Northern Lights In Northern Sweden
OVERVIEW
Date: March 22nd-March 28th, 2018
Locations: Abisko Östra, Abiskojaure Stugorna, Abisko Turiststation, Overnight train back to Stockholm
Map:
(Note that, as of this writing, Google incorrectly labels Abisko and Abisko Östra. If you search on Google, go by the train station locations (which are correct), not the labels on the map.)
Abisko Östra
Abisko.net Hostel
The abisko.net Winterday hostel was great. The location is excellent: a ~15-minute walk from the 91 bus stop, a ~10-minute walk from the Abisko Östra train station, and a ~12-minute walk from the grocery store. We rented cross-country skis, boots, poles, and ski goggles for a flat rate of 175SEK/person for almost our entire visit.
You can also rent snowshoes, and join various tours (we did dog-sledding which was excellent, see below). The mattresses are a little old, but the bunk-bed frames are sturdy and comfortable. The kitchen was great to use: plenty of pots, pans, silverware, and plates, with very friendly travelers sharing stories and meals :) Plenty of room to store your groceries and a nice clean fridge. There’s also a wonderful sauna w/ provided towels, and a friendly host who will teach you how to properly use it (see tips below).
Sauna
Everyone at Abiskojaure had to do chores as part of your stay. The chores were activities like chopping wood or fetching water. I decided to fetch water. The water comes from a massive hole cut into the ice in the lake. You dip a bucket in and then use that to fill up these massive plastic tubs. I did this chore just after sunrise, and it was the absolute coldest I’ve ever been: I couldn’t take my hands out of my gloves for more than 30 seconds before they started to ache with cold. It was -22 Fahrenheit!
- Everyone is naked in the sauna.
- Strangers don’t really talk in the sauna.
- Shower and wash off before entering the sauna.
- Pouring hot water over the rocks increases the heat. (Dump w/ a quick motion to avoid being scalded by the steam).
- If you get too hot, run outside and roll in the snow (yes, really).
- Don’t bring your own towel or any of your own textiles into the sauna (you may accidentally bring in lots of bacteria this way).
- Bring in one provided towel to sit on (to prevent the spread of bacteria).
Grocery store + other food
We found a lot of conflicting information online about the availability of food in Abisko Östra. There is a great grocery store there, about a 10-minute walk down the hill from the Abisko.net hostel. Lots of fresh veggies, fresh fruit, milk, meat, cereal, bread, and TONS of candy. The extensive candy collection is because Norway has a high tax on sugar, so a lot of Norwegians make the drive to Abisko to purchase cheap candy and soda. There’s also a little food-trailer that sold reindeer in various forms as well as Mooseburgers. It was only ok, and tough to eat since it was too cold to stand there while chewing.
Abiskojaure STF Fjällstation
8 miles / 14km from Abisko Östra, this was hands down my favourite part of our trip. The Kungsleden is almost completely flat for this section, with a few fairly gentle hills.
The biggest hill along the trail, a few miles past the tree. (Yes, there’s only one tree).
Stopping for a quick snack at the tree: Apelsintallen
This trip was a friend’s first ever cross-country ski trip and it was tough but doable for her. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this place, it was an absolute joy.
Eating butter, rich nutty bread, meat pate, salami, nuts, dried fruit, and lots of water along the trail. We sat on our skis to keep from sinking into the deep snow. Could only eat for a few minutes, then had to put hands back into gloves and jump around to warm up.
Skiing past Mount Giron, and a group pic from the middle of the lake in front of Mount Giron.
We had trouble with our credit card here for the first (and last) time the whole trip, but the patient and dedicated women who worked there found a solution. The sauna is phenomenal, and the chores you have to do (chopping wood or refilling water from the lake) are fun and satisfying. There’s a large store with plenty of food options for reasonable prices there. We bought pasta and canned Swedish meatballs.
The Abiskojaure huts nestled in the mountains.
My chore was to scoop water from this hole into a huge bucket. The temperature was -30deg Fahrenheit. The hole kept freezing closed as I scoooped.
When you ski up, someone pops their head out of the first hut and invites you in. The first thing they do is give you a cup of hot non-alcoholic cider. By this point we were all pretty exhausted, so drinking something hot and flavorful was absolutely perfect. Then you get a tour where they tell you about the chores, you buy and cook dinner, partake of the sauna (see above for sauna tips) and then wait for the Northern Lights.
This was truly a highlight of an amazing trip, and I’d encourage anyone with even a single outdoorsy bone in their body to do it!
We headed back the next day. The Kungsleden continues on for many miles. I’d love to do more sometime!
Abisko lake
Skiing across the frozen lake near Abisko surrounded by a white-out blizzard.
Closeup of the frozen lake, uncovered by intense wind.
Skiing atop the large island in the middle of the lake, Abisko in the background.
Dogsledding
We did the 2-hour dogsledding trip provided by abisko.net and it was phenomenal. 1600SEK/person. You help load the dogs onto the sleds, and they take you along a beautiful path with an incredible view of the mountains. You get to spend a lot of time cuddling with the dogs, and a lot of time riding the sledges. They stop twice, so if you want to swap who is sitting in front you have two chances. The stops are in areas that are fairly photogenic (what in Abisko isn’t?) but not the absolute best views. (I went out later on my own to get more pictures the next day).
Northern Lights
We got extraordinarily lucky and saw the Northern Lights 3 nights while we were up in Abisko. The area is known for good weather: it’s one of the driest parts of Sweden, and the lake creates a little microclimate that keeps the sky clear. We had nearly perfect weather while we were up there, and even got pictures of the Northern Lights on an iPhone! We used an app called “Nightcap” on Star settings, with no other changes and got the images you see below.
Abisko Northern Lights with our hostel in the foreground
Abisko Northern Lights usually look much more dim to the human eye, but these were spectacular!
Some tips about the Northern Lights:
- They don’t stick around for very long, so if someone says they see them: run!
- There are various “Aurora Forecast” apps but they didn’t seem particularly reliable. The first night we saw them fill the entire sky had a KP rating of 2.33, the third night we saw the brightest had a rating of 2.37, and one morning around 3am had a rating of 4.33 but we saw absolutely nothing.
- At the abisko.net hostel, the fastest way to a dark place is to walk to the hill behind the area, towards the dog kennels. Really nice view of the lake and pretty far from the lights by the highway. Walking out on the lake was also excellent but took much longer to get there.
- The best time according to a local is between 11-1am when it’s dark enough.
- When planning your trip, pay attention to the moon cycles for when you’ll be there: the darker the better.
vs Abisko Turiststation
We didn’t spend much time in TuristStation, so take this with a grain of salt, but it felt much “fancier” and more organized than Östra (hence, we preferred Östra). There also didn’t seem to be a grocery store (though the restaurant at the STF hostel was better and more affordable than the restaurants we found in Östra). Access to the lake was better in Östra - in TuristStation it was down a much longer steeper hill. Access to the train station was equally good in both.
TRAVEL
To and from Arlanda airport
- Stop at the information center just after baggage claim to get a map of the metro system, and purchase the Stockholm Access card (gets you onto every train/bus/etc in Stockholm for 24 hrs - 1 week). We bought the week pass for 325SEK and it was wonderful.
- The cheapest way to get anywhere in Stockholm city proper, you catch the 583 bus to the Märsta station, where you transfer to the Pendeltåg (commuter train). That’ll connect you to the main metro at Odenplan or take you all the way to Stockholm Central Station.
- To get back to the airport, the Pendeltåg (commuter train) goes there directly, but you have to pay a 128SEK “convenience fee”. But there is a cheaper way: take the Pendeltåg to Märsta and then catch the 583 bus from there. There’s no convenience fee, and it’s completely free w/ the Stockhkolm Access card mentioned above.
- The 583 bus leaves every 15 minutes in both directions.
From Kiruna Airport
Teeny tiny Kiruna airport. Lots of available seats and plugs inside.
The 91 bus dumps you off unceremoniously on the side of the road, and you turn back and walk into town.
Walk under the train station and up the hill to get to Abisko.net hostel.
As of this writing, there is only one bus from Kiruna airport to Abisko. It is the 91, and it departs Kiruna Airport at 2:15pm daily (the airport is the end of the line, and the first stop). Tickets from Kiruna Airport to Abisko Östra are 200SEK/person (payable by credit card). The first stop after the airport is the Kiruna Bus Station, which is where you may be able to transfer to the SJ train to Abisko but we did not do this. You can also take a taxi all the way to Abisko for ~1800SEK. Buying a ticket in advance is no guarantee that you will get on the bus - it’s first-come-first-serve. In March, there were a total of 8 people on a bus designed to carry at lest 50, so it wasn’t a problem (but you may want to wait outside in the line if you arrive in summer). (If the bus had been full, our back-up plan was to take a 15-minute taxi ride to the Kiruna Bus Station and catch the SJ train to Abisko, but I’m not 100% certain it would have worked since we didn’t purchase a ticket in advance). There is room in the bottom of the bus to store your luggage, and a bathroom onboard.
There are also shuttle services, for about 450SEK/person. The advantage of these is that they leave earlier than the 91, so you don’t need to spend 4 hours in the Kiruna airport.
Train
We rode the 18-hour train back to Stockholm. Logistically, taking the train down is easier because you don’t need to coordinate your flight from Kiruna with the bus back to Kiruna, or hire an expensive taxi (~1800SEK). Instead, it’s a leisurely walk to the train station in either Abisko Östra or Abisko Turistation. Since we were staying in Abisko Östra, we took a walk across the frozen lake to get back. It was windy and cold, but we eventually made it to the Abisko Turiststation STF accommodations, which offer an excellent buffet for 125SEK/person. We also spent about an hour of time in the wonderful nature museum. There were a bunch of excellent documentaries in English, and some lovely displays about the surrounding area.
Eensy weensy 3-person train car. The board above the bottom bunk folds out to hold a 3rd person.
Roomy for 3. The backrest of the seat folds up into a middle bed on both sides.
Instead of hauling the doors open using your entire body weight (like we did), press the little white bar on the right, labelled “Tryck” and it’ll open automatically.
The overnight train from Abisko to Stockholm is run by a company called “SJ”.
- You MUST purchase tickets online in advance. They do not sell tickets on the train.
- Double-check that you are purchasing the tickets for the right date ;) Somehow in our busy travel prep months earlier, we had purchased tickets for the wrong month. The ticket lady was very generous and let us stay in a 6-person “couchette” in an otherwise completely unoccupied train car for a fraction of the typical cost. It was lovely, and we were very relieved that we didn’t get kicked off the train.
- The 3-person cars are VERY small and difficult to spend much time in.
- The 6-person cars are wonderful and roomy if you only have 3 people, but very cramped with all 6.
- The seats in the sitting cars don’t really recline, but you can often spread out a bit and lay across several seats.
- There is not really a viewing car.
- The dining car has pre-made sandwiches, milk, pastries, and other “train food”.
Clothing
Being from Colorado, I’m relatively experienced with cold weather. Having said that, this was by far the coldest weather I’ve ever been in, especially while camping. The day we skied from Abisko was about 18 degrees Fahrenheit. I couldn’t keep my hands out of my gloves for more than about 30 seconds before they got too cold. I was up at around 5am for camp chores, and the little temperature gauge showed -30 degrees Celsius -22 Fahrenheit. I thought it was broken, but I dipped my glove in some water as I was doing the chores and it froze again instantly. It was definitely the coldest I’ve ever been.Here’s what I wore on a daily basis while in Sweden:
On bottom:
- Silk long underwear (REI) OR Synthetic long underwear (REI)
- Wool long underwear (inherited from my Dad)
- Mammut windproof and water-resistant pants (REI)
- Synthetic ski socks (REI)
On top:
- Wool long underwear (Smartwool from REI)
- Cashmere vest (gift from my Mom)
- Cashmere sweater (Goodwill find)
- Fleece vest, worn around butt and lower back (made by my Mom)
- Silk scarf
- Down jacket (REI)
- Windproof rain jacket (REI)
- Fleece balaclava (Amazon)
- Windproof and water resistant hat (REI)
- Sheepskin gloves (Custom made for me in Breckenridge)
While cross-country skiing, I usually took off the puffy down jacket and opened the vents on my windproof pants to avoid sweating too much (if you sweat when it’s super cold out, you can get chilled and it’s quite uncomfortable). The most important thing was ski goggles to protect my eyes against the bright sun (and snow-reflected sun) and also to protect most of my face against the wind.