Hi Sweden,

I asked you last year, what your recommendation for activities is along a route, that i showed you. This year, we will go again, due to it being a beautiful vacation. Really fell in love with Sweden! 🙂
This time, we’ll head further north. I would be very thankful, if you had some recommendations or tips for activities.
We will be travelling by a campervan again.
Thanks in advance!

42 comments

  2. Well your most southern point has cool day hikes, a dramatic coastline (highest in the world I think?) and via ferrata climbing.

    https://friluftsbyn.se/vandra-hoga-kusten/vandra-skuleskogens-nationalpark/vandra-slattdalsskrevan/

    In general, there’s a lot of beautiful nature to see and hike on your route.

    Edit: hopefully someone with local knowledge will tell you about places to see “fjällen” up north, maybe Borgafjäll/Saxnäs?, because I’ve mostly hiked farther south and north of that.

    Here’s some picture at least
    https://vandrarna.se/vandring-borgafjall/

  3. Yes! Around Nordmaling you should visit Olofsfors, don’t drive e4 north from Nordmaling to Umeå, there Is smaller roads sort of following the Coast with some small and cosy beaches.

  8. When you pass through gäddede you need to check out hällingsåfallet.

    You also have gaustafallet when you go up for stekenjokk.

    There is guided tours for korallgrottan if you like cavecrawling.

    There is alot of things to see if you like hiking.

  11. First i thought you intended to cycle the entire route. Beautiful place. Stekenjokk feels almost arctic. Good camping grounds too. If you intend to eat at the restaurants in Gäddede or Blåsjön you should be aware of that they are the only options and the prices are accordingly. Plenty of beautiful lakes and places to stay along the route. The hotel in Vilhelmina has a nice breakfast buffet in case you get tired of the van. They got a stuffed bear in the lobby.

    Make sure you have Telenor or Telia as phone operator as they are the only ones with good coverage.

    BTW, the road in Stekenjokk can get up to six meters of snowfall so visit during summer, not late spring.

    Snow removal: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dh4SA1Vis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dh4SA1Vis)

    Snow depth on june 6th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9btipBCmwc

    [https://www.vildmarksvagen.se](https://www.vildmarksvagen.se)

  13. Björnlandet nationalpark is doable as a day hike. Sleep at a cabin along the lake or in the campervan on the carpark

    While in Umeå, go to [Baggböle herrgård](https://maps.app.goo.gl/cpcQeSyajxG5sv8YA) and walk down to the rapids. If it’s nice weather it’s refreshing to take a bath there.

    You can rent a kajak and do a tour on the river in Umeå from a [kajakomat](https://www.kayakomat.com/sv/location/628d00f2fc63de8a27604694)

    While you go past Bjurholm you can visit an [elkfarm](https://algenshus.se/)

  14. The road between Gäddede and Klimpfjäll opens on 6th of June, Swedens national day. Usually a cue when they open at 12:00 and some police presence fining people for parking along the route where its prohibited (after the road block is opened)

    There are a few designated parking spots if i remember correctly

  15. [Hemsö fästning ](https://g.co/kgs/NEg4FT)

    Some recent history, you get to go down inside the mountain and on top of a coastal artillery battery that was declassified in the 90s. With guided tours and a restaurant on the island. Its a short distance from Härnösand. Theres a car ferry to get there.

  16. Rather then going to Stora Blåsjön I would recommend stopping by in Borgafjäll. Beautiful place with nice hiking, and great places to park your campervan.

    From there you can drive over Gittsfjället to get to Vilhelmina and continue onwards.

  22. [Fatmomakke](https://southlapland.com/fatmomakke/) is a nice stop. An old village with Marsfjällen as a backdrop. Lots of kåtor and old buildings with a lot of information about how life used to be there in the late 1700.

    Gaustafallet, as someone mentioned, is also a nice place to fire up some hotdogs and listen to the waterfall. Was there as a kid quite often and pretty much every time we where there a falcon sat right next to us (probably used to get food from tourists). There are benches and a fireplace (and shelter) right next to the fall.

    Enjoy a dip in the crystal clear ice cold melt water springs on Stekenjokk. Read about the old silver mines on the various information stops along the way. The road up there is amazing.

    Stop by the Tourist information in every town you get to, they are super helpful. You can get permits for fishing and help to get in contact with guides who can take you out on a beaver safari or just a day of fly fishing. Don’t miss that opportunity, a guide will make your visit 100% better!

    Last but not least; use protection (against the mosquitos) or else you will get eaten alive!

  24. There are many impressive falls in the broader region you intend to visit, though Trappstegfors which is actually more of rapids than a fall, is in my opinion a unique spectacle. It is just next to the road only a couple kilometers southeast of Saxnäs. Since you plan driving by, you would spot it by yourself but I thought it would be good to mention it. Take precautions against mosquitos, it is not fun at all

  30. A bit south of Strömsund, level with Östersund, is the village Borgvattnet, whose old vicarage is called the most haunted building in Sweden 🙂

  31. You could consider using an AI system for route planning and giving recommendations, such as leveraging GPT-3 for destination recommendation and a reinforcement learning based agent for route optimization.

  35. Go for Östersund and Åre instead of Strömsund, it’s a pretty small place in the middle of nowhere with not much to see. But fun to see that you are going pretty close to where I grew up, enjoy!

  37. Most have been said! Enjoy the view! Got a vacation house outside Gäddede ! Vildmarksvägen is awesome. Try some fishing also

  39. The café in central Vilhelmina is really nice.

    If you are into fishing, the possibilities to fish for trout and greyling is great all over Västerbotten.

  40. A few years ago I drove a lot of this route. I just have to warn you that many of these roads are painfully dull because you are surrounded by a wall of trees on either side. I love trees, but prepare yourself for long stretches where it feels like you are in a maze.

    My mother in law is from Vilhelmina and I love it there, but some parts can be difficult to enjoy if the mosquitos and black fly’s are present. Fika at Stenman’s Kondotori is fun as is the breakfast buffet at the Hotel Wilhelmina.

    This area is remarkably unpopulated so be VERY prepared for being isolated. If your experience is with southern Sweden then it can be a shock to see how low the population density is in Västerbotten.

    Lycksele is a really cool town by the way and it is a bit of a shame that you are missing it. I VASTLY PREFERRED the road between Storuman and Umeå to the road between Vilhelmina and Umeå from a scenic point of view.

    The mountains West of Vilhelmina are quite beautiful in their starkness and isolation. Have fun with the customized A-traktor culture which is quite strong in the region.

  41. In Vännäsby you have Slöjdarnas hus, where you can buy local craft, they also have a bakery and cafe. A bit further up along Vindelälven you find Glassbonden, a farmer specialising in ice cream. They usually have a bunch on fun flavours and a cafe overlooking their pastures.

    I’m not sure wether you pass by Frederika, but there is a random, very large buddha statue up on a hill with a nice view.

    Between Vilhelmina and Klimpfjäll you have trappstegsforsen right by the road. Saxnäs is a pretty village, and you can rent kayaks etc at Stalon Adventure. Saxnäsgården has a restaurant with a view over Marsfjällen. In Saxnäs you can drive pretty far up Satsfjället if you want a low effort hike. If it’s a sunny day I recommend going to Marsliden and following the trail up towards Marsfjällen. You quickly gain elevation and the landscape is changing from dense forest to open mountains. Allow a couple of hours to go up and back.

    In Klimpfjäll there are several walks that are marked up. 7 forsar start by the cross country track and follows a river and passes by 7 small waterfalls. With a start at Norgefarargården there is a trail going up the ski hill and you get a view over the lake.

  42. Honestly an overwhelming amount of feedback!! 🙂 We picked alot of your recommendations and will see what we can fit in the time.
    Thank you again for the help!!

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