Kiruna, Sweden

12/31/2019 -- 1/4/2020

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As a cultural area, 'Lapland' traverses the northern parts of Fennoscandia, incorporating parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and even Russia. As an administrative name, 'Lapland' can also refer to distinct provincial areas in both Sweden (Lappland) and Finland (Lappi). In terms of tourism, 'Lapland' is usually referring to Finnish or Swedish Lapland.   Owing to its location above the Arctic Circle, this region is best known for its magical winter landscapes and northern lights as well as outdoor activities like dog-sledding, snowmobiling, ice fishing and reindeer sleigh rides.
Kiruna, located 145 kilometers (90 mi) north of the Arctic circle, is the northernmost town in Sweden.  Founded in 1900, it is a major center of iron ore extraction and other mining operations. Today Kiruna is a popular travel destination for nature lovers, especially in wintertime.  The long and certain snow cover, which generally lasts from October to May, and frozen lakes and rivers facilitate cross-country and alpine skiing, dog sledding and snowmobiling.

[Sweden Part I: Stockholm]  [Sweden Part II: Kiruna]

Getting there ...

We had a morning flight from Stockholm to Kiruna.  Within the 1.5-hour flight (from 8:30AM to 10:05AM), it was interesting to witness the sunrise when we took off in Stockholm and the sunset when we were about crossing the Arctic circle.   At this latitude (90 miles north of Arctic circle), there are 22 days each year in late December and early January (12/11 to 1/1) that the sun does not rise.  When we landed at Kiruna Airport, we immediately felt the winter wonderland as the white snow swept and covered the runway.  

 

 

 

 

12/31 (Day 5)  ... 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/1 (Day 6) ...

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/2 (Day 7) ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

1/3 (Day 8)  ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/4 (Day 9) ...

 

 

 

 

1/5 (Day 10) Going Home ...

We had an early morning flight to Munich and then back to San Francisco.  It's a long journey home, but we were all still feeling excited of the unique experiences from this trip:  from beautiful Stockholm old town Gamla stan; the mighty 17th century warship Vasa; creative arts in the Stockholm subway, to winter wonderland in Kiruna with hours of twilight without sunrise; exciting winter activities such as dog sledding and snowmobiling; meet and learn about reindeer and Sámi people; artistic and majestic ice artworks beyond your imagination at Icehotel, etc.  All these life time experiences made our winter holidays a memory treasure that we will never forget.

   


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