This page contains detailed information about bus, train and ferry connections to the cities that we pass on the way. Prices are given in the form a+b, where a is the price for an adult and b is the price for taking a bike.
If you know any more information, let us know and we will put it on here.
Getting to places
Makvärket
The closest station to our starting point, Makvärket, is called Knabstrup. It is located on the train line from Copenhagen to Kalundborg. It goes once an hour from 04:30 to 00:30 (search for connections here) and costs about 15+3.50 €.
Copenhagen
The Øresundtog train is connecting Copenhagen and Malmö (search for connections here, price for person+bike 11+7 €). See below for connections to Malmö.
Coming from Germany, there is the option to take a train via Kolding/Odense that will cross the sea by bridge, or to go via the Puttgarden–Rødby ferry. Search for connections here. Prices are approximately: Puttgarden–Rødby 11+4 € (ferry) + Rødby–Copenhagen 29+5 €; Flensburg–Copenhagen 51+9 € (seems to be slightly cheaper when buying it with German Railways, but that maybe doesn’t include the bike ticket). See below for crossing Germany.
There is also a ferry from Rostock to Gedser (14+5 €). The closest train station (Nykøbing Falster) is 25 km away (rumors say that there is a bus that fits two bikes). The train from Nykøbing to Copenhagen is 23+4 €.
Bohemian Lines operates buses from Prague, Brno and Berlin to Copenhagen and apparently take bikes (more info). Prices vary, but can be around 40 € for person from Berlin or 65 € from Prague. The price for the bike is not clear and might be 10, 20 or 30 €.
Malmö
Ferries from Germany: Travemünde–Malmö (32+0 €), Rostock/Sassnitz–Trelleborg (22+0 €/16.50+0 €, then cycle 30 km from Trelleborg to Malmö, there is also a bus that can apparently take 2–3 bikes). For how to cross Germany, see below.
Ferries from Poland: Świnoujście–Trelleborg (30+7 €, then cycle 30 km from Trelleborg to Malmö, there is also a bus that can apparently take 2–3 bikes).
Göteborg
You can take a bike on Swebus (map, connections). Prices are flexible, but seem to be at least 25+10 € from Copenhagen, 15+10 € from Malmö. Booking early seems to be worth it, and there are student discounts. You need to take off the wheels and pedals or put your bike in a bike bag (conditions).
The Öresundståg train runs from Copenhagen via Malmö to Göteborg and accepts bikes (as opposed to most trains in Sweden). It is about 50+29 € from Copenhagen and 38+23 € from Malmö. You can search for connections here (in Swedish, enter cities in local language (“København”, “Malmö”, “Göteborg”), select “Jag tar med mig cykeln hela vägen” in the bottom right for taking a bike, then select “Ord. pris Vuxen” for the price per person and “Ord. pris Barn” for the price per bike where it says “Pris”) or here (in English, but no prices).
There is a ferry Kiel–Göteborg (59+0 €). Alternatively, go by train to Frederikshavn (from the German border 51+9 €) and take the ferry (24-9 €, strangely cheaper when booking with bike than when booking without). See below how to travel through Germany.
Oslo
There is a ferry Frederikshavn–Oslo (22+10 €, train from the German border ~51+9 €, see below how to cross Germany).
There are also ferries from Kiel and Copenhagen, but there you have to take a cabin, so it is really expensive.
The Norwegian R20 train is going from Göteborg (see above how to get there) to Oslo and accepts bikes. A space does not have to be reserved, but a bike ticket has to be purchased. The price is at least 30+23 € (minipris) and at most 65+23 €, probably the cheaper the earlier you book. Search for connections here.
You can take a bike on Swebus (map, connections). Prices are flexible, but seem to be at least 33+10 € from Copenhagen, 20+10 € from Malmö. Booking early seems to be worth it, and there are student discounts. You need to take off the wheels and pedals or put your bike in a bike bag (conditions).
Stockholm
There are ferries from Gdansk (~100 €) and from Ventspils (~65 €) to Nynäshamn about 55 km south of Stockholm. There seems to be a sign-posted bicycle route as well, but this is 90 km long. According to this, it is possible to take bikes on the train from Nynäshamn to Stockholm (which costs about 8 Euros, maybe more for the bike?).
There are ferries from Tallinn and Riga to Stockholm, but you have to take a cabin, so they are quite expensive.
You can take a bike on Swebus (map, connections). Prices are flexible, but seem to be at least 56+10 € from Copenhagen, 50+10 € from Malmö. Booking early seems to be worth it, and there are student discounts. You need to take off the wheels and pedals or put your bike in a bike bag (conditions).
There seems to be no train connection to Stockholm that accepts bikes. You might try to disassemble your bike and put it in a box though.
Turku
There are two ferry connections from Stockholm, Tallink & Silja (36 €) and Viking Line (27 €, might rise).
Getting around in Scandinavia
Here is a map of train lines in Europe.
In Denmark, bikes can be taken on all trains (source). They need an additional ticket. Find train connections here.
In Sweden, the national train company is called SJ. It is generally not allowed to take a bike on the train, except when packed in a box or a small number of regional lines. It seems like the rules have become more restrictive over the last years, so a lot of the information that can be found on the internet does not apply anymore. It looks like bikes can be taken on the Öresundståg (train connecting Copenhagen with Malmö/Göteborg/Helsingborg/Kalmar/Karlskrona), on regional trains in the Skåne region (around Malmö), and on individual regional trains in other regions, but not on any long distance trains apart from the Öresundståg. The train from Göteborg to Oslo is Norwegian, so bikes can be taken there (see below). Nettbuss buses don’t take bikes (source), Swebus does for 10 € when packing it in a bike bag or removing the wheels and pedals (source, connections, route map).
In Norway, taking a bike seems to be allowed on all the trains. A bike ticket has to be purchased that will cost half the price of an adult, maximum 22 € (source). On some trains (detailed list), a space has to be reserved in advance by telephone or at the counter. You can search for train connections here. Interregional buses also have some spaces for bikes (for example Nettbuss (source) and Nor-way (source)), but those that cross the border to Sweden don’t (for example Nettbuss), so for this Biketour that is not so interesting.
In Finnland, it looks like taking bikes is possible on some trains and some cross-country buses.
Crossing Germany
When travelling to Scandinavia from Western Europe, you will likely cross Germany. Within Germany, you can take one of the regional train day-tickets (select “Local transport” and bicycle transportation when searching for connections) plus “Fahrradtageskarte” bike day ticket (5 € per bike). You can buy all of this at any station on the vending machine.
Many long-distance buses in Germany also take bikes. They are usually much cheaper than the trains. You can search on Busradar for connections (it mostly works for within Germany, but also finds connections by German bus lines to foreign cities). You will have to announce that you take a bike either by ticking a box or by adding a comment when booking the ticket. It will cost 9–10 € extra. Sometimes the bike is put on a bike rack on the back side of the bus, so you will have to take your bags off. The following bus companies accept bikes (although not all of them on all lines): Meinfernbus (info), Deinbus (info), Berlinlinienbus (book at least 4 days in advance, info), Flixbus (info), Postbus (info).