Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [205]
Getting There & Around
Karlstad is the major transport hub for western central Sweden. The long-distance bus terminal is at Drottninggatan 43, 600m west of the train station.
Swebus Express (0200-21 82 18; www.swebusexpress.se) has daily services on a number of routes, including Karlstad–Falun–Gävle, Karlstad–Göteborg, Stockholm–Örebro–Karlstad–Oslo and Karlstad–Mariestad–Jönköping.
Intercity trains to Stockholm (Skr365, 3¼ hours) run frequently. There are also several daily services to Göteborg (Sk209, three to four hours) and express services to Oslo (Skr272, three hours).
Värmlandstrafik (020-22 55 80) runs regional buses. Bus 302 travels to Sunne (Skr79, 1¼ hours, one to five daily) and Torsby (Skr96, two hours, one to three daily). Local trains also operate on this route – prices are the same as for buses.
Free bikes are available from the city’s two Solacykeln booths Stora Torget (29 50 29; 7.30am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3.30pm Sat May-Sep); outer harbour (9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3.30pm Sat Jun-Aug). All you need is a valid ID.
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SUNNE
0565 / pop 13,600
Sunne is the largest ski resort in southern Sweden. In summer, it’s a quiet spot with a number of cultural attractions in the vicinity. It also has a proud literary heritage, as the hometown of both Selma Lagerlöf and Göran Tunström.
The tourist office (164 00; www.sunne.info; Kolsnäsvägen 4; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri mid-Sep–mid-Jun; 9am-9.30pm daily mid-Jun–mid-Aug; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat & Sun mid-Aug–mid-Sep) is at the camp site reception building (Click here) and offers internet access (Skr10 for 15 minutes). Banks, supermarkets and most other tourist facilities are on Storgatan.
Sights & Activities
The most interesting place in the area is the house at Mårbacka (310 27; www.marbacka.s.se; adult/child Skr70/35; 10am-4pm mid-May–Aug; until 5pm Jul; 11am-2pm Sat & Sun Sep; open for guided tours only 2pm Sat Oct-mid-May), where Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) was born. She was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, and many of her tales are based in the local area. Admission is by guided tour only (45 minutes), which leave on the hour – a tour in English is given daily in July at 2pm. Mårbacka is 9km southeast of Sunne; enquire at the tourist office about buses.
Sundsbergs Gård (103 63; adult/child Skr40/free; noon-4pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun late Jun–mid-Aug), opposite the tourist office, featured in Lagerlöf’s Gösta Berling’s Saga and now contains a forestry museum, furniture and textiles collection, art exhibition, cafe and manor house.
Known as ‘Ekeby’ in Gösta Berling’s Saga, Rottneros Park (602 95; iwww.rottnerospark.se; adult/4-15yr Skr100/50; 10am-4pm mid-May–mid-Sep, until 6pm mid-Jun–mid-Aug), 6km south of Sunne, soothes travel-weary adults with flower gardens, a tropical greenhouse and an arboretum. There’s lots for kids, including the rope-swinging delights of Sweden’s largest climbing forest. Motorheads should see the attached museum of vintage motorcycles. Rottneros has its own train station. Take bus 302.
The steamship Freya af Fryken (415 90; angbatfreja.nu; short tours adult/child Skr100/50, with fika Skr190/100) sank in 1896, but it was raised and lovingly restored in 1994. Now you can sail along the lakes north and south of Sunne; departures are several times weekly from July to mid-August. Lunch and dinner cruises are also on the program.
Ski Sunne (602 80; www.skisunne.se), the town’s ski resort, has 10 different descents, a snowboarding area and a cross-country skiing stadium. In summer the resort becomes a mountain-bike park.
Sleeping & Eating
Sunne SweCamp Kolsnäs (164 00; kolsnas@sunne.se; sites low/high season Skr150/200, 2-bed cabins Skr365, 4-bed cabins Skr465; ) This is a large, family-oriented camping ground at the southern edge of town, with minigolf, a restaurant, a beach and assorted summer activities, plus bikes, boats and canoes for rent. There’s a good restaurant attached.