CDSG Special Tour to Sweden’s Defenses August 25th to September 3rd, 2021 – Four Months Out One of Three Adjoining Tours Terry McGovern The CDSG and FSG have organized special overlapping tours to Sweden’s defenses in 2021 (subject to developments with the COVID-19 pandemic). This is due to each group’s different focus, mode of transport/lodging, and duration of tour. By providing these tour options, we hope to better serve each of our member’s needs.
These tours are being organized by Sweden’s leading fortification tour expert, Lars Hasson, and his tour company, Bunker Tours. He has designed a 9-day tour to the “best” of Sweden’s modern defenses for the CDSG which would take us across the breath of Sweden. He is also organized an 8-day tour for the FSG that would overlap with the CDSG tour so our two groups would travel together for 4 days. You could attend just the FSG tour or just the CDSG tour or both tours for a total of 13 days. Lars has also organized a 2-day “pre-tour” for those who want to see the Cold War defenses around Copenhagen. If you joined all three tours you would have 15 days of both Swedish and Danish fortifications and artillery.
The CDSG’s 9-day tour is planned to start and end at Stockholm’s International Airport. You would need to book and pay for your own flights. The round-trip fare from Washington, DC, recently was $1,033 via Iceland. We would use shared rental cars as the size of the tour group would be limited to around 20 members. Total in-country tour costs (payable in SEK) are estimated to be US$2,500 (subject to number of attendees) and not including most lunches and dinners. The CDSG tour will be from August 25 to September 3, while the FSG tour will be from August 21 to August 29. The Danish Cold War pre-tour will be August 19th to August 21st. Below is a summary of the dates, costs, and locations being visited:
Number of Days 0.12 FSG CDSG All-In Overlap Plan Proposed Dates SEK HC US $ 0 Copenhagen Thursday, August 19, 2021 1 Stevns Fort Friday, August 20, 2021 4,700 kr 10$ 564 2 Langeland Fort/Copenhagen Saturday, August 21, 2021 0 2 Copenhagen Saturday, August 21, 2021 1 3 Copenhagen Sea Forts Sunday, August 22, 2021 2 4 Karlskrona Monday, August 23, 2021 3 5Aspo Island/Kungsholms Fort Tuesday, August 24, 2021 4 0 6Stockholm/Nyköping Wednesday, August 25, 2021 5 1 7 Landsort Thursday, August 26, 2021 6 2 8 Vaxholm/Oscar-Fredriksborg Friday, August 27, 2021 7 3 9 Siaro Fortress/Arholma Saturday, August 28, 2021 8 4 10 Stockholm/Gavie Furuvik Sunday, August 29, 2021 18,000 kr 15 $2,160 4 10 Storholmen Island Sunday, August 29, 2021 5 11 Hemso/Havstoudd Monday, August 30, 2021 6 12 Gavie Furuvik/Boden Tuesday, August 31, 2021 7 13 Rodbergsfortet/Satellite/Victoria Wednesday, September 1, 2021 8 14 Kamlunge/Siknas/Kalix Line Thursday, September 2, 2021 9 15 Stockholm Friday, September 3, 2021 20,700 kr 15 $2,484 Their would be a reduction in total cost if attend both FSG and CDSG Tours (US$800) - 32,000 kr Lars has website details on each of these tours, so you should visit each of them depending on the tours you want to attend. These pages discuss what sites we are visiting with photographs, costs, how to book the tour (we need to have at least 15 tour members attending, so book now!), cancellation terms, and other details, including a reminder that plans are subject to change and a hold harmless agreement (CDSG standard) is required. Go to these pages:
http://www.bunkertours.se/danish-add-on-tour-19-21-august-2021/ http://www.bunkertours.se/fsg-swedish-tour-21-29-august-2021/ http://www.bunkertours.se/cdsg-tour-25-august-3-september/ Here is quick summary of the CDSG tour plans. Depending on the time you arrive in Stockholm you can travel the first day to from Stockholm to Nyköping with option to join at those two visits to the former Nyköping castle or the Cold War Femöre battery with 7.5 cm turrets. The next day we will visit Landsort Fortress, both the 15.2 mm turrets and more modern 12 cm turrets. On Day Three we will visit the Vaxholm Fortress which has a whole complex of defenses on several islands. We will visit the Fortress Museum and Oscar-Fredriksborg Fort as well as the Vaxholm Line of defenses. On the third day we drive and boat taxi to remarkable Siaro Fortress (underground island fort with two 15.2 cm guns) before we fly and boat taxi to Arholma to stay overnight within Battery Arholma (10.5 cm coast defense work). Day Four has us traveling north to Storholmen Island with a 15.2 cm battery and its over 1 km-long underground tunnel system. Day Five the tour continues on with the drive north to the Hemso Fortress (twin 15.2 cm turrets with fire control complex) and overnight stay in a 7.5 cm battery on Havstoudd. On Day Six we fly to the Boden Fortress in northern Sweden with a very impressive series of forts carved from the bedrock (Rödberget Fort and Fortress Museum) on Day Seven. We will also go to Vuollerim with its ex-navy 15.2 cm twin turrets. Day Eight is off to Lappland and the Kalix Line and Kamlunge Fort (15.2 cm guns before going to the Siknas Fortress (twin 15.2 cm turrets). On Day Nine we fly to Stockholm’s airport for flights back to the USA.
Please contact Lars Hansson directly at [email protected] about your interest in attending one, two or all three tours. You need to pay 3,000 SEK (US$360) per person to reserve a place on these tours. You can pay by wire transfer or credit card via PayPal. Please let Terry McGovern know your questions at [email protected]. Photos of key sites to be visited:
Battery Arholma (10.5cm coast defense work) Vaxholm Fortress (now the home to the Swedish Coast Artillery Museum)
Rödberget Fort and Fortress in Boden Fortress Hemsö twin 15.2 cm m/03 turret battery
Landsort 12 cm m/70-gun Battery Mobile 36-inch searchlight and Two 15.2 cm guns at Siaro Fortress