1

Rental prices as a whole in Scandinavia are expensive, local rentals won't allow return in other countries. To be honest though this is not a trip I would do in November not so much due to extreme conditions although they could be quite bad, but due to the hours of daylight you will not see much and the further north you get the less daylight hours you will have.

It might be cheaper buying a second hand 4x4 in the UK than renting, certainly worth looking into.

2

Wonder why you fly+rent (remember you will have to pay a lot returning in a another country than Finland). Why not take your own (rally)car - night ferry to Denmar - drive to Stockholm (one long day but you LOVE to drive?)- night ferry to Stockholm and you have used 2 nights+1 day instead of the one day for flying + one nignt before starting from Helsinki.
And at the return: last night + fly home day xx or last night - drive to Ejbjerg on day xx and night ferry to UK- you are back one night later - has saved a lot of money.

Wonder why you select this dark and wet time of the year. I understand that you do not really care about seeing anything (with so few days put into the project) but still.

Should also say that the roads are in no way "challenging" - you will have fine roads except for snow/ice if this will happen. So make sure to have studded tires and ABS/ESP equipped car (much more important than 4WD- which is overkill IMHO).

3

Bjoern and Richiavo, thank you very much for your replies - greatly appreciated.

The main reason behind choosing November was based on Northern lights - 2013 is the last year in their 11 year cycle to see them during Solar Optimum, hence I chose November. However, I fully take on board the advice regarding daylight hours. Would you suggest an alternative month that might be more appropriate? I realise that hedging bets on seeing Northern lights in 2 weeks is fairly optimistic but the experts say that October - November and March - April is the best time to see them, and as my birthday is in November I thought I would try combine the two!

I am looking to combine the trip with seeing as much of Scandinavia as well so perhaps November would not be ideal. Do you have any recommendations on when would be a good time of year to combine the two?

With regards to hiring car, I had planned to ferry across from Stockholm - Helsinki to drop off the car in the same place as pickup in order to keep costs lower. With this in mind would you have any recommendations on local car rentals that might allow this?

I would be open to considering other modes of transport through Scandinavia. The only reason I wanted to drive is that I love the freedom that self-driving gives you, should anything happen you always a form of accommodation with you at all times!

Many thanks again for your replies and I look forward to hearing from you.

Alice

4

You answered it yourself March/April a lot more daylight. Cannot help with local rentals though, check out carhire3000.com it is rare you find something cheaper than they have.

5

These things don't work like clockwork. Timings vary from cycle to cycle, and the present cycle is a very odd and weak one. Recent activity has been fairly low. We can't say why: it could be a random fluctuation during the optimum; the optimum may already be past; or it may be late and not have arrived yet. Nor does activity generally fall away like a stone following an optimum, it gradually dies away - and the level of activity following an optimum is usually slower to change than leading up to it.

You can't see the northern lights if there are clouds in the way, and if there are clouds in the way it hardly matters if the activity is a bit higher. The activity is fairly reliably higher by about 30% around the equinoxes as opposed to around the solstices, but that isn't necessarily such a big difference when cloudiness is factored in. Autumn is a very cloudy time. The Spring equinox clearly offers better prospects because it is a less cloudy time of year, and scenically advantageous too, because there will be much more snow lying.

Overall, a road-trip during a soggy wet dark time of year is unlikely to be the most enjoyable.

If you are thinking like that, better take a thick sleeping bag with you. People have died of hypothermia when stuck overnight in their cars in the winter. And of carbon monoxide poisoning when instead they kept the engine running to keep warm.

6

If you're already in Kilpisjarvi, I would consider going to Tromsø instead of Narvik.
And why not check out Lofoten islands while you're driving south to Bodø?
A much more spectacular and scenic route than Narvik - Bodø... which is quite boring.
At the southern tip of Lofoten, you can take the ferry from Moskenes to Bodø. :)