Our Christmas trip home: Overland from Scotland to Denmark with a small dog

I adopted little Minnie in September, and ever since then, I’ve been excited for her to meet my family back home in Denmark. On November 30th, the day after my last class at uni, we set off on a three-day overland journey through five countries, travelling overland from our home in Aberdeen, Scotland, to my family’s home in East Jutland, Denmark.

Prepping for travel with a dog

Prior to the trip, there was a lot of confusion regarding the rules of bringing a dog from the UK into the EU. After Brexit, dogs entering the EU from the UK need a health certificate which is very expensive, but there is an exception to the rule. If the dog has an EU passport and all vaccines are done in the EU, no certificate is needed. Lucky for me, Minnie has an EU passport as she was a rescue from Romania!

I spent ages trying to figure out which rules applied to us, and I was told conflicting things from different officials. In the end, I decided to trust Minnie’s vet who is from Poland and has travelled with his own dog from the UK to Poland several times. He assured me that all I’d need was a filled-in owner’s declaration form and an EU passport with updated vaccines done in the EU. For the future, if we decide to stay in the UK, that means I’ll have to travel with Minnie to the EU every year to get her an updated rabies vaccine!

Part 1: Train from Aberdeen to Newcastle

On the morning of November 30th, we said goodbye to our apartment in Aberdeen and walked to the train station to catch a train to Newcastle in England. We stopped at the Vegan Bay Bakery on the way, so I could stock up on treats and food for the journey. The train ride to Newcastle took four hours, and Minnie was as good as gold the whole time. She spent most of the time sleeping, but would come out of her backpack whenever she’d smell someone’s food or wanted to explore from my lap.

We had 45 minutes in Newcastle, all of which I spent going through thrift shop after thrift shop for T-Swift CDs. I didn’t find any, but I did find a shrine dedicated to her in a record shop!

Part 2: Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam

We caught a bus from the centre of Newcastle to the ferry port where we were catching an overnight ferry to Amsterdam in the Netherlands!

I was quite worried about the check-in process since it had been so unclear what documents Minnie needed, but it was incredibly smooth. They just scanned her microchip and checked that it matched in her passport, and then we were good to go! An hour later, it was time to board the ferry and find our little private pet-friendly cabin, which was really nice and even had a window to the sea! Minnie was nervous at first but after a sniff around the room and a pee in the shower (…), she calmed down and fell asleep on the bed next to me.

I spent some hours working on my laptop and then called it a night, happy to be able to sleep for over 10 hours! Luckily, I never get seasick so sleeping on a ferry is no problem for me. In fact, I find the rocking kind of comforting!

Part 3: A sunny day in Amsterdam

16 hours after we’d set off, we arrived in the outskirts of Amsterdam. It took a while to get through immigration, but it was easy as they didn’t even ask about Minnie. We had pre-paid for a transfer to the city centre, so it didn’t take long until we were downtown. I’ve been to Amsterdam before so there wasn’t anything I had to see or do this time around, and that’s a good thing as I was carrying two very heavy backpacks and Minnie!

So we walked around aimlessly for a while and when it got to much for me (and Minnie cause it was very cold!), we chilled in a café for a while and then headed out again for another walk through the city centre, this time during golden hour. We spent the last few hours waiting in the train station to escape the cold and the busy evening streets!

Part 4: Trains to Flensburg

At 7 PM, we caught the first of six trains towards the northern German city of Flensburg. We had a loooong night ahead of us and I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep. But I was too excited to care, because in Flensburg, we’d finally meet up with my family for some Christmas market fun!

Minnie spent the 12-hour journey sleeping with the occasional pee walk in between trains (now in snow!). I worked during the first two-hour train ride and then attempted to sleep for the rest of the trip. It wasn’t easy with constant interruptions and trips that didn’t last more than two hours each, but a little sleep is surely better than none!

Part 5: Christmas market in Flensburg

Finally, at 7.20 AM, we arrived in a snow-covered Flensburg. It’s a city that my family and I visit often for its cozy Christmas market, but I’d never actually seen it with snow before. It certainly made everything more beautiful!

Minnie and I hung out for three hours in the warm bistro at the train station, and then my family finally arrived. They instantly fell in love with Minnie (of course!), but she was wary around them in the beginning. It takes time with her, but I just know she’ll begin to trust and love them soon!

We headed into the city centre and spent the next many hours roaming the Christmas market, looking for all our favourite treats and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. Minnie spent most of the time in the backpack as it was very crowded, and this got her lots of comments about how cute she is! My parents and grandmother enjoyed some mulled wine while I went on a hunt for my favourite Christmas snack; burned almonds in many different flavours! I bought three; original, liquorice and cocoa. Sooo tasty!

In the afternoon, once we’d eaten our way through the whole market, we took Minnie for a little walk to the marina where she was off-leash and went crazy running about in the snow. She’s definitely a winter girl like her mama!

And then it was time to head home to our own little winter wonderland in Denmark!

A long but wonderful journey had come to an end, and now it’s time for all the Christmas joy at home while working on my last essays and dissertation. We’ve got many cozy things planned for the month, and I’m very excited for Minnie to take part in all of it ♡