Stage 32 - Bike and Train

After much consideration, including the onward journey and the plan to continue in Finland, we have decided to take the train from Örnsköldvik to Umeå (approx. 140 km). If we can continue from Wasa in Finland, we will be back a bit further south. The regional train company Norrtåg allows bicycles on board, and by the way, this section of the route was built as a new high-speed line only 10-20 years ago.

So we start in good time for the first approx. 35 kilometers of Swedish undulating terrain to Örnsköldvik and also want to stop at the Fjällräven outlet along the way. When we arrive there, we see such a long line of people in front of the door that we turn around immediately - fortunately, it's a manageable detour without hills! This is how the Swedes take the Corona pandemic seriously: adhering to social distancing and the maximum number of people allowed in shops is taken for granted! We have observed this over and over again.

Örnsköldvik turns out to be a beautiful little town with a very stylish train station. From the entrance area, it's two floors up to the pedestrian bridge over the highway, and another floor up to the platforms. Right next to it is the place where a ski jumping hill ends under the railway line. To our relief, we can buy the train tickets on board and we travel in the small regional train at high speed, still seeing a lot of hilly terrain, forests, and lakes along the way.

In Umeå, we are still in the city and on our way to a shopping center to find a Covid test, but we arrive too late for today. We hope it will work out tomorrow and that we have understood the entry rules correctly.