Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [80]
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KAPELLSKÄR
Kapellskär is so tiny it can’t really even be described as a village – there’s little to it except for a camping ground, hostel and large ferry terminal. The coastline, however, is spectacular, dotted with small, still-working fishing villages, and the surrounding countryside is delightfully pastoral. Most people come here for ferry connections to Finland and Estonia; Click here for details.
There’s also a small memorial for the 852 passengers killed in the Estonia ferry disaster of September 1994; it’s up the hill across the main road from the ferry terminal.
An STF hostel (0176-441 69; Riddersholm; beds 180; year-round) sits off the E18, 2km west of the ferry terminal; book in advance outside of the peak summer season (mid-June to mid-August). There’s no restaurant, so bring provisions.
Viking Line’s direct bus from Stockholm Cityterminalen to meet the ferries costs Skr55, but if you have an SL pass, take bus 676 from T-Tekniska Högskolan to Norrtälje and change to bus 631, which runs every two hours or so weekdays (three times Saturday and once Sunday).
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TYRESTA NATIONAL PARK
Some of the best hiking and wilderness scenery can be found in the 4900-hectare Tyresta National Park, only 20km southeast of Stockholm. Established in 1993, the park is noted for its two-billion-year-old rocks and virgin forest, which includes 300-year-old pine trees. It’s a beautiful area, with rocky outcrops, small lakes, marshes and a wide variety of birdlife.
At the southwestern edge of the park is Nationalparkernas Hus (National Parks Visitors Centre; 08-745 33 94; admission free; 9am-4pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Mar-Oct, to 4pm Sat & Sun Nov-Feb). Here you can discover all of Sweden’s national parks (28 at the time of research) through exhibitions and slide shows, but be sure to check out the centre itself – it’s built in the shape of Sweden, complete with all 41 corners! There are even ‘lakes’ on the floor, indicated by different stones.
Ask for the national park leaflet in English and the Tyresta Nationalpark och Naturreservat leaflet in Swedish, which includes an excellent topographical map at 1:25,000 scale. From the visitors centre there are various trails into the park. Sörmlandsleden track cuts across 6km of the park on its way to central Stockholm.
Access to the park is easy. Take the pendeltåg to Haninge centrum (also called Handen station) on the Nynäshamn line, then change to bus 834. Some buses run all the way to the park, while others stop at Svartbäcken (2km west of Tyresta village).
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SIGTUNA
A mere 40km northwest of Stockholm, Sigtuna is one of the cutest, most historically relevant villages in the area. Founded around AD 980, it’s the oldest surviving town in Sweden, and the main drag, Stora gatan, is most likely Sweden’s oldest main street.
Around the year 1000, Olof Skötkonung ordered the minting of Sweden’s first coins in the town, and ancient church ruins and rune stones are scattered everywhere. Indeed, there are about 150 runic inscriptions in the area, most dating from the early 11th century and typically flanking ancient roads.
Most of Sigtuna’s original buildings went up in flames in devastating late-medieval fires, but the main church survived and many of the quaint streets and wooden abodes still follow the medieval town plan.
Information
The tourist office (59 48 06 50; info@sigtunaturism.se; Storagatan 33; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm Sat & Sun Sep, 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm Sat, noon-4pm Sun Oct-May) inhabits an 18th-century