This winter we decided to head north for the Christmas holidays and we felt brave enough to experience the arctic cold in Swedish Lapland, Kiruna. Both my partner and I hadn’t visited Sweden before so we decided to first spend 48 hours in Stockholm and then make our way up to Kiruna.
Stockholm
During our first stop in Stockholm, whilst we didn’t have a specific plan, we knew we wanted to absorb the cool vibe of the city.
We started off from the Gamla Stan area which is known for the Royal Palace but we were even more attracted to its full of character architecture and the charming cobbled streets. As there are many restaurant/bistro options, we mainly opted for the ones serving Swedish cuisine such as Tradition where the food was delicious.
Another area we visited was SoFo (South of Folkungagatan). This is a trendy/hipster area with plenty of cool cafes and shops. Swedish are well known for their minimal yet practical and cosy interior design which made us want to walk into every little shop to buy and also to experience the ambiance.
We also knew we should use the metro whilst in Stockholm. Not only to get around the city but also as many stations are almost like live in art galleries due to the exposed bedrock which has been retained and painted based on a theme.
Kiruna
In order to get to Kiruna from Stockholm, there are two main options; via airplane (1.5 hrs flight) or train (approximately 15 hrs). We took the overnight train and stayed in a cabin on our way up north and returned by plane. As we were travelling during the winter months, we didn’t have much view from the train as it was dark but this is considered to be one of the most picturesque train routes in Europe.
In Kiruna, instead of staying in a hotel, we opted for glamping (from glam and camping). We booked a Skynest in the SkyVillage and as its name suggests we had a full view of the sky throughout our stay. In Kiruna the temperatures ranged between -15oC and 0oC and it is important to go prepared for this weather but when we were in our Skynest, it was warm and cosy.
In Lapland we experienced the most beautiful skies. The colours ranging from pink to violet and from green to yellow were unreal whilst we also observed a rare phenomenon called ‘mother of pearl clouds’ which made the clouds look colourful and almost like photoshoped due to their shape.
We were also very lucky as we got to see the Northern Lights something we were both secretly wishing for.
Sweden overall was like a winter wonderland with incredible sceneries and even more beautiful skies. We would love to return during the warmer months to even experience the midnight sun but that’s another one for the bucket list.
