Posts under Geography

Fun Places in Sweden - Öland

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Aug
21
2009

If you read with some regularity what I write here on this blog, you might have gotten the impression my most favorite places in Sweden are all in the north. True, many of them are, but not all. Take Öland, for example. Definitely not in the north. In fact, as far as Sweden goes, it’s positively down south. Very south.

What? You’re surprised that I like Öland? And what’s there not to like? The place has everything – history, culture, nature, beaches (yes, beaches, and as far as Sweden goes, they’re quite OK), it’s sweet and charming and it’s definitely worth a visit. Or two. Or three. And the best part? It’s totally on the way from Kalmar, which just happens to be one of my favorite Swedish towns NOT located in the north.

I’ll never forget the first time I was traveling to Öland. I was a kid and had a massive panic attack while crossing the bridge (Ölandsbron) linking the island with the Swedish mainland. The bridge is six kilometers long, and while it might not be all that impressive by today’s standards, it was a feat of engineering back in 1972 when it was opened.

Oh, didn’t I tell you? Öland is an island. It’s pretty much self-explanatory when you look carefully at the name:

  • Ö + land = Ölan
  • ö (def.: ön, pl.: öar, def.pl.: öarna) landområde med vatten på alla sidor – in other words – an island.

And by the way, don’t you just love those one-letter words? I know I do.

But where were we? Ah yes, visiting Öland. Personally, I think that the Öland Tourism website does not do the place justice.

It fails to stress that while most of its info is indeed very summer oriented (and in Sweden, for all intents and purposes the summer season ended on August 16th this year), Öland is a very nice year-round destination, especially if you’re not a beach person (but then again, if you were, you’d go to Greece or Spain, not to Öland) and prefer history and nature.

Yeah history… can you believe that people settled on Öland back in 6000 BC? Isn’t it when the dudes in Egypt were busy carving sphinxes and building pyramids? It just boggles my mind when I realize that during that time things were also going on in other parts of the world. Namely – in Sweden.

But the ruins you can see on Öland these days are positively modern when compared to those very ancient times – they come from the Viking era. So if you’re into Viking stuff, then Öland should definitely be on your itinerary.

And if you like harvest festivals and pumpkins, then Ölands Skördefest will be right up your alley. This year it’s scheduled to take place on September 24 through the 27th. And even though I don’t like pumpkins, this event sounds like a lot of fun.

So, if you’ve been to Öland before, please tell us what you thought of the place. Would you recommend it as an interesting destination for a visit? (I’m asking, because I know that my opinion might not necessarily be for everybody).

 
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UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sweden

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jul
28
2009

Believe it or not, but I know a person who actually said that Sweden was a very boring country. She claims that apart from Stockholm, there is absolutely nothing interesting worth visiting here. Unfortunately, her point of view is shared by the many foreign travel writers who bang out mediocre stories about Stockholm and think they “know” the real Sweden. I don’t know about you, but personally, I’m tired of such nonsense and so when I see a travel article on Sweden in one of the major US newspapers (or even travel magazines) I am reluctant to read it. I even know one such travel writer (no it’s not you, Lola!) and she thinks, no, she’s convinced that Stockholm is all that Sweden has to offer. No, scratch that, she’s convinced that Sweden IS Stockholm, and that’s it. End of story.

So in case you are wondering what else is there to see in this country, I thought I’d take the most convenient way out and list all the UNESCO World Heritage sites. And there’s more than just a couple of them here (oh, how I wish that those ill-informed travel writers knew how to use google!)

Here they are (most of them, anyway) in the order they’ve been added to the World Heritage list:

  • Drottningholm Palace, Theatre — 1991
  • Birka and Hovgården (on the islands Björkö and Adelsö in Mälaren near Stockholm) — 1993
  • Engelsberg Ironworks — 1993
  • Rock carvings in Tanumshede — 1994
  • Skogskyrkogården (in Stockholm) — 1994 - I even wrote about this one before
  • Hanseatic town of Visby — 1995
  • Church Village of Gammelstad, Luleå — 1996
  • Laponian area (in the Gällivare Municipality, Arjeplog Municipality and Jokkmokk Municipality – my favorite!), Swedish Lapland — 1996 (that’s a nature site)
  • Naval Port of Karlskrona — 1998
  • Agricultural Landscape of southern Öland — 2000 (another nature site)
  • High Coast and Kvarken Archipelago — shared with Finland — 2000, 2006 (a totally fabulous nature site)
  • Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun — 2001
  • Varberg Radio Station at Grimeton — 2004

So there you have it! There is indeed more to Sweden than just Stockholm and even the UNESCO World Heritage list big wigs agree!

 
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Interesting Places - Linbana in Norsjö

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jun
27
2009

A week ago the season started at one of my favorite tourist attractions in Sweden. And I hear you groan… If it’s one of Anna’s favorite attractions it must be somewhere up north. Ridiculously up north. Hard to get to. Rather obscure. Infested with mosquitoes. Filled with blueberries. And surrounded by wild nature. Yep. You’re right. On all accounts, except for the “ridiculously up north” bit. The place I’m going to tell you about today is moderately up north by Swedish standards. It’s practically southern Lappland. And that’s practically central Sweden if you squint at the map at just the right angle.

And the attraction I’m talking about? Världens Längsta Linbana (the world’s longest ropeway) in Norsjö. Well, technically it’s between Örträsk and Mensträsk, but since nobody’s ever heard about those places, we’ll stick with Norsjö – much easier to find on the map.

What’s the longest ropeway in the world doing in the woods, you might ask? Hmmm… It’s a long story.

It started with a mine (gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead) in Kristineberg. Back in the olden days, the ore had been transported to Boliden by road – about 100 kilometers (or 10 Swedish miles). But then WW2 happened and with it came severe shortages of fuel and rubber. In other words, road transport became pretty much impossible. But the world still needed that ore. And even more so than before. The problem of how to transport it to the coast was solved in a rather ingenious way.

“Hey, let’s build a ropeway,” someone said. And the rest is history.

And boy, did they build a ropeway, or what? 96 kilometers of it. Through the woods and over the lakes. It took 1500 men two years to finish it.

So how did they transport that ore using a ropeway? They simply loaded it into buckets and moved those buckets on a cable. Kind of like that:

These days 13 kilometers of this ropeway are used for moving tourists. Not in buckets, of course (but hey, now THAT would be an attraction, don’t you think?), but in comfortable cabins. The trip takes about an hour and a half and you can even order lunch. Or bring your own picnic along. And a camera – don’t forget about the camera!

And the best part? If you go towards the end of the season, you can see all the best hjortron patches from the air!

Yeah, yeah, nice bucket of hjortron. (Seen from the air).

And here’s the official website of Världens Längsta Linbana with all the relevant info. Enjoy!

 
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Bus Travel in Sweden

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jun
22
2009

To continue with our theme of summer travels in Sweden, today let’s talk a little about different modes of transport that are available to you when vacationing in this lovely country. I know I covered air travel once before, and because not that much has changed since then (except perhaps for a few airlines going under), we’ll leave that for now and continue with a more budget-friendly option - such as traveling by bus. Hey, we’re in the midst of a global recession, and I don’t know about you, but for me “cheap” is the word of this summer season.

When it comes to travel, you can’t get any cheaper than going by bus.

Well, yes, I suppose there are even cheaper ways to travel – like buying your own donkey, but somehow I can’t imagine it would work very well in a country like Sweden. Though again, you never know. I think a couple of years ago there was a guy who traveled across Scandinavia on a mule. Anyway… let’s stick to buses for now. The crisis is bad but not THAT bad just yet.

I admit it, I like buses. And it’s not just because I’m a cheapskate. If you ride a bus during the day, you get to see a whole bunch of places and amazing scenery that otherwise you wouldn’t even know existed. One summer, just for the heck of it, I rode buses all the way from Kiruna to Stockholm.
As a bus traveler, I am partial to länstrafik buses. Those are the massive, mostly blue, mostly doubledeckers plowing the Swedish “outback”. Needless to say, I like to sit upstairs and watch the world go by as we zoom to Mo i Rana in Norway, or to Haparanda on the Finnish border. In many places in northern Sweden, those länstrafik buses will be your only choice, and unfortunately, their prices will also reflect this fact.

The further south you go, your options in bus travel increase tremendously. Here are a few bus companies ready to take you almost anywhere in Sweden and beyond.

Yes, this is “bus” with only one “s”. From Stockholm, this company can take you to Göteborg, Oslo, Malmö and many other destinations in between. Unfortunately, their website is only in Swedish.

I know this provider very well, I’ve spent many a long night (and day) on their buses going between Umeå and Stockholm. This is probably the cheapest option on this particular route, and those buses are always filled up with student crowds commuting to and from UMU. What’s nice about Ybuss is that they also stop at Arlanda airport, and hence provide a very attractive alternative for those in Norrland connecting to charter flights.

Not exactly a summer photo, I know, but this just goes to show you that buses in Sweden run year-round, even in conditions that would cripple traffic in most other countries.

is in cahoots with Ybuss these days, and thanks to that you can have a more or less seamless travel experience all the way down to Köpenhamn and beyond. What’s good about Swebus is that their website is multi-lingual.

is a company previously known as Säfflebussen and you will frequently hear folks refering to it by its old name. No worries, it’s one and the same.

Covers southern Sweden, as well as Oslo and Kastrup (that’s the international airport in Copenhagen).

again mostly southern Sweden, but it goes as far north as Sundsvall.

This is another one of my favorites.

This one is a long-distance institution in its own right. It can take you all the way from Haparanda (or rather Torneå – as its Finnish twin is known in Swedish) to Stockholm for only 570 SEK one way (no student discount on this route).

One thing to keep in mind when trying to book bus tickets on-line. Some bus websites accept search queries without Swedish letters å, ö, and ä, but many do not (the ones that don’t have a drop down box with destinations), so don’t get frustrated when the search results look like total nonsense. Just type in your search parameters again using Swedish letters and you will be on your way in no time.

Happy travels (by bus)!!!

 
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Summer Plans 2009 - Vacationing in Sweden

Posted by Anna Ikeda
May
7
2009

It’s (almost) the middle of May already. Time’s fun when you’re having flies, or rather, the other way round. The weather may not be very summery yet, or up North – not even very springy yet, but summer is already on everybody’s mind.

Yes, it’s time to plan your summer vacation, if you haven’t done so already. Where to go, when exactly to go, how much to spend and all those other pesky little details of your long-awaited summer break.

My friends and co-workers all seem to be discussing their semester (vacation) plans right now. Global crisis, or not, semester is sacred. After all, what are you going to do? Stay at home for four weeks in July? Nah, you gotta go somewhere.

True, many people are concerned about the economy and about whether or not they can actually afford their summer breaks. Some of my friends have downsized their normal plans. Instead of a trip to Thailand or another exotic destination, they choose more mundane places like Spain or Egypt. Those who normally would go to Spain or Egypt are opting for even more budget friendly choices like Turkey and Bulgaria. But few of the people I know say they will stay in Sweden during the summer. Why? All things considered, it’s cheaper to go abroad. And oh yeah, the weather’s better elsewhere, too.

But let’s pretend for a second that staying in Sweden this summer is your only option. Or that visiting Sweden this summer (for those of you in other countries) is your only option. In that case, where would you go? Which places would you like to visit? Where in Sweden have you visited already and what would like to recommend to others?

Anybody who’s been reading this blog for more than 5 minutes knows that I’m a huge fan of Lappland. My number one destination in Sweden is the Far North – Kiruna, Abisko, Jukkasjärvi and the whole Tornedalen (Torne Valley) area. There are no ancient castles there and no Viking huts. There are no gothic cathedrals and splendid art museums. Instead, there is plenty of nature, gorgeous views, different culture and midnight sun (after all, we are talking about summer here). If not for the mosquitoes, it would be an ideal adventure destination. The drive along the Torne river is, without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous in Sweden.

A bit more south (if you’re in, let’s say, Pajala) there’s Luleå with its World Heritage listed Gammelstads kyrkstad (Gammelstad Church Town). Oh yes, and why is Luleå calling itself The Capital of Swedish Lapland? Just how many capitals does Lappland have? What about Lycksele’s claim to “Lapp Stockholm”?

So, now you know where I would like to spend my summer in Sweden. How about you? What are some of your favorite Swedish summer destinations?

PS. And just so there is no misunderstandings – it’s “Lappland” in Swedish, but “Lapland” in English.

 
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