In late February this year, I took a trip to Luleå, which is the largest city in the Swedish Lapland. As I was living in the UK at the time, I took a flight from London Stansted to Stockholm-Arlanda and then from Stockholm-Arlanda to Luleå.
Below, I will outline some of the things we did in Luleå during the winter season.
Luleå Ice Road
Luleå is located on the Bothnian Bay which has low salinity meaning it freezes in the winter. In Luleå, the bay is transformed into an ice road from around January to March every year. There are more than 1,312 islands in the Luleå archipelago, and you can drive to some of them in the winter using the ice road.
It was actually my first time walking on ice, and it was not as slippery as I expected! However, a more fun way of travelling the ice road is using kicksleds or ice skating.
There are free kicksleds you can pick up at various locations on the ice road, and you can just return them when you’re finished. If you have a large bag, you can just tie it to the seat of the kicksled instead of carrying it, which is pretty convenient.
We also went ice skating on the ice road. We managed to pick up a pair of almost new skates in a charity shop for only €20! Or you can rent a Fatbike in Luleå which has large enough tyres to ride on roads, trails, sand, and snow.
Ice Bath
This activity is not for the faint hearted! On the second day of our trip we decided to take an ice bath. Not too far from the town, there is a place to take an icy dip marked by red poles in the snow. A hole is cut in the ice and there is a ladder attached to a rope so you can get back out. There was also a device that you can put inside the water so that it doesn’t freeze over when you are getting in. it does this by vibrating the water gently.
I was pretty excited to try an ice bath – the coldest I had been in so far was a New Years day swim in the Atlantic! On the day we went, the air temperature was about -16°C and the water just above freezing – a lot colder than our balmy January 7°C in Ireland!
It is important to keep all your clothes covered or in bags so they don’t freeze. It is also useful to have something to stand on when you are getting changed – preferably a mat (I learned the hard way that a towel will have frozen solid by the time you get out).
Afterwards, its important to get dried and dressed quickly, with lots of layers so you can warm back up again. Now you can enjoy that fika even more!
Walk in the Forest
With around 70% of Sweden being covered in forest, there is always somewhere nearby for a walk in the woods. As someone who has only seen snow a handful of times, the snow covered landscape looked particularly spectacular, especially with the clear light of the winter sun. I just had to make a snow angel!
There are a few hills in the forest on the outskirts of town where you can catch a great sunset with a view over the city.
Barbeque
Dotted around Luleå are barbeque grills. They are free for anyone to use and there are containers nearby that have free firewood. We went to barbeque spot on the ice outside the town. There was a grill, firewood, and tables and chairs to eat your food.
I would highly recommend having a barbeque for dinner one evening, and if you’re lucky you might even get to see the northern lights!
Skiing
I had never been skiing before, so I decided now was as good a time as ever. We went skiing in Kåbdalis, which was almost 2 hours drive from Luleå. However, there is a closer ski resort just outside the town called Ormberget if you don’t want to drive anywhere.
I am not sure if the trails were particularly good at Kåbdalis, as I just stuck to the baby slope for the whole day! I still had a great day and really enjoyed my first time skiing. They also have a cafe where you can get some food and drinks when you need a break.
Spa
On our second last day we decided we needed a day of relaxation, so we decided to go to the spa. We went to Cape East Spa which is just outside Haparanda. Haparanda forms a cross-border twin city together with Tornio town on the Finnish border and is known for having the northernmost IKEA store in the world.
We spent a few hours across the border in Tornio and spent some time walking around the town and got some lunch. I must admit, the atmosphere felt completely different in Finland than in Sweden. I almost felt like I was in some obscure Nordic noir novel.
Afterwards, we drove to Cape East which boasts the world’s largest sauna. The entry fee was 495 SEK, which is just under €50. There are treatments available for an extra fee, but we just spent the day in the spa.
We went on a weekday, so it was really quiet with only a few other people around. From the heated pool on the roof terrace, you could see across the river to Finland. I really enjoyed the hot tub outside where you could jump in the snow to cool off afterwards! Of course there were ice baths and icy waterfall showers as well if you wanted to be even colder!
There are of course endless other things to do in Luleå, this is just a quick snapshot of some of the things I did that I really enjoyed. Nearby, there is also Gammelstad Church Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can also go dogsledding, snowmobiling, and snowboarding. In the summer, you can kayak out to the endless number of Islands or spend time at one of the many beaches.
Tea and Tangerines 