Scandinavia Tour - Sweden, Norway, Finland 2015

As it beautifully says every year around Christmastime, we were drawn north again this year. Due to a lack of ice and snow in Switzerland, we decided on a small Scandinavia tour – Sweden, Norway, Finland.

12.12. Frankfurt (FRA) – Luleå (LLA)

Our journey to the north begins in Türkismühle in Saarland, specifically to Swedish Lapland. After a travel time of just over 4 hours and a stopover in Stockholm, we arrive in ice-cold Luleå. It's -12 degrees Celsius here upon our arrival, and an initial equipment check confirms that we've chosen the right clothing.

By bus we'll go to the hotel, where we will spend the first 2 nights. At the Quality Hotel Luleå, we will enjoy the peace and warmth by the fireplace. Outside it's now -19 degrees, and that's yucky! *g*

13.12. Christmas Shopping in Luleå

In the morning we'll still study what we should do today. The whole trip is unplanned again, of course =) As always.
A quick look out of the hotel and we're already sure... despite it being Sunday, the shops are open -> CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

The last Christmas presents are being bought and we're stocking up on fresh items, fruits and vegetables...yummy. Afterwards, we're heading to the harbor for photos. The sunrise and sunset here in Lapland last about 5 hours. Fortunately, you can still see the sun a little bit in Luleå. Further north, it will look different. So, we're taking some nice photos of the sun to look at later when there's none left 🙂

Afterwards, in the evening, we went to the Argentinian restaurant, which served really good pasta. So far, the culinary aspect of our trip is fitting.

14.12. Lannavaara

After a lavish and hearty breakfast, we continue to Lannavaara. This village of 100 souls is located about 250 km above the Arctic Circle. It's currently -25 degrees here, brrrrrrrr...

The landscape looks stunning; snow-covered, bitingly cold, and picturesquely beautiful, the forests lie to the left and right of the highway.
Welcome to Winter Wonderland.

We reach Lannavaara around 6 p.m. and realize that the only supermarket, or rather general store, in town is only open 4 hours a day, and precisely until 6 p.m. 🙂 Therefore, we have leftovers from the previous day for dinner.

We are staying here privately in a very nice apartment with a great kitchen, living room, and bedroom. We are staying here for 2 nights. The first evening we spend searching for the Northern Lights, but without success. It is too cloudy here, despite the cold.

15.12. Karesuando and Karesuvanto

After a more or less simple breakfast (toast with banana) *g*, we head to Karesuando, the northernmost municipality in Sweden. We take a look at Sweden's northernmost church. We make a short detour to Finland, to Karesuvanto, where we drink a coffee that we didn't like. That's why we head straight back to Sweden.

On the way back to Lannavaara, we'll pass through a few more dense forests. All the roads up here are covered in snow or ice. Naturally, I'm having a blast driving like this. With a Tiguan R-Line All-Wheel Drive with snow tires, we're well-equipped and can rip across the ice...muhahahahaaa....

16.12. Kiruna Star Wars Premiere

Okay, Star Wars wasn't the reason for going to Kiruna, of course. Anyway, it was my first Star Wars movie I'd ever seen, so I can't exactly claim to be a fan. But the movie was fun and the story was okay. But independent of the cinema movie... Kiruna is simply a great city. It's practically civilization in Lapland, and with its 18,000 inhabitants, the city is „THE“ urban center. Here, the world is still in order, and you can stroll through the city chilled out and get in the perfect Christmas spirit. I've been to Kiruna before and know the area well. That's why we quickly „found“ a cozy cafe and read there and read and read and read... and then went to the cinema.

17.12. Kiruna Sightseeing

This morning we're having breakfast at our guesthouse, where we have it all to ourselves... conveniently. We have a bathroom and kitchen to ourselves and a quadruple room. So, plenty of space. After breakfast, we're heading into town. We'll see the Sami Church, which was built by the Sami :-) A great and noteworthy wooden construction. Regarding Kiruna's history, it must be said that about 100 years ago, they really messed up. The iron ore mine, which is why the city was founded, is responsible for a good third of the city having to be relocated. This includes the church and the city hall. Thousands of residents are affected and will have to rebuild their homes on the other side of town in the coming years.

But for that, a super nice new center is being created. There are already one or two good and detailed models that we looked at in the town hall.

We're driving over to Jukkasjärvi around noon and will take a guided tour through the Ice Hotel. This is of course a must-do when you are in Swedish Lapland. I am already there for the second time, and it's interesting how the hotel looks a little different every year.

12/18 Björkliden

After checking out of our youth hostel *g*, we're heading to Abisko or Björkliden, further north again. We haven't seen the Northern Lights yet, but that's about to change. Here in Abisko, the sky clears up at least once or twice a night. So all you need is patience and perseverance.

We are staying here for 3 nights in a nice and cozy hotel, again with a fireplace and warm lobby. I was already here in 2014 and therefore know the surroundings well.

We hike up the ski slope in the evening and have dinner in a small mountain hut that has a heater. You can warm up there really well. However, after a few hours, we head back to the hotel, unsuccessful in our search for the Northern Lights. They didn't show up. It was too cloudy.

12.19 Kiruna LKAB

After a hearty breakfast, we head back to Kiruna. Today, we'll visit the LKAB iron ore mine. It's one of the largest in the world. Magnetic iron ore is mined there in Kiruna. Several tens of thousands of tons are transported daily from Kiruna to Narvik in Norway for shipping.

We ride a bus 3.5 km into the mountain and down to level 540, which is basically 540 m underground. It's quite an intense feeling to have so much mountain above you. In total, there are 400 km of roads in this one mountain, two lanes wide!!! We booked a tour and are being guided through the tunnels. They explain in detail how the iron ore is mined and also why the earth in Kiruna trembles every night. We heard and felt it every night. Since very few workers are on the night shift, blasting always happens between 1:15 pm and 1:45 pm.

Afterwards, there's still a fika. The Swedes are proud of that, and fika time is sacred. It's roughly equivalent to English Tea Time. I like it. Usually, coffee and kanelbulle (cinnamon buns) are served there, yummy. Afterwards, we went to The Bishop Arms for something to eat and then drove back to Björkliden.

20.12. Narvik, Abisko, Northern Lights

In the morning, we headed over to Norway. It's just about 90 km from Björkliden. Since we're allowed to drive 90 km/h on the highway, that means it takes us exactly 60 minutes *lol*

Unfortunately, the shops here are not open on Sundays, and to our horror, we also notice that ALL the restaurants and cafes are closed... WHAT??? It's just like in Switzerland.

We still find a small snack at a snack bar and also a cup of bad coffee. Afterwards, we head back to Abisko. The highlight today was clearly the drive. It goes through the mountains and over a few pass roads. Beautiful area, even if dark, at least on the way back.

After dinner, we drive to Abisko, and just as we get stuck in deep snow with our great car, the sky opens up and we see breathtaking Northern Lights. Armed with a camera and tripod, we walk through the forest to a clearing I remembered from my last visit. Pure goosebumps.

21.12. Gällivare, Sangis

We leisurely check out after breakfast and enjoy the drive south. We see some sun again here, but not really much. Nevertheless, we take great photos of the sunset. We stop in Kiruna again and have lunch there. In Cafe Safari Are there tasty and, above all, fresh things. Afterwards, we'll head to Sangis, where there's nothing besides our hotel... NOTHING! =)

On the way there, we'll pass through Gällivare and stop there briefly. It's a bit smaller than Kiruna, at least it seems that way. We'll buy provisions for the journey there and have a coffee. In Gällivare, we notice that we haven't needed cash for two weeks and didn't have any with us anyway. But here you still need the famous 5 kronor for the restroom... damn... like before. However, we then found a snack bar that had a restroom.... phew =)

12.22 Kalix, Kemi, Tornio, Haparanda

Today there was a surprise. We drove over to Finland, specifically to the city of Kemi. Every year there's a „Kemi Snow Castle“ here. We wanted to see it. What we found, however, was a giant pile of snow LOL, perfect for building our own castle. It was probably too warm here at 0°C for a snow castle that also rents out hotel rooms. Too bad.

In Kemi itself, we then realized that Finland is the opposite of Sweden. While Sweden is known as a welfare state, Finland is reminiscent of post-war Eastern Europe (where I naturally experienced it firsthand LOL). We drove through Finnish Lapland for quite a while and unfortunately weren't positively surprised. We'd rather go back to Sweden, with a short stop in Haparanda, for lunch.

Afterward, we drove a bit further south to Kalix, where we first went into a supermarket. After that, we immediately had dinner at a diner, which was really delicious. We spent the rest of the day packing our suitcases. We are already about 1 hour away from Luleå Airport.

12/23 Frankfurt

Unpleasant youth hostel in Lapland, „check.“ Off to Frankfurt. We leave the cold north behind and fly from Luleå to Stockholm, where we have just enough time for lunch. After that, we head straight to Frankfurt. There, we catch the train towards the main station and get off at Taunusanlage. Our hotel is supposed to be here. *Searching* among all the skyscrapers.

After 2 minutes, we „finally“ find it, already soaked in sweat. Our jackets keep us warm down to -50 degrees, which was incredibly useful in the days before. Here in Germany, however, we feel like we're in a sauna with our gear.

We learn that the reception is on the 22nd floor. Great! From there, it's up to our suite, with a fantastic view. We are part of the skyline and look down on the city.

In the evening, you're going to a nice restaurant with friends that serves local specialties, such as schnitzel with Frankfurt Green Sauce, which we'll order right away. Yummy! Exactly to my taste, I love green stuff and herbs anyway 🙂

December 24th. Driving home for ?

After a delicious breakfast, we head to the Zeil for some shopping. Frankfurt remains my favorite city. Unfortunately, it's been many years since I was last here. So it's even cooler to finally visit the shopping street between Hauptbahnhof and Konstablerwache again. Impressed by the Zeilgalerie – which somehow keeps getting bigger – we then head towards the main train station around noon. Armed with Christmas presents, we're off to Saarland.

 

We had a great Christmas vacation in Sweden and are in the best Christmas spirit as we travel through the winter landscape.

To everyone who has read this post this far, I wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016!!!

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