6 days in Sweden

First of all, sorry Sweden that we only have so little time for you - you don't deserve that... But our road trip through Scandinavia is unfortunately coming to an end.

On July 23, 2022, we will cross the border to Sweden after a stormy night in Narvik. Not without quickly expanding our luggage with a Norwegian sweater ;) This will hopefully remind us of the great journey through Norway for a long time.

On our way to our next destination, Kiruna, we drive through the north of Sweden for some time. Here there are large national parks such as the popular Abisko National Park. It houses one of Sweden's most famous hiking trails, the Kungsleden (also known as the Royal Trail). At the park's visitor center, you can learn in detail about the animal and plant life of Lapland. From there, we walk along the Abiskojåkka Gorge, through which a mighty and crystal clear river winds. On our further way, we pass the Silverfallet waterfall, which pours into the large Torneträsk Lake, along which we drive for quite some time. Finally, we arrive at the Camp Ripan campsite in Kiruna. Unfortunately, it is fully booked for campers during the holiday season, but we still find a spot for our tent and can use the free sauna. We celebrate with champagne in the associated restaurant, because today is our anniversary :)

The north of Sweden is also the land of the Sami people, who have been shepherding reindeer, fishing, and leading a nomadic life here for hundreds of years. To get a closer look at their culture, we spend the morning of July 24, 2022, at the open-air museum "Nutti Sami Siida". Here we can pet reindeer, try to catch wooden reindeer with a lasso, and visit the self-built huts and tents of the Sami people.

Our journey along the Baltic Sea coast takes us to Gammelstaden, a small church village that has now been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It consists of many small red Swedish houses that are only allowed to be inhabited on public holidays and weekends. This goes back to the history of the village, to which people used to travel from afar only for Sunday worship. And since it is so quiet and sunny here, we cook our dinner right away. Afterwards, we continue a little further to a beautiful parking spot in the forest, with a small beach and the sea.

On July 25, 2022, it's time to make some progress, as there is not much time left until we should reach Stockholm. We only take a short break at an outdoor outlet and otherwise drive to Uppsala. But we do have a special highlight: we see reindeer in the wild, casually walking across or along the road! When we reach Gamla Uppsala in the late evening, the sky turns into the most beautiful shades of sunset, and we grill delicious fish burgers.

Not far from our overnight parking spot there are some burial mounds from the Viking era, and otherwise "Old Uppsala" is quite nice to look at, as we find out on the morning of July 26, 2022. Nevertheless, we quickly turn to the city center and visit the cathedral, the university, and the castle, which houses an art museum. We are extremely impressed by the beautiful university, which is the oldest in Scandinavia. By the way, admission to the interesting museum of modern art is free, a fact that we are no longer used to from Norway. We really like Uppsala! But today we still want to make it to the Stockholm archipelago. We decide to head for the northern archipelago and arrive there in the afternoon in sunny weather. However, what we did not consider is that the distances to the nicer islands are long, the ferries do not operate for long, and it is not possible to spontaneously rent a kayak anymore. We had imagined it differently. At least we still find a nice beach parking lot where we can actually take another swim in the sea and enjoy a cozy evening.

It is July 27, 2022, and we are heading to Stockholm! We settle in at a campsite just outside the city and welcome our friends Lea and Stefan, who will be taking Freedolin for a few more kilometers in Scandinavia starting tomorrow. It feels good to meet friends on the journey again, and we exchange various news and let ourselves drift through Stockholm. What we particularly like is the Old Town and the view from Monteliusvägen, which we discovered a few years ago during our first visit to Stockholm. We enjoy our last evening by the campfire, where we grill and celebrate Tina's birthday.

On July 28, 2022, it's finally time to pack our things and say goodbye to Freedolin, which has become even dearer to us over the past two months. It has traveled with us for about 10,000 kilometers now; from Berlin via Stuttgart to Tuscany, from Lake Constance via Stuttgart, Koblenz, and Kiel, through Denmark to Gothenburg and Norway, from the southernmost tip of Norway to the far north to the Lofoten Islands and Senja, across the border to Sweden, and along the Swedish Baltic Sea coast to Stockholm. After a final check-up, we hand it over to the faithful hands of Lea and Stefan, who will be writing their own adventures with Freedolin for the next 4 weeks. Until the next road trip, we now take the plane to Munich ✌️

But soon we will continue to South America. So stay tuned!