Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [232]
News (10 11 31; Samuel Permansgata 9; lunch buffets Skr70) You can’t miss this buzzing hang-out on a busy corner, with its deck full of fashionable diners. The menu was recently revamped and now includes a vast Lebanese lunch buffet from 11am to 2pm weekdays. The restaurant gradually shifts toward nightclub as the evening progresses.
Lilla Siam (51 20 30; Prästgatan 54A; mains Skr75-105; 11am-9pm Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri, noon-10pm Sat, 2-8pm Sun) An affordable Thai restaurant in an atmospheric dining room, this new place has a good lunch buffet and a classy dinner menu full of Thai staples, including plenty of vegetarian dishes.
Marité (12 42 26; www.marite.nu; Sjötorget 3; mains Skr99-129; lunch & dinner until late) Down by the harbour is this bar-restaurant that gets hopping on summer afternoons, with locals cramming onto the patio for live music and queuing up for cold beer.
Brunkullans (10 14 54; Postgränd 5; mains Skr115-149; 11am-2pm Mon-Fri, from 5pm Tue-Sat, from 4pm Fri) A local favourite for its outdoor patio, Brunkullans also has a wonderfully atmospheric, candlelit 19th-century interior space. The menu features Swedish classics and upscale versions of basic bar food, like a decadent bacon-cheese burger or a quesadilla made with crème fraiche.
Getting There & Around
The airport (19 30 00) is on Frösön, 11km west of the town centre, and the airport bus leaves regularly from the bus terminal (adult/child Skr70/20). SAS flies several times daily to Stockholm; Fly Nordic and Nordic Regional serve Luleå and Umeå.
The train station is a short walk south from the town centre, but the main regional bus station is central on Gustav III Torg; local buses usually run to both. Local buses 1, 3, 4, 5 and 9 go to Frösön (Skr20). Most city buses stop in front of the tourist office.
Länstrafiken bus 45 runs to Mora (5½ hours, two to four daily). Bus 155 runs west to Åre (1½ hours), while bus 63 runs northeast to Umeå (six hours, two to four daily).
SJ trains run from Stockholm (Skr923, six hours) via Gävle, and some continue to Storlien (from where you can catch trains to Trondheim, Norway). You can also catch a train east to Sundsvall (Skr164, 2½ hours). In summer the Inlandsbanan train runs once daily, to Gällivare (Skr918) or Mora (Skr395).
In summer, bikes and inline skates can be hired from the tourist office (half-/full day Skr50/100, week Skr300).
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ARÅDALEN & PERSÅSEN
This seldom-visited part of Jämtland is a favourite spot for trekkers. Its lonely landscapes make you feel like you’re really in the middle of absolutely nowhere – and pretty happy to be there.
In spring, keep your eyes trained on the marshy ground for signs of reddish-yellow cloudberries (hjortron) – the rest of the year your only company may be reindeer and a few wild birds.
The rustic, 18-bed STF Vandrarhem Arådalen (0687-140 54; dm/s/d Skr130/150/300; mid-Jun–Aug; ) is an excellent hiking base and probably the best place in the area to get regional information. Ask the helpful staff about a 5km walk to Östra Arådalens fäbod, a well-preserved Sami farm that once produced cheese and is still in use for part of the year.
The ‘barely there’ village of Persåsen is now essentially confined to the large and modern museum-shop-hotel-restaurant complex that is the Persåsen Hotell & STF Vandrarhem (0643-44 55 50; www.persasen.se; Persåsen 3370, Oviken; dm Skr130-350, cabins from Skr500, hotel s/d from Skr795/1190; ). It was the home of inventor John Ericsson (1803–89) for several years while he served in the military. Ericsson invented the caloric engine and the propeller while residing here, and the museum displays an intriguingly conflicted exhibit about his life. The shop is almost a handicraft museum, with an astounding array of fine woodwork and textiles from across the region.
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ÅRE & AROUND
0647 / pop 9,700