any kind arrived and I was content with getting the first service (an older model, peculiarly just numbered 3) around the loop (single sided trams) and as far as Skansen, where I snapped a shot of the obligatory ABBA museum and walked along to Djurgården Ferry Terminal for a boat across the river to Slussen. It was a rather nice trip, probably the first ferry trip where I hadn’t froze to death, and it was of course included in my pass. From Slussen I had a walk around to the Metro station, and joined a service to Liljeholmen where I nipped into a Supermarket for a drink.
461, Waldemarsudde by Richard Green, on Flickr
View from Djurgården Ferry, Stockholm by Richard Green, on Flickr
2157, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on FlickrSweden were of course in the World Cup at the time, and the whole store was watching the match when their home team happened to score! Definitely the happiest 7/11 I’ve ever been in
I then headed for a tram to Årstaberg, operated by the same Urbos A35s but with a different method of revenue and operation, being under concession to Arriva. You were obliged to touch in prior to boarding on these (whereas the SL ones had you checked on board). After this, I decided to try out the SL network, seeing as it wasn’t valid on Interrail passes. And I soon saw why, considering the Smartcard only with unattended gates model. Though, unlike in Spain, i’m willing to bet that you could probably get yourself some help a lot sharper and not from a complete airhead. But that’s a story for later I jumped on the first service to Stockholm-Södra, noting that these units were fairly pleasant, were walkthrough, and had decent seats. They weren’t very rateable in terms of noise, but hey ho. I followed this up by getting on the service behind all the way to Märsta, the extremity of the network.
6005, Solna by Richard Green, on FlickrIt was empty a few stations prior, seemingly as we’d gone out and beyond into the countryside, and on arrival, I noticed that the service heading back south hadn’t left yet, so I dived across onto it. There was then an announcement from the driver in Swedish before we sat around for a few minutes, eventually taking off back towards Solna, where I jumped off and joined a tram to Solna Centrum for the Metro. And this is where the famous Stockholm Metro stations made an appearance. I'll let the pictures do the talking here, although they do little justice for what I can safely describe as one of the most beautifully dramatic Metro systems in the world.
Solna Centrum (Stockholm Metro) by Richard Green, on Flickr
Solna Centrum, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
2138, Västra Skogen by Richard Green, on Flickr
T-Centralen (Stockholm Metro) by Richard Green, on Flickr
Östermalmstorg, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Stadion, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Stadion, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on FlickrAfter the fun of the Metro, I headed up to Stockholms östra station, and onto another network operated by SL (The narrow gauge Roslagsbanan). It had some older units, and I pondered how far to go, deciding on a few stations out with a walkable Metro Interchange, rather than going all the way out as I was keen to get myself something to eat and shower back at the hotel. I was also rather confused as to how ticket validation worked as all of the validators were out of use but I assumed that nobody would care. When I bailed at Mörby, some RPIs got on, so I guess I narrowly escaped finding out what the answer to that was
It was a 5 minute walk to the completely unpronounceable Danderyds sjukhus Metro Station for a trip to Universitetet where I hopped aboard a bus back into Stockholm of Man Lion's City vintage, just for some variety, where I nipped into the Central Station for some dinner.
Stockholms östra Station by Richard Green, on Flickr
Danderyds sjukhus, Stockholm Metro by Richard Green, on Flickr
Man Lion's City, Stockholm by Richard Green, on FlickrI was greatly amused by a drunk bloke (clearly pleased by the World Cup win) wandering around shirtless with his dog off the leash, accompanied by some rather embarrassed family members. Security came and told him to put the dog on the leash, so he said ‘OKAY!’ and put in on the leash, then let go, argument being that technically he’d done as asked
In the end, a family member grabbed the dog and dragged the guy away, having clearly had enough of his nonsense A walk was then had back to my hotel, followed by a much needed sleep.Day 3/26: 28/06/18
I got up for breakfast at around 6:30, munched down some buffet items, and left my bag in the locker room before heading out for what was to be a split day. Up to 1pm, I was to stick with SL and local transport, then move onto SJ.
Another visit to the Supermarket was made before I joined a Metro all the way to Ropsten, at the northern end of the network. Interchange was possible here with the Lidingöbanan, which has recently been modernised up to standard with Urbos A36 trams. I took one of these to the end of the line at Gåshaga Brygga, which was a pleasant little place that had onward ferry connections. I however decided to stay put, and took the same tram back to Brevik where I’d noted a supermarket, and, dying of thirst, jumped off and got a service 20 minutes behind, bottle of water in hand.
2195, Ropsten by Richard Green, on Flickr
557, Ropsten by Richard Green, on Flickr
Gåshaga Brygga by Richard Green, on Flickr
557, Gåshaga Brygga by Richard Green, on FlickrI ended up taking this to one stop short of Ropsten, that being Torsvik, as it was a nice day and I noticed that the tram line shared a bridge with a footpath and cycle path on the final approach over the Lilla Värtan into Ropsten. It was a pleasant walk, too, with some decent views, although I don’t know too much about where exactly I was looking out onto
Lidingöbron, Stockholm by Richard Green, on FlickrThe Metro was taken back to Karlaplan, where my camera batteries promptly died. The charger was in my bag at the hotel so I ended up jumping on a bus (Route 50) towards Kungstrådgården where there was a rather large shopping centre which contained a Mediamarkt, so temporary replacement Duracells were sourced for around £4. Another bus (Route 69) was then taken forwards to the Central Station for a much needed McDonald’s, before I pulled out the Interrail pass and headed for the platforms for train number 1, of what was to be 225.
An apt place to end, seeing as the pass officially is now about to start.
3742, Vasterås C
9003, Vasterås C
Lake, Sala
Upptaget, Sala
3314, Stockholm Central
SJ Lounge, Stockholm
SJ Lounge Offering, Stockholm
1382, Stockholm Central
1382, Knivsta
9056, Uppsala
4, Arlanda Express, Stockholm Central
1410, Stockholm Central
Stockholm-Malmö sleeper, First Class cabin
Stockholm-Malmö sleeper, bathroom
4391, Copenhagen
4508, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen
1518, Østerport
Interior, DSB First Class
5228, Odense
4123, Odense
Aboard Odense-Copenhagen IC
5618, Hoeje Taastrup
1533, Holbaek
8203, Carlsberg
5090, N
View from Copenhagen-Rødby IC
Rødby Færge
View from Scandlines Rødby-Puttgarden Ferry
648455, Puttgarden
411001, Hamburg Hbf
BR1442, Dessau Hbf
670003, Dessau Hbf
1442303, Delitzch Unterer Bhf
223054, Leipzig Hbf
BR155, Leipzig
1440207, Chemnitz Hbf
Dresden
642328, Dresden Mitte
146017, Dresden Hbf
146021, Dresden Hbf
146021, Bad Schandau
Driver's view, Schoena
642035, Děčín hl.n
471021, Děčín hl.n
View from Děčín hl.n-Praha service
Praha-Masarykovo
362039, Praha hl.n
471032, Praha Smichov
