Sweden in December

If you're aurora chasing, looking for a winter playground, or a romantic break for two in the snowy North, this trip will hit the spot.  Rather selfishly, we left the kids behind!

Kiruna, in the province of Lapland, is the Northernmost town in Sweden at 67 degrees latitude.  It is a true winter wonderland where you can feel remote but have a plethora of activities on your doorstep.

We stayed in a cosy cabin on the edge of a frozen lake where we spent evening hours lying on our backs, with a nip of vodka to keep warm, watching fro the aurora.  While they remained elusive on this trip (except for a brief appearance of a faint green stripe), it ranks among my top 5 favourite trips of all time! 
Great for:
Winter fun: husky sledging, skidoo rides, snow angel competitions
Sami culture 
Aurora watching
Quick Facts
Flight Time: 3 hours
GMT + 2
Currency = Norwegian Kroner
Make it happen:

Length of stay: 5 -7 days
We enjoyed and afternoon and evening in Stockholm before flying north to Kiruna the next day, we could easily have stayed longer in Stockholm.  Four days is plenty to enjoy the Arctic.

Getting there:
Fly to Tromso via Oslo – www.norwegian.com
£170 - £250 return per adult (11+)
£150 - £215 return per child (2-11)
Compare the airline with search engines such as Opodo and Expedia, and check different days of the week for the cheapest fare.  If you can go outside school holidays, even better.

Getting Around:
Hire a car in Tromso and drive North – www.hertz.com
Take the E8 South from Tromso, then pick up the 91 heading North-East. You'll need to cross the fjord by ferry at Breivikeider to Svensby.  Turn left when you come off the ferry and follow the road North.  The whole journey takes about 2 to 3 hours, depending on the ferry times.  Check the ferry times! Find more useful information about Lyngen.

Where to stay:
We used Booking.com and stayed at Lyngen Havfiske og Tursenter.  There is a wealth of options on any of the islands around Tromso, so if you don't fancy being so remote, have a look around.  AirBnB is also good for a range of affordable accommodation.
Sage Advice
  • If you have a long layover in Oslo, don't (as we did) stay in the airport.  The play areas, including model plane, will keep the kids amused to a point but 7 hours go very slowly!  Take the train into Oslo centre and explore the city for a few hours.
  • Do make sure you stock up on all the groceries you'll need (including loo roll, etc) for your stay in the Alps before you leave Tromso, otherwise you'll be living off fish for a week (if you can catch them).
  • If you have to travel in the wee small hours to make your return flight from Tromso (as we did), don't worry, this could be your best opportunity for seeing the Aurora!
  • Check out our example packing lists.
Oslo
Things to do in Oslo ....
Tromso
Things to do in Tromso ....
Lyngen Alps
Things to do in the Lyngen Alps region ...
We, Andy (46), Becks (40), Amy (12), Holly (6) and Luca (22 months) made this trip in February half term 2014.  The prices indicated in this itinerary are based on January 2015 cost estimates.