to ride the 27 hairpins down the mountainside . Even the road going there was spectacular in itself . After Lysebotn , we headed to the west coast of Norway and went to the old harbour trading towns of Stavanger and Bergen , from where we took an overnight ferry to the north western part of Denmark .
DENMARK Unlike Norway , Denmark is flat and fertile farmland . We were heading for the vibrant capital of Copenhagen for a good night out in Tivoli , the world oldest amusement park situated in the centre of the city . Next day we went sightseeing , saw the King ’ s palace and the statue of The Little Mermaid on the harbour front . In the afternoon we got back on the bikes and rode via Sweden to the Danish island of Bornholm , the most eastern point of Denmark located in the Baltic Sea . Michael and I live here in a small , picturesque fishing village with old timber frame houses . On the island we spent time sightseeing and were even invited to visit my parents , who also live on the Island , for a bit of local insight .
Bornholm was the last stop before returning to Hamburg via the German , no speed-limit , Autobahn . Arriving safely in Hamburg we handed the bikes back to Stefan at the bike hire company and spent the night together before saying our goodbyes . Some went home to NZ and some went on further adventures around Europe , and all with some amazing memories of Scandinavia 2024 . By the Backroads will go back to Scandinavia and make another tour in 2025 . Personally , I look forward to guiding a new group of Kiwis through the back roads of Scandinavia , because a friendlier , more adventurous and tough crowd of people , I have yet to meet .
The group in Hamburg .
Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen , Denmark , is a must for visiting travellers with its beautiful mixture of old style amusements and crazy rollercoasters . In the evening everything is lit up like a fairy tale by H . C . Andersen , the national poet and author of stories like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling .
106 KIWI RIDER