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SWEDISH
LAPLAnd

ONE WEEK ITINERARY

Day One: Stockholm

​Arrival:

  • Land at Stockholm Arlanda Airport

    • There is a train station in the airport that will take you to the central station in Stockholm (train ride is about 18 minutes)

    • Train ticket prices vary depending on how many people are traveling. If you have multiple people in your group, you can book a 2-person or 4-person group ticket at a discounted price.

    • ​There are kiosks near the escalators that you take to the train platform where you can buy your tickets. 

  • From the central station, we were able to walk to a subway train and ride that to another station near our hotel.​​

    • The transportation is well-marked, and Stockholm is a very walkable city. 

      • ​In comparison, a taxi runs about $72 USD one-way
        ​

​​​Accommodation:

  • We stayed in the Old Town, which I highly recommend especially if you have limited time in Stockholm.

    • Budget accommodation: Castle House Inn​

      • This hostel was just an 8-minute walk from the subway station.​

      • We booked a private room with a shared bathroom. Two private bathrooms were in the hallway and there was also a locker room-style bathroom with private stalls.
         

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  • Explore Stockholm's Old Town, Gamla Stan​​

    • lots of cute shops & restaurants​
      ​​

Activities:​

  • We kept out day simple and just walked around the city, but there are plenty of food tours, museums, and other activities to choose from as well:​

  • Visit the Royal Palace​

    • The guided tour lasts about 45 minutes and cost $19 USD

  • Vasa Museum (Viking Museum)

    • $17/ person

    • Open 10:00 AM-5:00 PM

  • Östermalms Saluhall (indoor market)

    • Note: Closed on Sundays​

  • Spa 

    • $145/ person

    • Includes spa, workout room or group training session, & lunch or dinner

    • Views of the city center

    • Hours: 9:00-2:00 pm or 3:00-8:00 pm
       

  • If you have extra time, I would recommend adding a day in Stockholm. The city is beautiful with so much to explore! In addition to the activities listed above, you can also do boat tours.​ An additional day would also help you have a little more time to recover from jet lag

Day two: kiruna

  • Stockholm- Kiruna Flight: 8:25-10:05 AM 

    • When you arrive, there is a large coach bus that transports visitors from the airport to Kiruna.​

      • It's about a 10-15 minute drive to most hotels.​

    • Our hotel was the second stop​

    • You can pay for your trip when you get on the bus (about $8 USD)

  • Hotel:

    • Scandic Kiruna

      • There is a bus stop directly outside the hotel

        • They have a sauna that overlooks the town- free for guests
        • There is also a nice bar on the top floor of the hotel

        • Fully refundable/ breakfast included

      • The food in the hotel was great! Note that many restaurants close between 3:00-5:00 pm​

        • They offer a buffet lunch each day for $16 USD/ per person​

        • Dinner is served in the restaurant- the dinner food is much better than the lunch, but lunch was still good.

  • When you check-in, ask the front desk clerk for the bus schedule. We had about two hours until the next bus to the ice hotel.​​​

    • We had lunch and enjoyed the sauna before heading out for the day.​

      • This was a great way to unwind after an early flight.
        ​

  • Reindeer Encounter & the Ice Hotel

    • We took the bus from the front of our hotel to the ice hotel. From there, we walked directly to the Sami museum.​

      • About a 10-minute walk from the Ice Hotel bus stop to the Sami museum​

      • We decided to do the ice hotel after the reindeer encounter, so we could monitor our time better before the bus back to our hotel.

  • Reindeer Encounter​​

    • They offer tours, but we decided to do the general admission. ​

      • We were able to walk around the grounds, pet the reindeer, and feed the reindeer for as long as we wanted.​

      • Total cost: $26.50 USD for admission & food for the reindeer 

  • Ice Hotel​​

    • About $35 USD to tour the hotel​

      • We severely underestimated how much time we would spend here- there is so much to explore!​

        • Make sure to ask the front desk clerk for the bus schedule, so you can plan what time you'd like to go back to the hotel.​

      • You get to tour every room in the ice hotel- each room has a different theme.

  • We got back to our hotel around 7:00 pm​​

    • We had dinner at our hotel and went to bed relatively early to prepare for our next day.​

Day three: kiruna

  • Buffet Breakfast at the hotel

  • Dog Sledding Excursion​

    • We were picked up at 9:30 am for our tour and returned around 12:30 pm.​

      • We couldn't say enough positive things about this tour!​​​

        • Our guide, Nora, is a professional dog sled racer- she is the only Swedish female to compete in the  Alaskan Iditarod race.​

          • She explained how they care for the dogs and ensure that they love to run, which they clearly do!​

    • Make sure to dress warm! But they did provide us with a snow suit to wear over our coats.​​​

    • We rode on the sled for this tour. There are others that allow you to drive the sled, but we didn't feel as though we missed out on anything doing this tour!
       

  • After the tour, Nora graciously dropped us off in the old-town.​

    • We walked through some of the quaint shops, had lunch, and toured the historic church.​

    • We hopped on the bus and headed back to our hotel.

    • In order to make it to our next tour on time, we opted to have dinner at our hotel again.​

      • We also wanted to have plenty of time to layer up before the tour!​
         

  • Northern Lights Snowmobile Tour​

    • The great thing about this tour is that even if you don't get to see the norther lights, the activity itself is still so much fun!​

    • Again, we were picked up from our hotel and shuttled to their location.

      • The guides gave us a snowsuit to wear over our coats, boots, extra socks (if needed), warm gloves (if needed), and helmets.​

    • We covered a good amount of distance with 4 stops to look for the northern lights and/ or switch drivers.​

      • We rode in pairs of two. One guide led the line of snowmobiles and another guide drove in the very back.​

    • The guides will also show you the best way to capture the norther lights on your iPhone or android if you don't have a professional camera. ​

      • We saw some lights, but they were not too bright this night. Surprisingly, the lights actually showed up better through our camera than they did in person. ​

Day Four: kiruna- Abisko

  • Train to Abisko

    • ​There is a free coach bus that picked us up from the bus stop outside our hotel and took us directly to the Kiruna train station.​

    • ​I bought our tickets using the app SJ (it's lime green with white letters).

    • The train ride was very scenic and lasted about an hour and a half. 

      • 9:30 AM-11:01 AM

      • We rode to the Abisko Turiststation (second stop)

  • Hotel:

    • STF Abisko Turiststation

      • It was about a 4-minute walk from the train station.​

        • Make sure to have your crampons available; it will make your walk MUCH easier as the sidewalk was quite icy.​

      • They offer hotel and hostel accommodations, so you can book whatever fits our budget/ preferences.​

        • We booked a private Room with a shared bathroom in the hostel. They do charge for sheets and towels, but it's very cheap.

        • If you stay in the hostel, you still have access to the hotel dining room.

          • Buffet breakfast is included; lunch buffet is about $15 USD; dinner requires a reservation- you make it when you arrive. Just make sure to make your reservation when you check-in.
            ​

  • Guided Snowshoeing Hike in Abisko National Park

    • Pick up at 2:00 PM and drop off at 4:00 PM 

    • $57/ person

    • Our guide took us up a small mountain that overlooks the town. She had warm drinks and chocolate for us when we got to the top. 

    • The timing was perfect! We had gorgeous colors across the mountain range as the sun set.
       

  • ​Sky Station Northern Lights

    • The tour lasts from 9:00 pm-1:00 am

      • ​If you do the sky station, make sure to stay up there the entire time- the tour lasts until 1:00 am. We had the best northern lights show from 12:00 am-12:45 am! Even if the clouds roll in, you never know what will happen!
         

    • We actually booked this for our second evening in Abisko, but I think it would be better to do it on night one. ​​

      • Unfortunately, our tour up to the Sky Station was canceled due to bad weather. The guides from the sky station met our group in our hotel lobby and took us on some night hikes in hopes of seeing the northern lights. They also set up snacks and drinks in the hut behind our hotel.

    • The benefit of doing the sky station night one: day two you will have more time to explore the trails around the hotel/ national park, so you can scope out your favorite spot to look for the northern lights that evening. We had a hard time finding a good spot on the first night because we weren't familiar with the trails.

      • I recommend packing a headlamp and using the red light setting, so your eyes don't have to readjust as you look for the northern lights.​

Day Five: Abisko

  • We

  • We spent the day exploring the trails around Abisko National park. 

    • Hike down to the frozen lake​

    • Look at the frozen waterfalls/ watch ice climbers​​​​​​

    • Scope out some great places to watch the northern lights in the evening

    • The ski lift was still closed while we were in Abisko, but if it is open while you're there, you can also ride it up and hike around the top of the mountain.

    • Two trails we did:

  • We enjoyed dinner at STF Abisko​

    • They serve two 3-course meals every night. One meal has a vegetarian entree and the other is meat. ​

      • All the food was fantastic!​

  • This evening, we had our Sky Station tour, but again I would recommend spending your second night on your own now that you had the chance to explore the park during the day. ​​

Day Six: Abisko- Stockholm

  • We arranged for the Kiruna airport shuttle to pick us up from our Abisko hotel.

    • The shuttle lasts about 2 hours and takes you directly from your hotel to the Kiruna airport.​

  • Fly from Kiruna-Stockholm​

  • We spent one night in Stockholm, so we didn't feel rushed for our international flight home. 

  • We relaxed at our hotel and then enjoyed a traditional Swedish dinner in old-town.

    • Tradition- Make reservations ahead of time​

  • Re-pack and get a good night's sleep before tomorrow's flight.​

Day Seven: fly home

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About Me

I'm a teacher and a travel addict! I'm just trying to make my way around the world, one plane ticket at a time. 
 

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