Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [243]
Full-day boat tours (120 10; www.bosmina.se) of the archipelago sail in July (adult/child Monday and Friday Skr450/400; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Skr550/450) and include a visit to Sandskär, the largest island in Haparanda Skärgård National Park. It’s possible to hire a cabin on the island (Skr400 per day). Book both through the tourist office.
The tourist office can also help to arrange white-water rafting trips on the scenic Kukkolaforsen rapids, which are on the Torneälv 15km north of Haparanda and speed past at three million litres per second. In summer, you can watch locals hunting for whitefish using medieval dip nets. There’s an excellent tourist village here, which includes a camping ground and cabins (310 00; sites Skr190, 4-bed cabins from Skr590), plus a restaurant, a cafe, a fish smoke-house, saunas and a museum.
Sleeping & Eating
Vandrarhem Haparanda (611 71; info@haparandavandrarhem.com; Strandgatan 26; dm/s/d from Skr180/250/470; reception 4-7pm year-round) This comfy, waterfront hostel is at the edge of a park and close to the town centre.
Stadshotellet (614 90; Torget 7; s/d from Skr820/ 1020, dm mid-May–Aug Skr300) This large, dignified hotel is the architectural focus of the town, and has two upmarket, ultra-atmospheric restaurants along with a more casual but still pretty pub-restaurant, Gulasch Baronen, with a great range of meals.
Getting There & Around
Tapanis Buss (129 55; www.tapanis.se) runs express coaches from Stockholm to Haparanda two to three times a week (Skr600, 15 hours). Regional buses reach Luleå (Skr134, 2½ hours, three daily) and towns further south. Daily bus 53 travels north along the border via the scenic Kukkolaforsen rapids, Övertorneå (Skr88, one to 1½ hours, three daily) and Pajala (Skr187, 3½ to 4½ hours, three daily), then continues west to Kiruna (Skr298, six hours, three daily).
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PAJALA
0978 / pop 7300
Pajala makes a handy stopping point along this section of the Sweden-Finland border. It has a tiny town centre with most facilities, and a nice riverside pathway.
The tourist office (100 15; www.pajalaturism.bd.se; 9am-7pm Jul & Aug, 8am-4pm Mon-Fri Sep-Jun) is near the bus station. Nearby is the world’s largest circular sundial. Toward the river is Laestadius pörtet (120 55; Laestadiusvägen 36; Jun-Aug), the mid-19th-century home of Lars Levi Laestadius, a local vicar and founder of a religious movement.
The new Snickarbacken Lägenhetshotell (100 70; Kirunavägen; huts Skr175, apt per person from Skr270) has impeccable apartment-style suites for up to eight people, as well as single and double rooms with kitchens, and tiny ‘sleep huts’ with TV, microwave, minirefrigerator, and a shared bathroom and sauna.
The STF hostel (741 80; Torneälvens strand; sites/dm Skr90/145, cabins Skr320-510) is integrated with the camping ground, near the river. Beds are in small cabins; it’s a picturesque setting, but make sure you have bug spray, as the waterside location is a mosquito’s paradise.
Bus 55 runs from Luleå to Pajala via Över-kalix (Skr211, 3½ hours, twice daily), while bus 53 runs between Haparanda and Kiruna (Skr298, six hours, twice daily) via Övertorneå and Pajala.
From Pajala, you can press on southwest to Gällivare on bus 46 (Skr153, two hours, three daily), or northwest to Vittangi on bus 51 or 53 (Skr117, two hours, twice daily). From Vittangi you can journey through the wilderness: north to Karesuando on bus 50 (Skr117, 1½ hours) or west to Kiruna on bus 50, 51 or 53 (Skr88, one hour, three daily).
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LAPPLAND
KARESUANDO
0981 / pop 350
If your visions of Lappland (Gárrasavvon) involve acres and acres of open tundra uninterrupted except for the odd lost reindeer or dilapidated hut, this is your town. Karesuando, across the bridge from the Finnish town of Kaaresuvanto, is the northernmost church village in Sweden, and it feels that way: utterly remote and exquisitely lonely. The area revels in the romance of extremes: the midnight sun shines here from late May to mid-July,