Cross country skiing in Sweden
| country: | Sweden |
| location: | Swedish Lapland, Arctic Circle |
| departures: | Group departures: 20 Feb 2009. This trip can also be tailor made Jan - Mar |
| price: | From Kr12500 (approx £1025 in chalet) - Kr14500 (approx £1188 in twin room) (8 days) excluding flights. 50% discount for children under 16 years sharing their parents' room/chalet |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Cross country skiing in Sweden
Cross country skiing in Sweden Discover the true Swedish Lapland on broad wooden forest skis. Skiing off the beaten track gives you freedom to explore and experience the nature and wildlife in a quiet and peaceful way.
During your stay with us, you will be exploring the natural delights of Swedish Lapland. You will be trekking, on cross-country skis, discovering the local plants, fish, birds and mammals native to this part of the Arctic Circle. Your guide will explain the complicated ecosystem we are dependent upon and the influence of the local people on it.
We will ski between 3 and 10 km a day, but the duration and details of the tours can vary according to the experience of the participants and the prevailing weather conditions and cold.
Due to weather conditions this holiday is usually too strenuous for children under 12, but depending on the size of the group, we can vary it according to individual needs.
Accommodation is in en suite twin rooms at a hotel including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners, or in self-catering comfortable chalet/cottage. Price includes English-speaking tour leader and guide, local transport, accommodation, equipment and meals as indicated. Group size 2-8 people.
During your stay with us, you will be exploring the natural delights of Swedish Lapland. You will be trekking, on cross-country skis, discovering the local plants, fish, birds and mammals native to this part of the Arctic Circle. Your guide will explain the complicated ecosystem we are dependent upon and the influence of the local people on it.
We will ski between 3 and 10 km a day, but the duration and details of the tours can vary according to the experience of the participants and the prevailing weather conditions and cold.
Due to weather conditions this holiday is usually too strenuous for children under 12, but depending on the size of the group, we can vary it according to individual needs.
Accommodation is in en suite twin rooms at a hotel including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners, or in self-catering comfortable chalet/cottage. Price includes English-speaking tour leader and guide, local transport, accommodation, equipment and meals as indicated. Group size 2-8 people.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival at Luleå airport and transfer to accommodation in Övertorneå. In the evening we will discuss the week’s programme taking into account the participants’ previous experience and expectations. |
| Day 2: | Trying out the equipment. We will try out the equipment for the week’s activities by skiing across the thick ice covering the River Torne. We will ensure that the clothing fits properly and is sufficiently warm for our guests, and by the end of the day you will be fully prepared for the rest of your holiday. We will cook our lunch outdoors over a campfire and enjoy it along with the view of the beautiful Torne River Valley. Before we return to your accommodation, we will stop off at Arctic Circle for a short ceremony. Evening: Arctic Night - on the icy River Torne (This evening or another evening when the sky is clear). An evening stroll on the thick ice of the frozen border river can be very magical, especially when the stars and the moon are shining. Sometimes, if we are lucky, even the Northern Lights will light up and curtains of colour will move quickly across the sky. We will seek out the nocturnal burbot, which lives an unusual life beneath the ice, spawning in the coldest winter month of February. You will help with the catch, fishing in the traditional way with hooks. You will also try ice-fishing with a small fishing-rod. In a Sami tent with a wood-fired stove out on the ice, you will be served a simple snack including traditional ingredients from Tornedalen: coffee, a rieska sandwich, coffee-cheese, dried reindeer meat and a taste of burbot. |
| Day 3: | Life beneath the ice. Above the thick ice of Lake Puostijärvi it could be freezing, but beneath the ice the fish swim and hunt even during the shortest days in the middle of the winter. You will be suitably dressed to experience the exiting tradition of net-fishing beneath the ice; we might even catch some pike, pike-perch, burbot and perch. If the weather is reasonable your guide also will show you how to do ice-fishing with a small fishing-rod. We will prepare our lunch outdoors over a campfire, which tastes so much better outdoors. If the weather gods are against us, there is a little hut where we can warm ourselves. |
| Day 4: | Peace of mind in the magic old forest. The old trees groan under the snow, whispering to us their life stories as we quietly and serenely potter around one of the most ancient of forests in the area around the Arctic Circle. We will cross the occasional animal track, and almost without fail, we will spot that subject of myths, the Siberian Jay, who may even join us as we prepare a traditional lunch over a campfire. |
| Day 5: | Northern Lights in Lapland. Imagine cross country skiing through a snow clad forest while the stars and the moon illuminate your trail – just magical! During an evening in the forest, far away from street lights and other disturbing things you will improve your possibility to see the Northern Lights while you experience an unforgettable night in Lapland. Under the stars we will cook our dinner over a camp fire and enjoy it as we let our ears and eyes seek out the secrets of the night. |
| Day 6: | A day to spend as you please. A day to take it easy, browsing around the locality, shopping and seeing the sights, such as Övertorneå Church with its famous 17th century organ. We can advise and help you organise any trips in the area. At a further cost, you can take part in activities such as dog-sledding, reindeer-sledding, horse-riding/sledding or snowmobiling. |
| Day 7: | Tracking animals. Along the small stream, the Ylinenjoki, is a rich selection of wildlife. Water-bound animals like otters and beavers tend to breed here but are not easy to spot as they mostly live under the ice during the winter. Elks, reindeer, fox and hare are also common here, and we might even find the tracks of more unusual species such as marten and lynx. You will glide along the stream on skis to investigate what the animal tracks can tell us. Your guide will show you how animals live and how the ecosystem works here at the Arctic Circle latitude. When we feel pangs of hunger, we will cook a tasty lunch over an open fire. |
| Day 8: | Transfer from your accommodation in Övertorneå to Luleå airport. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.flights at Xmas & New Year
For the Christmas and New Year period you need to book your flights early to ensure availability and good value for money. Flights fill up very quickly and are normally impossible to book by the end of November. We recommend Scandinavian Airlines, www.flysas.com who offer flights from the UK to Lulea (via Stockholm). We can then collect you from the airport. Rovaniemi and Kemi in Finland are also possible.how this holiday makes a difference
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Our company is a small-scale activity company, based in Swedish Lapland and locally owned. When you choose to buy your holiday directly from us, over three quarters of your money will benefit locally based and owned companies that employ local people. Wherever possible, we use local suppliers for food, materials, detergent, expendable items and equipment.
We cooperate with other locally owned companies for accommodation in hotels and chalets, hire of cars/minibuses and activities we don't do ourselves, like dog sledding. We encourage our guests to visit local small businesses and handcraft shops to buy locally produced products and souvenirs e.g. clothes (wool and felt), jewellery, the wooden traditional cup ("kåsa"). To reduce our environmental impact we travel in small groups and employ a "leave no trace" philosophy. We work closely with nature and we avoid being intrusive or harmful. Where possible we use eco-friendly products: food, detergent, materials. Locally sourced meat, such as elk and reindeer, fish such as salmon and pike-perch, vegetables and potatoes - usually organic - are provided during the activity programme. When cross country skiing in Sweden we try to minimise consumption of material and products. We recycle package materials and compost our organic waste. Waste is carried out and package materials are recycled according to our policy. We don't use disposable cutlery, plates and similar.  We try to influence the companies we cooperate with to be more environmentally responsible. Depending on your request, we can recommend two different accommodations. One is a company with chalets that have an ambitious written environmental programme striving to: reduce energy consumption, serve locally sourced and organic food, recycle material and using more eco-friendly products for cleaning etc. The other is an ordinary hotel that has made some minor efforts to be more responsible. Our company is a member of The Swedish Ecotourism Society and the owner is the chairman of the local Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, a national non-profit organisation that works to conserve nature both within Sweden and globally. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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