Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [248]
The historical Navvy Trail walkway follows the railway line and takes you to Abisko (39km) or Rombaksbotn (Norway; 15km).
Rental of downhill ski gear costs from Skr250 per day, and day lift-passes start at around Skr300.
Katterjokk Turiststation (431 08; www.katterjokk.se; dm summer/winter Skr250/310; Feb-Sep) is a well-run hostel 2km east of Riksgränsen. Three-hour to whole-day guided walks can be arranged (Skr200 to Skr550), as well as fishing, hunting, mountain biking etc.
Dominating the hillside, Riksgränsen (400 80; info@riksgransen.nu; s/d from Skr1200/1800) is a large resort that’s popular with skiers in winter and converts to an ‘alpine spa’ retreat in summer. Rooms in the comfy little annex, Meteorologen, are homier and cheaper.
Getting There & Away
From Kiruna, bus 91 (Skr144, two hours, two or three daily) goes to Riksgränsen, via Abisko. Riksgränsen is the last train station in Sweden before the train rushes through tunnels and mountain scenery back to sea level at Narvik in Norway; three daily trains run on the Luleå–Kiruna–Narvik route, although reportedly not always on schedule.
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GÄLLIVARE
0970 / pop 19,500
Gällivare (Váhtjer) and its northern twin, Malmberget, are surrounded by forest and dwarfed by the bald Dundret hill. After Kiruna, Malmberget (Ore Mountain) is the second-largest iron-ore mine in Sweden; the town belongs to government-owned mining company LKAB. And like Kiruna, the area’s sustaining industry is simultaneously threatening the town with collapse: all that digging around below the surface has weakened the foundations beneath Malmberget, so buildings are gradually being shifted to sturdier ground. The populace seems unfazed.
The tourist office (166 60; turistinfo@gellivare.se; Centralplan 3; 8am-6pm daily mid-Jun–mid-Aug, Mon-Fri rest of year) is near the train station in the town’s centre, and staff can organise a number of activities and wilderness excursions. The town has banks and supermarkets on Storgatan. The library (Hantverkargatan) has free internet access.
Sights & Activities
The Gällivare Museum (186 92; Storgatan 16; admission free; 11am-3.30pm daily mid-Jun–Aug) has exhibitions on railway workers, Sami culture and early settlers, plus a collection of local artefacts and the famous Mosquito Museum, relocated from a nearby bog.
The squat white ‘new’ church (Lasarettsgatan 10; summer), from 1882, is worth a look, as is the diminutive old church (summer), nicknamed the ‘one-penny church’ because that’s the amount each household had to contribute to get it built back in 1755. It’s near the train station.
The hembygdsområde (historic community centre; admission free; mid-Jun–Aug), by the camping ground, has pioneer and Sami huts in a small open-air museum.
Dundret (821m) is a nature reserve with excellent views, and you can see the midnight sun here from 2 June to 12 July. In winter there are four nordic courses and 10 ski runs of varying difficulty, and the mountaintop resort rents out gear and organises numerous activities. If you have your own car, it’s a rather hair-raising drive to the top.
In Malmberget, 5km north of Gällivare, Kåkstan (admission free) is a historical ‘shanty town’ museum village, dating from the 1888 iron-ore rush. Contact the Gällivare tourist office for details of the LKAB iron-ore mine tour (Skr250; tours 9.30am-1pm mid-Jun–mid-Aug, by appointment in winter), which takes you down on a bus.
And if you like that, you will simply love the Gruvmuseum (Puoitakvägen; adult/child Skr40/free; 2-6pm Tue-Thu mid-Jul–late Aug, by appointment other times), covering 250 years of mining. Bus 1 to Malmberget departs from directly opposite the Gällivare church; outside of summer hours, contact the Gällivare tourist office to arrange a visit.
AROUND GÄLLIVARE
Stora Sjöfallet National Park is a wild area of mountains and