Day 3: Copenhagen (Denmark) –> Karlstad (Sweden)

We awake to a fresh snowy Copenhagen morning with plenty of construction around our hotel in this area.

Today we cross over the Øresund Bridge to Malmö and start the long drive north to Kiruna in Swedish Lapland. It will take four days of roughly 6 hours/500 km legs to get there. Our destination is Karlstad, the capital of the Värmland region.

After breakfast, we load up our car and pop up to surface level.

And onto a slushy Copenhagen morning.

We drive through the streets of the city centre as we route towards Sweden.

Øresund Bridge

We join the E20 road which routes us through the tunnel and over the bridge that makes up the connection between Denmark and Sweden.

Crossing into Sweden half way across the bridge.

The second time on this trip our PCM shows us "at sea".

We pay the toll – a hefty €62.90 – on the Swedish side of the bridge, pass through police check with a friendly nod and onto the motorway heading north.

Heading north

The theme for the next few days is "driving north" and as we do so, the snow around us becomes more pronounced. Through the road is completely clear of both snow and ice.

We continue to stop off every two hours for quick breaks, stretch and sometimes a bite to eat.

Even though the car is showing some signs of winter wear – it still remains in remarkably good condition.

There are plenty of train lines in this part of Sweden and sometimes we stop to wait for one to pass.

Fuel

We stop off for our only fuel stop today – at a Circle K – where we purchase some of their "Miles+" petrol. This is the same product we use at home in Ireland, but here in Sweden it is 98 octane – the perfect fuel for our car.

Often when purchasing something higher rated than the standard 95 octane fuel, 99 to 102 is offered, which is actually overkill for the flat-six engine in our car. We think this is the first time we've actually fuelled the car with exactly what it likes best: good quality 98 octane petrol.

And at €1.58/litre – at a good price too.

With the steady pace of between 90 km/h and 110 m/h today, fuel consumption is noticeably lower than Germany – often by as much as twice!

Karlstad

As we move further north the temperature lowers to -5c. And it is only going to get colder as the days progress.

Inside the car is very warm and comfortable, with oil temperatures steady at around 105c – the air conditioning system has a plentiful supply of waste heat to warm the cabin.

We arrive into Karlstad as darkness falls.

And check into our hotel, parking in the underground car park beneath it.

Stats

Today we did 567 km over 6:42 hours, with an average speed of 85 km/h, consuming 8.6 litres/100 km.