Travel Guide Sweden.
By Thomas Wikman
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Swedes like to travel and many Swedes have a lot of experience from traveling. I know one guy who survived Malaria in the Indonesian jungle and had witch doctors dancing around him and doing other strange things in an effort to cure him. A good friend of mine traveled all over Africa in a Jeep, other Swedes I know lived extended periods of their lives in countries like the Central African Republic, India, Thailand and Japan.

I like to travel too, and even though I cannot compete with the most well traveled Swedes I still have some travel experiences of mine own. Like, loosing my memory (amnesia) in a ski accident in Germany; I bravely called soviet officers "the cattle of dictatorship" during a roundup/interrogation; Boris Becker the famous tennis player, stepped on my foot in New York; and I was there when Chris Evert Lloyd and Martina Navratilova had a friendship dinner at Jazz Club in Cleveland Ohio; I slept under the bare sky on a ferry between Italy and Greece; Scuba dived in Bermuda; Enjoyed the beautiful Grecian Islands; and flew across the Atlantic without a passport.

Because I am Swedish and have traveled in my own country I have enough experience to give opinions and advice to Americans regarding travel in Sweden. Everyone is different, and considering that I grew up in Northern Sweden 5 miles from a small sleepy town called Örnsköldsvik (10,000 people) which in my eyes was a gigantic metropolitan, my perspective on traveling is that I prefer nature and scenery, and quite places.

My 15 top favorite places to see in Sweden
Örnsköldsvik/Höga Kusten/Ångermanland
Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi
Scandinavian Mountains
Stockholm
Gotland
Öland
Stockholm Archipelago
Uppsala
Kolmården Zoo
Ångermanland (other)
Kingdom of Glass
Vättern/Gränna
Finland Ferry's
Linköping
Gothenburg


Swedish Travel Spots

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Örnsköldsvik/Höga Kusten
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Imagine yourself sitting on top of a rocky hill on an island, perhaps a hundred feet above the sea level, or perhaps even a thousand feet. You are all alone, no one else is on the island, and you don't know the name of the island, you just randomly landed your boat here. There are no buildings, houses or roads on any other island as far as you can see, and except for a few birds chirping far away there are no sounds, the silence is perfect. It is warm but not hot, there is only a very slight wind, the water around the island is cool, clear, and clean, and the small fur trees and birch trees covering the island gives it a "woody" smell.

The sun is right above the horizon, it is red/orange and it is close to midnight, but before dusk sets in dawn will come. You have been grilling hot dogs over the fire you made, you have been drinking some Pripps blå beer, done some fishing, and picked a bucket of blueberry's for dessert. You don't have to worry about whether this island belongs to someone or not, you can fish, hike, pick berry's and mushrooms, without asking, because in this country truly "private" landowner ship is illegal. However, the scenery, the many hilly and mountainous islands and the sparsely populated and undiscovered mountainous coastline is unique even in this country. Where are you? You are in "Höga kusten" or the high coast.

The High Coast is the coast line between the two small towns of Örnsköldsvik and Härnösand in Northern Sweden. It is a strip of circa 70 miles along which the scandinavian mountains (Norwegian/Swedish mountain range) reaches the coastline forming a mountainous coastline and creating a large amount of islands which really are mountain tops. The area is sparsely populated and rarely visited by tourists. There is plenty of scenery, climbing caves, natural beaches and ports, forests, cloud berry fields, lingon berry, wild strawberry, deep cool and clean lakes with fresh water and good fishing, etc. If you want to get away from it all, and having some quite and piece, there is hardly a better place than this, well Antarctica, but that is too cold.

However, there is more. Fairly recently a 1,500 old iron age, or pre-viking village was found buried in the soil, in Domsjö-Gene a suburban village to Örnsköldsvik.In Northern Sweden it makes perfect sense to call a village 5 miles from a town with a population of 10,000 a suburb to that town. This village is now referred to as Gene-Fornby and is the most northern pre-viking scandinavian settlement ever found. This village was researched and  reconstructed and is now open to visitors. Volunteers dress and act like people did back in the old days and for a very low fee you can join, bake bread, shoot arrows, and visit the long house, and perhaps stay and live there, see the link.

Örnsköldsvik itself is also an interesting place to visit despite its smallness and sleepiness. There is a very fun indoors water park, a good seafood restaurant, a mountain top restaurant, a cafe, museums, and a good ski slope and high jump (skiing) right in the middle of the town, and you can take boat trips to islands or Finland. Other attractions in the neighborhood are the many rivers and streams where you can do canoeing and fishing (no license needed just go), the many lakes where you can swim and fish, and a really good climbing cave called "Gideå grottorna". Other attractions is "skule grottan", and a large sea-side beach called Gullvik, and a bridge with the largest span in Europe. Another thing to note is that crime is very low here, don't lock your car,  and leave your baby in the carriage outside the restaurant, its safe.


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North Swedish Scandinavian Mountains
The Scandinavian Mountain Range covers most of Norway and the North West of Sweden. A large portion of Northern Sweden and Northern Norway is above the polar circle. For this reason this area have midnight sun in June, several days of night in December, and extra bright and flaring Aurora Borealis. Considering that the area is sparsely populated, is mountainous, and is partially tundra, it has a lot in common with Alaska, and indeed hikers and other visitors come here for similar reasons to why people visit Alaska. However, this area is not as cold as Alaska and can be quite comfortable in the summer.

The Swedish Northwest scandinavian mountains covers an area roughly the size of Wisconsin and has a lot of ski resorts and many large national parks, like Sarek , Stora Sjöfallet (Big Falls), Padjelanta, Muddus, Peljekajse, etc., as well as many lakes, rivers, and cabin villages with cabins for rent. A North Scandinavian indigenous people called the "same", or "sami", or "lapps" live here. The same still practice a type of nomadic herding lifestyle (rain deer) that was common 12,000 years ago but today exists nowhere but here. The same are also fisherman and hunters of sea mammals. They dress in very colorful clothes and build "Kåtas" which look like tipis. While skiing or hiking you sometimes run into a kåta and can use it for resting. Did you know that the word "Tundra" is actually a sami word.



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The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Northern Sweden
The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi in Northern Sweden is a hotel that is built entirely out of snow and ice. It is essentially a gigant igloo. It is located 200Km north of the Arctic Circle. It melts in the summer and is rebuilt in the fall. The ice comes from the Torne River and has an exceptional quality due to the soft steady currents of the water during freezing. The beds, the art, the pillars, the bar, the glasses, the furniture, everything is made from ice. Staying in the Ice Hotel over night is a clearly a cool experience, pardon the pun. You can also do Ice Fishing, go Snow Mobiling, go on Moose safari, and do much more.
Ice Hotel Lobby 

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Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It is called the "Venice of the North" because of its waterways and bridges, Stockholm is a city of astonishing architectural variety and elegance, with dozens of first-rate museums and a lively nightlife. Built on 14 small islands joined by bridges crossing open bays and narrow channels, Stockholm is a handsome, civilized city filled with parks, squares, and airy boulevards, yet it is also a bustling, modern metropolis. Glass-and-steel skyscrapers abound, but you are never more than a five-minute walk from twisting medieval streets and waterside walkways. Things to see here are Gamla Stan (old medieval city on an island in the middle of Stockholm), The Royal Palace, Skansen (animals and other fun to do), Gröna Lund (amusement park), the Vasa museum (a recovered 17-the century war-ship) , Kings Garden, City Hall, and the Nordic Museum.

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Gotland
Gotland is an island in the Baltic sea. It has a picturesque scenery with a rugged coast line often with greatly eroded old cliffs formed into interesting shapes. Some of these shapes look like creatures or trolls and such formations are referred to as a rauk.  I also remember visiting some rocky bird islands surrounded by huge steep slopes all around. Gotland's relatively flat landscape and many safe camp grounds makes it a great place to do bicycling. Thousands of people take a bicycling vacation on Gotland. Gotlands has a lot of viking time and medieval buildings, ships, villages, rune stones, churches and other artifacts to visit and see. Visby is the principal town on Gotland, and it is the last medieval town in Sweden with its fortification walls (Visby ringmur) still intact. You get to Gotland by boat/ferry or by air.

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Öland
Öland is an island in the baltic see. Over 400 windmills symbolize this island, which is carved from a single limestone rock. Its sunshine, beaches, camp grounds, and nature preserve make it a fine place for relaxing and camping. It is a favorite spot for the traditional midsummer partying that Swedes do. "Borgholms slott" is a big medieval castle outside Borgholm Ölands biggest town, it is a great place to visit, and they have "spooky" night tours.


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Stockholm's skärgård
Stockholm's skärgård or the Stockholm Archipelago has a very large amount of islands, some are inhabited some are not. There are fishing villages, old historical artifacts, beaches, towns, small ports, light houses, and many other things to see here. However, nothing beats sailing among the many islands and viewing the scenery. Sightseeing tours from Stockholm extend far into the archipelago; and from Nynashamn, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) south, you can get on a boat that will take you on a full day trip through the islands or all the way to Gotland.

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Uppsala
The fourth largest city in Sweden, Uppsala is the site of a historic 500-year-old cathedral and the country's oldest university. Uppsala is an old traditional student town with many student clubs called "nations" representing different regions in Sweden. Outside Uppsala lays "Old Uppsala" with a 1,000 year old church, pre-viking royal burial mounds, and a restaurant serving mjöd, a type of viking beer.
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Kolmården, Big Zoo
Kolmården is a large, well designed zoo, which may not surpass San Diego zoo, but certainly surpasses Cincinatti, Akron, Cleveland, and Milwaukee zoo. Kolmården is quite unique in the sense that it is designed to give the animals a large and natural habitat. For example, animals like giraffes, rhinos, and antelopes are all mixed in a large savannah like area where they are free to run and roam like animals usually cannot do in zoos. Kolmården also have a safari. You drive your car through a forest with elephants, bears, wolf, and lions, and yes, you are truly mingling with the animals, so don't leave your car, you may actually get eaten, and don't annoy the elephants they have banged up cars.

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Ångermanland
Ångermanland is a county in Northern Sweden which contains both Örnsköldsvik and Höga Kusten mentioned above, but also other places of interest, like Härnösand, Junsele, Kubbe, Ramsele, Ångermanälven, Gideåälven, Sandöbron, Sollefteå and Kramfors. Ramsele offers vrey good skiing, and Junsele has a child oriented amusement park and zoo which definitely is one of the best places in the world to take your kids. Ångermanälven and Gideåälven are rivers good for fishing and canoeing. Sandö bron is a very large bridge with Sweden's largest bridge span. Nämforsen is a place (river/creek) which has rhunes written all over it. Sollefteå, Härnösand, and Kramfors are old silent north swedish towns with good dining and hotels. For facts on Örnsköldsvik and Höga Kusten see the first section.
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Kingdom of Glass
The "kingdom of glass," between the southern towns of Kalmar and Vaxjö is an area with several glass factories, Orrefors, Kosta, Boda. They are open for visitors and you see glass items being made as well as buy them. Kalmar with the famous castle "Kalmar slott" is also an interesting spot to visit. A six kilometer (four miles) long bridge will take you to Öland/Färjestaden.

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Vättern
Vättern is a large (more than 80 miles long) and deep lake in south central Sweden, which is surrounded by beautiful scenery, smaller lakes, hills, rhunestones, other artifacts from the viking era, monasteries and other medieval artifacts, as well as medieval towns. A few famous towns around Vättern are, for example, Gränna the Candy town, Vadstena a famous medieval town, and Motala with the famous channel "Göta Kanal".

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Finland Ferries
The ferry's traveling across the Baltic sea from Sweden to Finland, or Estonia, and back are an experience by themselves. These boats are party boats and  shopping boats with restaurants, pubs, stores (tax free), entertainment rooms, and much more. You can bring your car and sleep in a luxurious room on the boat if you wish. In case you want to see one or two of the countries where these boats land, you can do that too.

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Linköping
Is an old Swedish city with an "old city" with plazas, old buildings, and old-time European stores. It is also the home of "Saab", and a prominent Swedish University.

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Gothenburg
The major port city of western Sweden, Gothenburg is a commercial rather than tourist center, however, there are things to do here like an amusement park; it is also the jumping-off spot for trips along the west coast.



Send me e-mail to: thomas@wikman.com