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Despite being one of the most expensive countries for visitors, the simple joys of fresh air, landscape and culture are among the least extravagant and most rewarding of pleasures available to all you tourist.
Sweden was among the world’s first welfare states and it still is, but the economy strategy has changed the last few years. Because of the high prices its rather expensive to be a tourist. On the other hand is it an easy country to travel in, good English is spoken anywhere a tourist is likely to go and I guess most of us Swedes are friendly and helpful. Shopping, food and beer are great but expensive. Crime is still regarded as unusual, police almost invisible, mostly due to that the country is sparsely populated. Though, most of this is not applicable in the bigger cities. |
The best time to go to Sweden is during May-September. Many Swedes are on vacation in July because most people here earn five weeks vacation a year. Though this don’t mean you’ll have the country to your own in July.
Hotels, restaurants, excursion steamers, beaches and mountains are full with foreign  visitors.
Many tourists are from Germany, Japan, UK or US. Most tourists love Stockholm, and then we have the German people who have a thing for forests and elks. They even buy elk shit in a jar to bring home. So I guess it's true, you can sell almost everything to tourists. My country is the biggest sausage in the Scandinavian sizzle, covering an area of 450,000 sq km. The dominant characteristics of the landscape can be attributed to glacial activity, with the rocky south-west coast along the Baltic Sea and the Stockholm archipelago on the south-east coast most notable for their fjords and skerries. I think it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. |
The ocean is a big part of the Swedish landscape and it doesn't get much drier inland, with about 100,000 lakes plugged into Sweden. The islands of Oland and Gotland, consist of flat limestone, but they're sand-fringed and have been turned into beachy retreats for urban escapees.
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Norrland (a practical term for the northern 70% of the country) is sparsely populated, comprising a near uniform expanse of forest, river and rapid. It’s beautiful part of the country, especially with the northern light.
The best time to go up north is in the winter time, May or late summer. During June-August it is one too many mosquitoes if you ask me. If you can bare with them, then its absolutely beautiful in the summer too.
Norway provides a natural frontier to the west on the other side of Skanderna, Sweden's modest mountain range. Our highest peak is the glacier-capped south peak of Mt Kebnekaise with its 2111m. It does seem very tiny, but it’s an utterly beautiful landscape, which make it a perfect place for all sorts of trekking and hiking.
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When I go to US I sometimes gets into fights saying the country has not much of a history. Well, they don’t, not compared to the one I’m used to read about in my archaeology and history class. So I guess I better write shortly about my country’s history, to prove we have more. |
A ring of standing stones, the Stones of Ale, marks a ship-setting (burial in a ship) in Skane, Sweden. The stones mark Sweden's largest ship-setting--some 67 meters long. The 58 remaining stones, previously there were 60, are not from the locality. The stones are oriented northwest to south-east and the end stones are 3.3 meters and 2.5 meters high. It’s a beautiful spot with an amazing view over the cost line and Osterlen’s beautiful landscape.
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Written records survive only from late in the Middle Ages. But the number and variety of fortifications, assembly places, votive sites and graves is impressive. Humankind and metallurgy made late appearances and only in the Bronze Age, after the arrival of Indo-Europeans,
The Viking Age was getting under way by the 9th century, and vast repositories of Roman, Byzantine and Arab coins attest to the wealth and power Swedish Vikings accumulated over the next century. Vikings travelled mostly to the east, making their mark in Russia, as well as trading with (and pillaging) Byzantine territories. In 1809, the unrestricted power vested in the monarch was undone by aristocratic revolt and Finland was lost to Russia. The same year, Sweden produced a constitution that divided legislative powers between king and Riksdag (parliament). The post of ombudsman appeared as a check on the powers of the bureaucracy. In 1814 the military enforcement of the union with Norway was Sweden's last involvement with war. We are a peaceful country who tries to stay neutral. Not always very successful if you ask me.
There are several different Swedish traditions that is unknown to many foreigners. I will just take up the most importent holidays here.
ValborgIt makes no difference if it's still winter or people are struggling through blizzards in northern Sweden. Or if it's 20°C and summer weather, which it sometimes is in central and southern Sweden at this time of year. Walpurgis is always something special.
Many of the Walpurgis traditions come from Germany, where in the old days people lit bonfires to scare away witches that night. People in eastern Sweden began to follow suit in the Middle Ages. In western Sweden, bonfires were lit at Easter instead. In other parts of the country, people waited until the Ascension holiday (Kristi Himmelfärdshelgen) instead. But by the 19th century, the custom of lighting bonfires on Walpurgis Night had spread throughout the country.
Before, Swedes used to let cows and goats out into the forest on 1 May to Nowadays, many local authorities organize Walpurgis bonfires, for instance in People's Parks. Such events may also be organized by local associations or clubs, etc. Sometimes, a choir sings spring songs, and in some places there is a fireworks display as well. On Walpurgis Night we welcome the arrival of spring. In university towns, such as Lund and Uppsala, student choirs usher in spring. They gather in the afternoons, don their white student caps and sing spring songs like 'Skona maj valkommen', 'Vinterna rasat ut' and 'Varvindar friska, leka och viska', etc.
Easter |
During first days during the Easter weekend many people work shorter days, The children dress up as Easter hags and go round door-knocking in the neighbourhood Many Swedes like to place a bunch of silver birch twigs in a vase on the table. They have usually bought the twigs a couple of weeks before Easter so that these have time to bud. The twigs are decorated with hen’s feathers in various colours. You can also buy bunches of twigs from other kinds of trees |
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National Day
June 6 is Sweden's National Day and Swedish Flag Day.
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Flowers and leaves are important at Midsummer. People make flowered wreaths and put them in their hair.
On Midsummer Eve, you put up a maypole (midsommarstang or majstang). These look different in different parts of the country. You decorate them with leaves and flowers. Sometimes, people assemble to prepare the maypole together, for instance at sports grounds, in schoolyards or in a park.
You then dance round the maypole. At public Midsummer festivities, there are often folk musicians with violins and accordions. They play old Swedish dance and ring games, which used to be fairly common in the old days. 'Sju vackra flickor i en ring' and 'Sma grodorna' are a couple of the most popular songs that you are likely to hear at Midsummer. When celebrating Midsummer, you dress up for the occasion. Women and girls may wear a flowery summer dress, for instance, and many people wear traditional Swedish folk costumes. Nature is particularly vigorous during Midsummer. Before, people used to visit special spas in southern Sweden at this time of year. In northern Sweden, people visited spas earlier in the month (on Trefaldighetsdagen - Trinity Sunday). They drank the waters to improve their health and to recover if they were ill.
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Midsummer Night (the night between Friday and Saturday) has always been a magical time, when elves came out to dance and 'trolls' hid behind the trees. Tradition had it that the dew could cure sick animals and people, so you saved a little of it in a bottle. The dew was also used when baking bread - it made the loaves and buns bigger and tastier, people thought.
Girls picked seven or nine different sorts of wild flower in the evening and placed them under their pillows when they went to bed. This meant you would dream about the person you were to marry. The girls had to remain completely silent while picking the flowers. Nor were they allowed to reveal whom they had dreamed about. Some girls still pick flowers and lay them under their pillows.
Crayfish party
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In the old days, the crayfish premiere was on a specific day in August. This was the first day on which you were allowed to catch and sell crayfish during the year. Infringements were punishable by law. But this requirement has now been lifted - the shops can sell crayfish all year round. You cannot catch crayfish whenever you like, however.
Eating crayfish in August is a time-honoured tradition in Sweden, and looks likely to remain popular.
There used to be a lot of crayfish in Sweden. But when crayfish pest invaded Swedish waters, many died. Today, a great many lakes and rivers no longer have crayfish and Swedish crayfish are expensive to buy. This is why crayfish are imported nowadays from China, Turkey and the US. At a crayfish party, you are supposed to have a lot of red, boiled crayfish on the table. You should also serve bread, cheese, beer and vodka. Traditionally, people have small colourful paper hats on their heads and a large paper big. It's a good idea to use a paper tablecloth and have a lot of paper serviettes handy. Eating crayfish is a wet and sticky business! The crayfish are supposed to lay in a tasty brine. When eating them, you suck out the liquid left in the shells - which is why crayfish parties are quite noisy affairs. People slurp and guzzle. Some people think you should drink a toast with each claw! This would mean some very heavy drinking, though, if you eat 10-15 crayfish. People often sing drinking songs, too, before downing the tots of vodka. Such songs are called 'snapsvisor' or 'nubbevisor'.
Lucia
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Lucia Day is 13 December - Lucia's name-day. Throughout the country you can see candlelit processions of Lucias with their white-clad attendants, both girls and boys. The day commemorates St Lucia of Syracuse, a Catholic saint. Legend has it that she was a young Christian girl living in Sicily at the height of the Roman Empire. The Romans had not yet become Christians and condemned Lucia to death. She was executed on 13 December 304 AD, and became a martyr. Many historians are convinced Lucia actually existed, and that she was killed for her Christian faith.
There are many stories about her. Not all of them may be true, but they are exciting to read about. In Sweden, Lucia Day has been celebrated for centuries, but not always in the same way. It used to be a very special occasion - it was thought to be the longest and darkest night of the year, when hobgoblins and witches were afield and the animals talked the language of humans.
In the Middle Ages, Lucia Day was the time when the pre-Christmas fast began. People were not allowed to meat, only fish, until Christmastime. The first 'Lucia bride' had no crown of light and no white-clad attendants. They appeared later. The modern Lucia procession first saw the light of dawn in the 19th century, by which time she had a lighted crown and a train of 'bridesmaids' (tarnor) and 'star-boys' (stjarngossar). Lucia arrives early in the morning, when it's still dark. She serves coffee, saffron rolls and gingerbread to those she visits. Contests to find a suitable Lucia began in Stockholm in 1927. A Stockholm newspaper asked its reads to vote for the girl of their choice. Nowadays, Lucia contests are commonplace. You can vote for Sweden's Lucia, for your town's Lucia and for many other different kinds of Lucia. But the Lucia contests are becoming more and more like beauty contests. In the old days, all Lucias were supposed to have long blonde hair, but this is no longer the case.
ChristmasChristmas is the biggest holiday in Sweden. Weeks before people buy presents, decorates the house and buys food.
Most Swedes tend to buy their Christmas trees just before Christmas, usually on the day before Christmas Eve. But many buy them earlier and place them on the balcony or in the garage, That evening or on Christmas Day, people dress the Christmas tree with candles or lights, tinsel, paper flags, coloured bulbs and other small trinkets, straw angels and stars. Many people place straw goats under the tree. Christmas trees in Sweden are usually topped by a big gold or silver star. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Swedes sit down to watch Donald Duck and his friends on TV. This Disney hour is something of a sacred Christmas tradition in Sweden. After Donald Duck, Santa Claus rolls up with the presents. (The Swedish word for Santa Claus or Father Christmas is 'jultomte', which literally translates as Christmas Gnome.) When the children are young, it is often the father of the family or a neighbour who dresses up as Santa Claus.
Nowadays, Santa Claus is a man dressed in red with a big stomach, a white beard and a red cap. He turns up with a sack full of Christmas presents for the children. In the old days, though, people thought the 'tomte' was an irascible, When Santa Claus has departed, people dance round the Christmas tree, sing Christmas carols and play ring games. After the dance, it's usually time to eat the Christmas meal - julbordet. Among the dishes traditionally served are sweet creamed porridge, ham, stockfish, pickled herring, cheese and rye bread flavoured with brewer's wort (vortbrod). If you didn't dip bread in the ham stock the day before, you can do it now. Many people also eat meatballs, chipolata sausages, red cabbage, liver ptÈ and other delicacies. At Christmastime, you can usually find a special soft beer (jull) in the shops. The children like to drink root beer (julmust) - a Swedish invention dating back to 1910. The recipe is a secret but the 'beer' is supposed to contain malt and hops. These are also present in ordinary beer, but root beer contains no alcohol.
People often put a blanched almond in the porridge. The person who finds the nut in his or her dish can look forward to marrying the following year.
 “City of the sea”.
Where ever you go in Stockholm you’ll always have the closeness to the ocean, however the water does not divide the city, it unites it. Stockholm is a cluster of 14 islands and nearby parts of the Swedish mainland and it’s sometimes called the North’s Venice. |
So if you do decide to go, then where should you stay in Stockholm? Well, if you want to hang out with celebrities then Grand Hotel is the place. The hotel is of course expensive as hell, but if you are doing on-foot exploration of the city, then Grand is perfect, central to everything. The massive Royal Palace just across the way, the trademark City Hall, the spires of important churches, Gamla Stan (“Old Town”), the opera house, the Parliament—all are in sight.
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Gamla Stan is most visitor’s first destination, this is the center of Stockholm history. Narrow streets and cobbled medieval alleys with charm and antiquity. Here are also souvenirs, sidewalk masseurs, coffee shops, restaurants and many, many tourists. Don’t forget to look up though.  Street-level may be a bazaar, but there is another character above: old garrets, dormers, Gothic windows, steep roofs sheathed in copper, sloping mansards—Gamla Stan is up there. To take a guided tour here is a great idea, cause then you will get to hear all the old stories and tales.
Another very nice and old part of the city is “Soder”, which means the South. This use to be the poor part of town, but now it's a very attractive area to live in. Here are winding steps leading up the cliffs, cobbled streets, canopy of trees, with an amazing view of the sea and Stockholm’s spectacular architecture. Stockholm archipelago should definitely not be forgotten. The southeast coast is most notable for its fjords and skerries, and this is the best part of Sweden. To me it stands for the source of the Scandinavian style in design and art; simple, pure, air, light and beautiful.
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I come from the southern most point of Sweden, in a province called Skane. The south of Sweden is very flat, which is a real drag for a mountain lover like myself. However Skanes costline is very beautiful and altering. If I head out for a hike or a MTBing trip I usually chose parts going by the cost. Here is a marked trail called Skaneleden that in many parts is quite stunning. It passes by castles, lakes, small villages and the cost line. |
The Nature around Lund, where I used to live, is to me rather boring. It is a very open landscape, with flat fields in every direction you look. I do like the city of Lund, but for a person who love mountains and oceans, its not the best place around. I'm sure that a lot of people want to argue with me on this point, saying you should be more patriotic about the place where you live. I do think it can be a beautiful place, especially in May when the fields are green or covered in a bright sparkling yellow from the rape flowers. However it’s still not the kind of nature that appeals to me.
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If you are looking for great beaches, then I recommend Skanor-Falsterbo at the very southwest point of Skane. The east cost has an area, Osterlen, where many artists have a tendency to settle down. They say there is a special light and atmosphere here and I have to agree to this. Osterlen is called the Provance of Sweden, mostly due to the hilly soft landscape, dotted with small villages, canopy of apple trees and a gorgeous and long beach stretching it self around the east tip of Sweden.
The north west part of Skane has a more haunting cost, with cliffs alternating with small sandy beaches, making a stunning patchwork. If you like rock climbing or diving, then I recommend you to go to Kullen. It’s actually a perfect spot for any outdoor sport, but don’t forget to stop for lunch in either Molle or Arild. Two incredible cute summer villages.
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Lund was founded in 1020 and it is one of Sweden’s oldest. You can easily see it’s a medieval city with the small narrow streets with no logical city planning. Parts of the medieval city plan are still preserved. Lund has been the archiepiscopal see since 1103, and a cultural centre for the Scandinavian countries. However in Sweden, Lund is mostly well known as a lively city of knowledge, because of University of Lund, that was founded in 1666.
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Lunds Cathedral was inaugurated in 1145, and is the most distinguished cathedral in Scandinavia. The two towers can be seen from any place in the city, and they are locally known as Lundapagarna - the Lund lads. There is also an astronomical clock that was built in 1380, that was widely famous as “horolgium mirabile Lundense”, or the wonderful clock of Lund.
In Lund there are plenty of interesting museums and buildings from many centuries are represented. Among them are Museum of Sketches, Museum of Classical Antiquity and Kulturen, (the Lund Cultural-Historical Museum), only a short distance from the cathedral. Kulturen is one of the most popular attractions in the city. Here you find a large and interesting collection about Lund and its history. Some buildings have been moved here from their original location, and now contain several exhibitions. Another great site is the botanical garden which is a lovely oasis, founded in the 1860´s. Several unusual plants and trees can be seen here. |
The atmosphere in Lund is very laid back. People (mostly students) love to spend their days sitting at the hundreds of coffee shops and cafes, in the parks or just out in the sun at Stortorget (main square). Lund bubbles up during May, which is the best time to visit the city. If you are a student during May in Lund, then most of your time will consist of parties, picnics, champagne races, competitions and just a few lessons and exams too. Every 4th year it is the Carnival of Lund, and during this week the word study won’t even enter your mind. Next time it’s The Lunda Carnival is in May 2006, since the last carnival was this year, 2002.
People wanting to go sailing usually sail along the cost, visiting small harbor towns and nice islands. Most popular is to sail in Stockholm’s archipelago or in Bohuslan, that is the archipelago situated on the west coast outside the city Gothenburg. Trekking you can to do all over the country. Even if the Southern parts that are less hilly, you can find beautiful hiking trails. To me, the nature in the North, beckons you to be more outdoors though. Here you can do all sort of skiing, more challenged trekking, climbing, fishing, rafting, etc.
The hills around the mountain of Fulufjället, west of Särna,
The highest mountain is the South Peak situated in the Kebnekaise mountains.
In If you do go up to this area in winter season, visitors usually want to see the Ice hotel. They re-build the hotel with a new design each season and you can stay over for the night, get married in the church or get a drink in the bar.
I've to admit that I think it's worth the journey. It takes maybe 15 minuets by car from Kiruna but its rather expensive to actually stay in the hotel. However to stop by for a drink in the ice bar, take photos etc, it’s not expensive at all.
If you seek
The best views is said to
The Jokkmokk is a good place to come and see the midnight sun. You can also try to be brave and pretend to enjoy a bracing dip in the river. It’s cold, but I’m telling you that you fell alive and fresh afterwards.
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 Go to Trek Mountains
© Malin Andersson/Lars Persen 2002 |
was their rich trade. The country's early cultural life is still vividly represented in the hallristningar (rock paintings) that survive in many parts of Sweden. In the Malaren valley, the first known trading posts were established and monuments with runic inscriptions appeared.
Pagan gods and slightly more earthbound kings held sway over the domestic population, with Christianity only taking root in the 11th century. Internal squabbles whiled away the bulk of the Middle Ages until Denmark interceded in 1397, when, together with Norway, they joined Sweden in the Union of Kalmar. A century of Swedish nationalist grumblings erupted in rebellion under Gustav Vasa, who was crowned in 1523. Gustav then set about introducing religious reform and a powerful centralised nation-state. A period of expansion resulted in Sweden's control over much of Finland and the Baltic countries.
begin their summer grazing. Lighting bonfires was seen as a means of keeping away wolves and other wild animals so that the livestock would not be attacked.
rather like a Saturday.
This means blue-and-yellow flags, parades, speeches, songs and music and even a special pastry, 'Sverigebakelsen'. National Day is an ordinary working day. People do not get time off to celebrate it. There has been talk of making National Day into a public holiday, but this has not yet happened.
with friends and relations. The holiday always begins on a Friday, Midsummer Eve. This year, Midsummer is on 22 June.
The Saturday is Midsummer Day, celebrated to commemorate the birth of John the Baptist. (Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.) But the midsummer celebrations are older than the Christian faith in Sweden - a thousand years ago, people here celebrated the fact that midsummer marked the summer solstice - the longest day of the year and the shortest night.
By Lucia Day, you were supposed to have stored all your grain and slaughtered and prepared whatever animals were to provide the Christmas delicacies. The Christmas pig was supposed to be slaughtered on the eve of Lucia Day. When morning came, you ate as much as you could - people sometimes put away seven breakfasts!
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the first Lucias appeared - young girls clad in white gowns. Accompanied by other 'Lucia figures' wearing coats turned inside out, she went from farm to farm at the head of the parade. They sang and had fun, and were given food and drink.
bringing them out on 'Little Christmas Eve'.
grey little man. He was called the 'farmyard gnome' as he was supposed to guard the grounds all year round. He made sure the livestock were in good health, that there was water in the well and that the house did not catch fire. When Christmas came round, you had to remember to put out a bowl of creamed rice to keep him in good spirits. The rice was his pay for a year's work. If the farmyard gnome didn't get his creamed rice or if it didn't taste good, he might get angry and move elsewhere. Then there was nobody to protect the place and all kinds of misfortunes could befall the family.
In Sweden, Santa Claus arrives on Christmas Eve, but in many countries he does not turn up until Christmas Day.
Since water is a great element in the landscape of Sweden, everything involving water sports, fishing, sailing is a big part of the outdoor life.
has created Njupeskär, Sweden's tallest waterfall at 100m. The drive from Särna towards the Norwegian border is fantastic, passing through some rugged and beautiful country on its way to the nature reserve. About 30km from Särna the road turns into a mountain trail and goes on for about 2km to the falls at the edge of the ancient and beautiful forest. For some extra guidance, maps are available at the tourist office at Särna.
The Kebnekaise area is located at 690 metres (2265 ft) above sea level in the Ladtjo valley, and 19 km (11 miles) from the nearest road in Nikkaluokta. Kebnekaise has Sweden's highest alpine landscape with several 2,000 metre (6,500 ft) peaks. Many people think Kebnekaise is just one peak, when it’s an area of several peaks and glaciers.
the true wildlife experience in Sweden, if you want to trek in a place where no people have settled down and a place where you are 
on your on with the greatness of the nature, then I recommend you to go to Sarek. The magical landscape of Sarek National Park covers an area of 2000 sq km. It comprises 100 glaciers and countless soft peaks, some of which are over 2000m. This is a beautiful, however yet demanding country. One can walk for days without no signs of other human beeings. I recommend it only to the ones great trekking/outdoor experience. Visit Trek Mountains guides, if you are unsure what outdoors skills it takes.
be over the lake and delta of Laiture on the Rapa älv, not far from the eastern boundary of the park. Remember that there are no huts and few bridges and it takes a week or more to get in and out. The most common entry point is from the south from Kvikkjokk Fjällstation, which is serviced by bus from Jokkmokk
village of Jokkmokk (Dálvaddis in Samish), just north of the Arctic Circle, started as a Sami market and mission, and is now a centre of revitalised Sami culture. The Sami winter fair takes place the first three days from the first Thursday in February, when you can shop seriously for handicrafts (Sámi duodji) worked in the traditional bold blue, red and yellow.
