border crossings

For the first time since the Ice Age about 11,000 years ago, the Scandinavian Peninsula and the main European continent will be tied together. A new bridge and tunnel project, called the Oresund Link, will make Sweden a quick jaunt from Denmark. The Link, which allows cars and trains to traverse the 10-mile-wide sound, opens in July.

This is good news for travelers, who previously had to take slow and, at times, unsafe ferries between the two countries if they didn’t want to fly. Visitors to northern Europe can now easily add Sweden to their itinerary; it’s less than 15 minutes away. Driving across the $2-billion Link will cost about $30 per car. Passports won’t be checked at toll stations, although customs regulations will apply.

The two countries began bridging the sound in 1991 in one of the largest infrastructure projects in European history. It involved building a 2.5-mile-long immersed tunnel, an equally long artificial island and a 4.9-mile double-decker bridge. Not as impressive, perhaps, as the Bifrost bridge of Norse mythology--a rainbow overpass connecting Earth to the home of the gods--but great for mere mortals.

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See https://www.oresundskonsortiet.com for Web-cam views from both sides of the Link. Information, 011-45-7560-2120.