We flew to Stockholm to walk the 443 km Kungsleden (King's Trail) starting from north of the Arctic Circle at Abisko and heading south to Hemavan through Lapland. Rather than flying from Stockholm we took the Arctic Circle Train, a fabulous 17-hour journey.

July 21-22, 2023
The Arctic Circle Sleeper Train from Stockholm to Abisko

We arrived in Stockholm yesterday evening, in time to enjoy sunset from the Scandic Continental Hotel that we booked with a ~30% discount through United Airlines' website since we flew there on a Star Alliance partner, SAS. It cost $127 for one night.

After the excellent, included hotel breakfast we went to the nearby Alewalds store to buy a Primus gas canister and maps covering the Kungsleden.

Then we went looking for an ATM. Sweden is an almost cashless society but we found an ATM limited to withdrawals of just 600 SEK, equivalent to USA $60. When I chose "other functions" one of the new menu items was cash withdrawal up to 2,000 SEK. We used each of our three debit cards twice to withdraw a total of 12,000 SEK. This turned out to be too much cash and we subsequently had trouble spending it all.

We needed to carry cash because some of the boat crossings and some of the fjällstuga (mountain huts) only take cash. Also, if the Internet didn't work, nobody could accept credit cards. There are no ATMs along the Kungsleden.

We walked around a small part of Stockholm that appeared to be a fabulous city.

I'd reserved a three-bed sleeper cabin in the Arctic Circle Sleeper Train for just the two of us. This cost 3,731 SEK (~US $370), but it was totally worth it. The train departed Stockholm Central Station at 18.16 for its 17-hour-long journey to Abisko. The compartment was a bit cramped for the two of us and we could only figure out how to use two of the beds (we needed help even with this). With three people it would have been a tight squeeze. Neither of us had ever been on a sleeper train before so this was a new adventure in and of itself.

I took the top bed and slept really well, the motion of the train rocking me to sleep like a baby. Patsy didn’t sleep so well, complaining the rocking motion made her feel sick.

On my way to get morning coffee, I had to walk almost the entire length of the train. We were in the third out of at least a dozen carriages. I passed more sleeper berths in our and the next carriage, carriages of six-seat compartments, then open carriages with two seats on each side of the aisle.

We're traveling first class on this train, although it's not designated as such, for the same price economy would cost on the airplane. We even have access to a shower and there's free WiFi. Traveling to Abisko by train was an easy decision. However, food and drinks aren't included, so my cup of coffee and a cup of hot water cost 440 SEK ($4.40). The meals weren't good, and they were expensive, so I would recommend bringing your own.

The train took us through a landscape of forest and lakes. Lots of lakes! There was almost 100% low cloud cover but at least it wasn't raining.

The train stopped for 20 minutes at Abisko East station before traveling the additional 2 km to the stop at Svenska Turistföreningen (STF) Abisko Turistation, arriving at 11:07. Although many people had already left the train, dozens more backpackers got off with us.

We checked in at reception around noon but our room wasn't available until 3 pm. I had booked a room rate that included breakfast, for 2,005 SEK, but added lunch (310 SEK) and dinner (980 SEK) for a total of 3,295 SEK (~US $330) for the two of us.

We plan to start walking the Kungsleden after breakfast tomorrow so we ate the buffet lunch today. Eating so much food, you would think we were going into hibernation.

Lunch was good, with unlimited coffee. One of the options was vegetarian meatballs, Swedish meatballs, naturally, but isn't "vegetarian meatballs" an oxymoron?

We both felt as though the ground was still rocking and rolling beneath us. This rocking motion of the train stayed with us for a couple of days.

We checked into our room at 3 pm. We had no idea when we'll next be able to enjoy such comfort. We planned to camp between the Fjällstations rather than stay at the Fjällstuga because these intermediate places cost the equivalent of US $60 each just for a bed. You have to make your own meals, although the huts do sell the ingredients. We'd like to stay indoors at all the Fjällstations. These are spaced roughly week-long intervals apart, but we can't book ahead because we don't know how long it will take us to reach them. Then it will be a question of availability.

Dinner was excellent, arctic char appetizer, grilled reindeer with lingonberries, then almond cake with vanilla ice cream and cloudberries. As expensive as the dinner was, ~US $50 each, the prices of the wine and beer were really eye-watering so we passed on these.

Free Music for Videos 👉 Music by Kaiyah Mercedes - The End. - [ Ссылка ]

свернуть