SWEDEN · SCANDINAVIA
From the archipelago to the Arctic.
Stockholm's island core, the Lapland north, the Gothenburg coast and the 30,000-island archipelago in between. Boat trips and old-town walks, museum days, northern-lights nights and husky trails.
Unmistakably Sweden
Three experiences that are pure Sweden.
City tours and museum days exist in every capital. These three are the reason people choose Sweden. The aurora over Abisko, the 30,000-island archipelago, and your own dog team across the Lapland snow. Plan the trip around them.
Under the Arctic sky
The Aurora Over Abisko
Abisko sits in a rain shadow that keeps its sky clear when everywhere else clouds over, which makes it one of the most dependable places on earth to stand under the northern lights. Ride the chairlift up to the Aurora Sky Station and wait for the green to climb over the frozen lake.
- 1 Kiruna Northern Lights Tour with Photographer
- 2 Kiruna: Northern Lights Tour with Photos
- 3 Northern Lights Tour from Kiruna to Abisko with Dinner
On the water
The 30,000-Island Archipelago
No other capital opens straight onto an archipelago this size. From quays in the middle of Stockholm, ferries and old steamers thread out between thousands of rocky, pine-covered islands and deep-red wooden cottages. Go out for an afternoon, or island-hop for days.
- 1 Stockholm: City Archipelago Sightseeing Cruise with Guide
- 2 Stockholm: Archipelago Boat Tour
- 3 Stockholm Archipelago Cruise with Guide
Across the snow
Drive Your Own Dog Team
Up in Lapland you take the reins yourself and run a team of huskies across frozen lakes and birch forest near Kiruna and the original Icehotel. No engine, no commentary. Just the dogs, the hiss of the runners, and a low Arctic sun on the snow.
- 1 Sit Down Husky Ride Dog Sled Tour in Kiruna
- 2 Kiruna: Guided Afternoon Drive Your Own Dog Sled Tour
- 3 From Kiruna: Northern Lights Guided Husky Sledding Adventure
Start here
The one to book first.
If you only have time for one, begin here. The experience more travellers in Sweden choose than any other.
The classics
Sweden's Most Popular Tours
The archipelago, Gamla Stan, the Vasa, the aurora. The experiences most trips to Sweden are built around.
Plan by season
Sweden is two countries, depending when you come.
The midnight-sun summer and the polar-night winter look nothing alike. Here is what each one is for, and where to start once you have picked.
May to September
The midnight-sun summer
From June the sun barely sets. Days run past midnight, the archipelago fills with boats, and the whole country moves outdoors: swimming off warm granite, paddling between islands, dinner on a terrace at ten at night.
November to March
The polar-night winter
Above the Arctic Circle the sun stops rising, and the dark is the whole point. The aurora overhead, a husky team across a frozen lake, snowmobiles out on the tundra and a night in a hotel rebuilt each winter from river ice.
By region
Pick a corner of Sweden.
Each one is its own trip. Stockholm for the islands and the old town. Kiruna and Abisko for the snow and the aurora. Gothenburg for the west-coast seafood. Uppsala for the Viking history.
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend your time.
Out on the water if it's summer, under the aurora if it's winter. Old-town walks, museum days, fika stops, Viking sites, kayak trips and moose safaris in between.
The old town
Lose an afternoon in Gamla Stan.
Stockholm grew out of this one island of ochre houses and narrow cobbled lanes. The royal palace, the cathedral, cellar restaurants and ghost stories after dark. Three walks we'd start a first visit with.
Coffee and cake
Build a day around fika.
Sweden stops twice a day for coffee, a cinnamon bun and a proper pause. Add herring, meatballs and a Nordic tasting table and it turns into a food tour. Our three favourites.
Where the Vikings began
Out to the Viking heartland.
This is the country the Vikings sailed from. Rune stones, the great burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala and the trading town of Birka, each an easy day trip from Stockholm. Three to book.
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