6 February 2026 · 4 min read
Feb/Mar 2023 – Arctic Rally
Arctic Rally | From the South Coast to the Arctic Circle
18 February – 5 March 2023
13 countries. Over 9,000 km. One very cold finish line.
Three years in the making, and finally done.
In February 2023, three long-term friends set off from the south coast of England with a simple but slightly unhinged objective: drive to the northernmost road in the world, well inside the Arctic Circle, in the middle of winter — and then get home again.
No GPS.
No motorways.
One 16-year-old car.
And temperatures that regularly dropped well below -30°C.
The idea
The Baltic Rally was born out of friendship, stubbornness, and a milestone birthday. Two of us have a long-standing appetite for discomfort and adventure. The third — who enjoys luxury hotels, fine dining and warm rooms — was dragged along against his better judgment. It felt only right.
We’d previously celebrated a 50th birthday by racing Husqvarna Enduro bikes across the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria, so expectations were already high. A winter drive to the Arctic felt like a natural (and entirely sensible) escalation.
The route
Over 18 days, we passed through 13 countries, circumnavigating the Baltic Sea and pushing steadily north:
- Germany
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Finland
- Norway
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Poland
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- France
- Back to the UK
Along the way we drove the northernmost highway in the world and reached the northernmost point of mainland Europe, deep inside the Arctic Circle.
The vehicle (and a race-day scramble)
True to our ethos of “reliable, but uncomfortable”, we settled on an almost 20-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser. In hindsight, it turned out to be the hero of the trip. It didn’t miss a beat and is still going strong today!
Preparation included:
- An engine block heater for extreme cold starts
- Additional spotlights
- Roof trays
- A full Toyota service
- One holdall each for clothing and one for expedition kit
Winter tyres, however, nearly derailed the plan before we even started. Despite booking well in advance, UK supply fell through days before departure. Correct-size winter tyres for a Land Cruiser aren’t exactly common.
Rather than abandon the trip, we crossed the Channel and envisaged doing the entire rally on M+S tyres and chains. We spent the drive to Germany calling tyre centres around Hamburg. Eventually — and just in time — we managed to source the correct winter tyres locally and had them fitted on Day One of the rally.
Lesson learned early: flexibility beats planning.
Day one reality check
We left the UK via the Eurotunnel from Folkestone and drove overnight toward Hamburg. Somewhere along the autobahn, exhausted, we pulled into a roadside rest area for a few hours’ sleep.
While the others slept in the car, I opted for a sleeping bag and bivvy beside it. I slept surprisingly well — until daylight revealed my head had been positioned roughly a metre from the largest human turd any of us had ever seen.
A strong reminder to always check your surroundings before pitching camp.
Northbound into winter
From Hamburg, properly shod at last, we headed north into Scandinavia. Rain gave way to snow, forests froze solid, roads disappeared under ice, and daylight hours shrank dramatically.
Navigation was entirely old-school. Paper maps, guesswork, and the occasional wrong turn. Exactly as intended.
Despite the conditions, the Land Cruiser just kept going. Cold starts. Long days. Snow-covered roads. Not a single mechanical issue.
Why we did it
We took on the Baltic Rally in support of two charities close to our hearts:
- RNLI — one of our crew serves on the Ramsgate lifeboat, and growing up by the sea means this cause runs deep for all of us.
- Pilgrims Hospices — East Kent’s largest hospice charity, helping people facing incurable illness to live well, right to the end.
Most of us know someone who has relied on hospice care. A close friend of mine, recently given only months to live, has already made that journey himself. If our effort helped make even a small difference, it was worth every frozen mile.
Final thoughts
This trip was never about comfort, speed, or ticking boxes. It was about friendship, shared misery, solving problems on the fly, and seeing parts of the world most people never will — especially in winter.
Three years of delays thanks to Covid and geopolitics only made finally turning the key on 17 February 2023 that much sweeter.
Would we do it again?
Absolutely.
Would we leave winter tyres until Day One again?
…probably not.
