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If you are in Sweden north of the Arctic Circle any time from May to mid-July, you may find it rather difficult to get to sleep at night – because the sun never sets! Even further south, the nights remain incredibly light, with the sun dipping reluctantly below the horizon at around 11pm, even then leaving in its wake more of a mystical half-light than real darkness, only to reappear ready for the new day at 3 o’clock the following morning.
Set amidst the vast, wild, awe-inspiring expanses of the Lapland mountain plains, the Midnight Sun is a very special phenomenon, one which each year attracts visitors from all over the world. Watching the sun descend towards the horizon, only seemingly to change its mind and climb once more into the sky, is an experience which alters our perception of what is “normal”, what is “real”. It goes against everything those who live further south think of as natural and self-evident. You may at first feel slightly unsettled as established “truths” are reassessed, but this quickly gives way to exhilaration and wonder that such a thing is possible. And that is the beauty of the Midnight Sun – its power is such that in those other-worldly night-time hours almost anything seems within reach. This is truly a magical time to be in northern Sweden!
Such extended daylight, of course, makes this time of year perfect for outdoor pursuits. It is not uncommon for the local people to come home from work and set off on a major hike into the hills, returning well after midnight. The Midnight Sun means that it is not only possible to enjoy the beautiful landscape for hour after hour, but, after a brief period of acclimatisation, visitors to the area usually find that they feel far more awake and have far more energy than usual. You may only be getting a few hours’ sleep a night, but you will awake with the birdsong, feeling refreshed and invigorated and eager to be out on the trail!
Winter will come around soon enough, and with it the welcoming darkness and a new range of pleasures. But for now it is time to revel in the unending daylight in the Land of the Midnight Sun!
Best regards
The Nature Travels Team
Nature Travels offers two hiking tours in Lapland at this time of year giving you a chance to experience the wonder of the Midnight Sun. Both take place well inside the Arctic Circle. Hiking in the National Parks of Laponia is an accessible experience taking you through three National Parks in this UNESCO World Heritage area, while The Unknown Face of Sarek and the Rapa Valley Delta is an expedition into the untamed wilderness of Sarek National Park. Slightly south of the Polar Circle, but still with almost continuous daylight during the summer, we offer a number of horse riding holidays in Sweden suitable for both novice and experienced riders.
Midsummer – one of the most important days in the Swedish calendar. Why? Because it is the middle of summer? Certainly not! For Sweden, Midsummer marks the beginning, the start of the brief but glorious summer season, a time for leisure, a time for long romantic walks on endless light evenings. Many workers choose to take their long summer holidays in Sweden at this time of year.
Perhaps because of its relative brevity, the Swedes are determined to get the very last drop of enjoyment from summertime. Beginning in May, summer proper bursts into life in June in a riot of luscious greens and wildflower meadows.
No self-respecting Swede would miss the annual Midsummer celebration. The woes and worries of city life are abandoned, and families head for their summer houses to make preparations for the festivities.
Regardless of the actual date of the longest day, Midsummer is always celebrated on a Friday. The day begins with families fanning out into the surrounding forests to collect flowers to make wreaths. These are then hung upon the maypole, which will form the centrepiece of the day’s (and night’s!) celebrations.
On all occasions, the Swedes love to sing, and Midsummer is no exception. Ring dances are performed around the maypole to the accompaniment of screams of delight from the children and peels of laughter from the adults.
As the afternoon wears on and the dancers tire, it is time to eat – and what a feast! A typical Midsummer menu will include various kinds of pickled herring (flavoured with onion, garlic, tomato, mustard sauce, and a myriad of other varieties – everyone has their favourite, ours is the mustard!), boiled new potatoes with freshly-picked dill, soured cream and red onion. Fish always features strongly in Swedish cuisine, and the next course may well include salmon or perhaps a meat dish such as spare ribs. To follow, the summer’s first crop of strawberries will be proudly brought to the table and eagerly devoured.
Of course, the smörgåsbord would not be complete without the traditional accompaniment of cold beer and schnapps – but once again, singing is very much in evidence. You can’t drink a schnapps without singing!
As the sun descends (very briefly!) towards the horizon, it is once more time for dancing, but this time of a rather more sedate and romantic kind. At this point many Swedes will head for a jetty beside the lake or archipelago water to for an evening of dancing.
It is hard not to feel romantic as the long warm evening wears on and the scents of nighttime fill the air. According to tradition, girls wishing to marry should pick seven different types of flowers as they make their way home on Midsummer’s Eve, and put them beneath their pillows as they sleep. If all goes according to plan, their dreams should be filled with visions of their future husband – a Midsummer Night’s Dream!
This year’s Midsummer celebrations in Sweden 22nd June will be on Friday, and we at Nature Travels would like to wish you all a very “Glad Midsommar” (“glard midsommar”) – Happy Midsummer, and may your dreams come true!
Best regards
The Nature Travels Team
Sarek – the name may well be unfamiliar to you, but Sarek National Park is one of the most special areas of northern Sweden, and, it might be said, unique within Europe.
Photo: Håkan Hjort/Niac-photo
The word “wilderness” is often overused these days, but in Sarek it is truly no exaggeration. Sarek is often called “Europe’s last wilderness”, and is one of the last and most important pristine wild areas to be found in Europe.
Even by Swedish standards, a country blessed with vast expanses of sparsely-populated mountains, plains and forests and dramatic and varied scenery, Sarek is something very special, and seen by many Swedish outdoor enthusiasts as something of a rite of passage.
Photo: Håkan Hjort/Niac-photo
Designated as a national park in 1909, Sarek was one of Europe’s first national parks. It covers a roughly circular area about 50km in diameter, and is home to around 100 glaciers and many mountain peaks above 2000m with six of Sweden’s thirteen highest mountains lying within the park. It also encapsulates the stunning Rapa River Delta, said to be one of the most beautiful in Europe and overlooked by the imposing peak of Skierfe. The climb up Skierfe is well worth the effort for the breathtaking view over the delta to be had from the top.
But such dramatic beauty comes at a cost, and hiking in Sarek is not for the faint-hearted or inexperienced. “Wilderness” means just that. To find your way, you must rely on your map reading and compass skills – there are no paths. When it’s time to sleep, you must pitch your tent and crawl inside – there is no accommodation. And when you come to a river, well, then it’s time to roll up your trousers, find a stout stick and start wading – bridges are few and far between. Weather conditions can change in a moment and you must be prepared.
Photo: Håkan Hjort/Niac-photo
In return for such hardships, you are rewarded with an unforgettable taste of what we have lost in a developed world. In and around the park live some of Sweden’s most majestic and secretive predators – the brown bear, the lynx, and the wolverine. Sarek is also particularly famous for its unusually large elk. While glimpses of bears, lynx and wolverine require a great deal of luck and patience, you have a good chance of spotting elk and an impressive range of birds of prey.
Sarek has become to a certain extent a status symbol for hikers keen to prove themselves among its glacial valleys and wild flowing rivers. At Nature Travels, we prefer to think of it as a chance to look back into a quieter past, to forge a closer connection with the natural world and discover a different side of yourself - a side that you may have imagined could never exist!
Best regards
The Nature Travels Team
Nature Travels offers two guided hiking holidays in and around Sarek. The Unknown Face of Sarek and the Rapa Valley Delta takes you on a 9 day hike into the Sarek National Park, and is the more challenging of the two. Experience is required, though you do not need to be an expert explorer. Hiking in the National Parks of Laponia, suitable for those in good condition with some experience of hiking with a backpack, takes in three of Sweden’s most well-known parks - Stora Sjöfallet, Sarek and Padjelanta, all part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Laponia.
Last week, the Nature Travels team packed their raingear and their suncream (you never know at this time of year!) and headed to Sweden to visit some of our existing providers and research new experiences for our portfolio.
It was a hectic week, but a memorable one, and in the end we made good use of both the rainclothes and the suncream. Travelling from the beautiful and cosmopolitan city of Gothenburg up to the wild forested expanses of Bergslagen, we mixed business with pleasure, making sure we scheduled a little time between meetings to participate in some of the wonderful experiences on offer.
We began our tour visiting Lars and Monica, just to the north of Gothenburg, the providers of our Western Sweden Cycle Explorer experience. A beautiful rural area perfect for cycling on quiet country lanes and forest tracks, and home to one of Sweden’s rarest breeds of sheep. Thank you to Monica for her excellent fish soup and delicious cakes, and to Lars for his enthralling tales of local history.
Our journey took us next to the famous Göta Kanal and one of Sweden’s most environmentally friendly youth hostels. We spent a warm and friendly evening in the beautiful candle-lit dining area before retiring to the most spacious youth hostel rooms we have ever seen! Our warmest thanks to Jonas and Margareta for looking after us so well and for regaling us with tales of the canal’s past.
After a brief stop in the attractive county capital of Karlstad, the journey continued to visit Uta and her husband Oscar at their country manor. Uta is an excellent chef renowned for her knowledge of Swedish cuisine, and will be hosting this year’s Wilderness Chef contest in Sweden at the manor. After a wonderfully peaceful afternoon exploring the fascinating bird life of the area, including the magical red-throated diver, we retired to the manor dining room to feast on a selection of local specialities and admire the sweeping view down to the lake. We had binoculars at the ready in case the osprey nesting on an island just out in the lake should show itself, but as the evening darkened we began to pay more and more attention to the food and the wine, so perhaps we just missed a glimpse! Thank you very much to Uta and Oscar for their hospitality and welcoming accommodation, and to Aulis for his knowledgeable guidance and keen eyes during our afternoon of birdwatching.
Finally a chance to stand still for a while came when we visited IngMarie and Anders, who run our extremely popular canoeing and timber rafting experiences. Värmland is a wonderful place to be on the water. There is certainly no shortage of lakes and rivers in the area, and a wide variety of experiences are available to suit young and old, novice paddlers and experienced adventurers. IngMarie was ready with advice and assistance as we carefully selected our logs and then stood knee-deep in the river puzzling over knots and assembling our raft. Building and piloting your very own timber raft is a unique experience and a very good way to practise your teamwork skills! Our heartfelt thanks to IngMarie and her team for making our days on and around the water so very enjoyable.
The call of the wild was very much in evidence as we visited Björn at his beautifully situated forest lodge deep in the woods. Björn operates our Pike Fishing in Värmland experience and has received an award this year for his commitment to ecotourism. As well as fishing, the area is ideal for hiking and canoeing, a welcoming oasis in the wild woods. Thank you, Björn, for looking after us so well and for showing us one of the local beaver hides!
Finally, as the sun shone gloriously from a clear blue sky we had the opportunity to explore the rocky archipelago off the west coast of Sweden and view some of the 3,000 or so common seals living around the islands. A wonderful day both on the water and exploring some of the islands, and a big thank you to Einar for showing us around (and to the seals for obligingly showing themselves off so beautifully)!
And so, rather tired but with hearts and minds filled with wonderful memories after a week of warm hospitality and stunning scenery, we made our way back to Gothenburg and so once more to the UK, already looking forward to our next visit to the wide open spaces of Sweden.
Best regards
The Nature Travels Team
