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Travels with V

Swedish Lapland

Travels with V

Swedish Lapland

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PARTS

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Mountains, rapids, and wild walks

Part one, Kukkola

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The mountains of Swedish Lapland are getting increasingly popular with tourists. Footpaths and shelters are filling up with people who have a fresh interest in the majestic nature of these parts. And that goes for us too.  V was born up here but I had never been this far north. So this journey is a way for her to show me her roots. It’s a long way to drive from our home in the south but there are definitely some points of interest along the route…

"DRAGON GATE" IN TIERP
THE "HIGH-COAST" BRIDGE

Our first stop in Lapland is Kukkola by the Torne river, we reach it after two whole days of driving. There’s a stretch of rapids here and the place was in older times a smal village with fishermen and farmers. But now it’s a fairly big tourist facility with camping, huts and a small hotel. There’s a good restaurant too and a museum where the village history is on display

KUKKOLA OLD VILLAGE

We are looking forward to take part in some advertised activities here, but in reality they don’t happen. For instance – sauna baths, a huge and important part of life up here. But the tiny saunas available seem very unattractive in present pandemic times. There’s a society called “Sauna Academy” that have a couple of differently heated saunas, but these are closed during our stay. Then there’s the traditional fish catching with a hoop on a long stalk, but this is a particular whitefish fishing  and the whitefish isn’t here yet, it will swim up from the Baltic Sea in a couple of weeks. 

Last opportunity – rafting? But no, minimum eight people are needed for this, and the visitors here are mostly families or old people, and rafting is obviously not on their wishlist…But look! On the other side of the river, in Finland they go for it!

Finland is just across the rapids. But there’s no border crossing here, so we drive down to the nearest one in Haparanda. Our goal is Rovaniemi, the home of Santa Claus!

Top 5 in Lapland:

  1. See: The blue mountains of Kebnekaise, the hikes in the mountain forests, the raging rapids, the colourful landscapes and not least, the unspoiled silence.
  2. Food and lodging: Each place has its own  setup. Resorts like Björkliden and Abisko have cabins, hotels and B&B with restaurants. On longer trails like Kungsleden you’ll find cabins for overnight stays. 
  3. Do: Hiking trails of various difficulty are found in places like Björkliden, Abisko and Nikkaluokta. Kungsleden is the most famous trail .
  4. Swim: You can swim in  Torneträsk, by the outlet of Rakkasjokk. But it’s very cold. Sauna bath is common especially in the Torne river area. 
  5. Other: The best restaurants were Abisko Mountain Lodge, Enoks by Laddjujauvre and in its own league Arctic Gourmet Cabin in Kaalasjärvi, not far from Kiruna.
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