October 24, 2020 | Posted by misfitwanders | Adventures, Hiking, Lifestyles, Nature, Summer, Sweden, Traveling
No matter what time of the season, there are always activities to do in Beautiful Sweden. Start a bucket list on Sweden, take on the wilderness and the great things to enjoy in this wonderful country. While you wander through the nature and places that you had never even dreamed of before, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported into a fairy tale in this country with such history. Wander in a hotel that’s been created out of snow and ice. Or venture through the ancient old town in Stockholm. There are loads of things that you can do in the wonderful country of Sweden.
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You may be wondering why I suggest Sweden. It’s a country that not so many people know so much about. But once they visit, they are blown away by the beauty and how a person has the right to roam, practically anywhere! So, my top reasons on why I say, bucket list Sweden are down below.
The air ripples with life as we hike through a National Park in Sweden. Birds dive into the water and pop up in another spot in the clear lake. Each step we take lead us farther into the wilderness. Nature has always called to me. But if you’re a city lover, then Stockholm is a must-see with its islands. Or, take on the wintry cold and venture to northern Sweden where the Ice hotel stands tall. This is the best place to see the Northern lights as well! If you want to experience something really unique, then wander to the province Värmland where there’s a place that you get to meet moose up close.
Since Sweden is 63% nature, it’s hard not to explore the beauty away from cities. There’s a variety of different kinds of wilderness throughout Sweden. This is a huge reason why you should have a bucket list for Sweden. There are 30 National Parks, about 4,000 nature reserves, and there’s at least 400 hiking trails across the country if not more. The longest trail in Sweden is the King’s Trail about 440km which can take someone up to a month in completing it if you stay at a relatively good pace the whole time. But this trail is broken up into sections, which makes it a bit easier to take on.
National Parks:
A crunch echoes as I take a step in the melting snow. The day was getting hotter, which wasn’t the greatest for the snow and for us. Finally, after a long half of the day hiking, we came to the top of the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise. I was exhausted and once we hiked down, the parts that use to be snow covered areas had turned into gushing wide streams. Getting across about 5 of those was not an easy task! But the view at the top of Kebnekaise and the journey in itself, was a nice adventure. You can learn more about it here!
There are around 100,000 lakes in Sweden, which makes it a great place to go canoeing/kayaking. Plus, the water is so clear that while you’re paddling there are parts where you’ll be able to see the bottom of the lake. It feels unreal and certain places have islands that you can rest or have a food break on. Since there’s about 270,000 islands throughout Sweden, this means there’s a lot of secluded areas. On your bucket list for Sweden, don’t forget to explore the watery areas! If you don’t care too much for canoeing/kayaking, you can take a boat out. You can learn more about canoeing in Sweden here.
Sweden has this law called, ‘Allemansrätten’, which means, ‘freedom to roam’. You can camp anywhere in the wilderness for up to 2 days. But you need to be respectful to nature and to people’s houses that are nearby. Give them space and don’t tent out in their front yard. You need to be about 700-900 meters away from someone’s home. If you plan on having a fire, use broken branches and twigs. These burn better than live branches anyway. The most important thing is to try to leave the area as you had found it. So, no litter left behind. Learn more about Wild Camping.
Since this city is made up of islands, there are many waterways throughout it. You can travel through the city on the streets or by water, you choose. In Stockholm, there’s a wonderful part of the city that’s known as old town. In that area, it feels like you’ve been transported to the past with the structure of the buildings and how some areas look like nature is trying to take over the buildings. It’s an enchanting part of the city. Along with the architecture, you get to see stone statues in the city scattered around. There are even places where stone walls have faces engraved in them.
While you’re in Stockholm, check out the subways. Each one has its own theme and has an artsy touch. One has rainbows all over, compared to another one that looks like it comes from ancient times. There’s an interesting island in Stockholm called, Skansen. There, you can visit a museum, a zoo, and check out several other things. It’s a great place for the whole family!
Archipelago is just another way of saying a cluster of islands. There are several of these in Sweden. Some of the best ones are Gothenburg Archipelago, Stockholm Archipelago, and Skåne (Sk-o-n-e) Archipelago. You can hike on many of these islands and even enjoy a nice dip in the water. Take a boat or canoe/kayak to these amazing little getaways.
I visited the Gothenburg Archipelago with my mom and that was spectacular! Half of them were connected by bridges. So, we just used my car and took a ferry to the first island. We saw an enchanting nature reserve, a garden you could walk through that felt like you were engulfed in trees and tall bushes. I highly recommend for this to be on the bucket list for Sweden. The other half of islands don’t have vehicles on them at all! You can get to them by ferry with a bicycle or your own two feet. Next time I’m over here, I plan on exploring these wonderful islands.
Colors spread out across the sky lighting it up on a cold dark night. It dances to a melody that can’t be heard to the human ear. The best place to see these are in northern Sweden in Kiruna or near it. It’s good to go up there when the darkness begins to have longer days. So, September-April are great months to visit this area since there isn’t so much daylight. Keep your eyes to the sky and it’s possible that the times to be the most action in the sky is around 10:00-11:00pm. But this really depends on what month you visit.
The oh so famous Ice Hotel is a building carved out of ice. That alone is something spectacular to see. You’re in luck, this architect beauty in also in northern Sweden. So, you might be able to enjoy the wonderful sight of the northern lights and the Ice Hotel at the same time! This is in Jukkasjärvi that’s just about 17km (11mi.) from Kiruna. While you wander up in northern Sweden, there’s many things that you’ll have to see. Book the Ice Hotel here.
The Ice Hotel gives the guest options, you can either spend the night in the Ice Hotel that is remade every year or stay the night in the permanent structure. Since the Ice Hotel that’s made out of snow and ice melts each year, it has a different look every time, making it an ongoing art project. They have a variety of different kind of rooms you can book and activities. The activities that are offered are: horseback riding, safari, and photography tours. These all revolve around the Northern Lights.
A snort comes from the long brown snout at it wanders up to the fence. We were given branches with leaves and feed that we could give the gigantic animals. As I stared into the moose’s eyes it took my branch with such force and began munching on it. The moose stood tall as it chewed. Its ears would turn towards the sounds from the moose expert explaining more about moose or the laughing kids. We were allowed to pet their heads as we fed them, and we were educated on their backstories. This is definitely an experience that is worth it! You can learn more about this at Värmland Moose Park.
If you’re interested in learning about the other great activities you can do or more in-depth of what was discussed, check out Adventures in Sweden. There’s an article about unique experiences you can have and some others about National Parks you can visit on that page as well. Or learn about the enchanting old overgrown mines. Find out more here!
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