Sweden

KIRUNA

The northernmost town in Sweden is the gateway to a variety of holiday adventures. Now with direct flights from the UK in just 3 1/2 hours, you can land here and be whisked off to a pristine winter wonderland ready to enjoy the many delights on offer. In January, Kiruna is the location for the International Snow-Sculpting Championships where many talented ice artists craft impressive works of art in the park.

Kebnekaise dominates the horizon, at 2111m (almost 7000ft) it’s Sweden’s highest peak and the surrounding countryside is incredibly scenic. The town centre is fairly compact with a few shops, bars and restaurants and some remarkable architecture – the Kiruna Kyrka, a Sami inspired church is certainly worth a photograph or two.

Interestingly, over the next 30 years Kiruna’s dot on the map will be moving – much of the town will be relocated, building by building, a few kilometres up the road. This is due to the expansion of the century-old LKAB iron ore mine, already the largest in the world. A visit to the mine is surreal and fascinating. Today a vast network of roads (400km!), a café, museum and more can be found an astonishing 540m below sea level, hidden underneath Kiruna. A visit here is more than educational.

About 45 minutes north of Kiruna is the Esrange Space Centre.

JUKKASJARVI

A 15 minute drive from Kiruna Airport brings you to this tiny hamlet with not much more than a local shop, a couple of restaurants, a quaint old church and oh, the world-famous ICEHOTEL! In 1990, 200km above the Arctic Circle, a dream was realized and has been recreated here every year since. The work of art that is the ICEHOTEL, has to be seen to be believed.

ABISKO

This beautiful national park marks the beginning of the Kungsleden, Sweden’s most famous skiing and hiking trail, and one of the country’s most striking mountain regions. Kungsleden is 440km long stretching south to the southern part of Lapland. It is an area which offers remarkable geology, flora and fauna as well as plenty of winter activities. It’s not unusual to have quality sightings of the northern lights here, due to its location and often cloud-free skies, unpolluted by manmade light sources.

BJORKLIDEN

This is the smaller neighbour to Riksgransen and is more family-orientated. This developing resort has 23 runs with skiing until May. The amazing scenery provides excellent trails for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.

The Icehotel Break »
Ski Bjorkliden »
Husky Adventure »
Sami Experience »
Traditional Lapland »