Arctic Sweden and Norway by Rail: Kiruna, Abisko, Narvik and the Lofoten

Arrive in Stockholm

Stockholm Arlanda Airport to your hotel in central Stockholm

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Stockholm
• En train

Soir

We meet you in arrivals and take the Arlanda Express train or a van into the centre, about 20 to 40 minutes, to a hotel close to Stockholm Central, where the night train leaves tomorrow. Plan to land by about 3 pm to make the evening briefing; earlier is better, as the afternoon is free. Stockholm is built across fourteen islands where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic, and an easy first walk from the hotel takes you over the bridges to Gamla Stan, the old town, and its narrow lanes around Stortorget. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group to go through the week: what goes in the bag for the train, what the weather does in the Arctic, and how the rail days are paced. Then we walk to a welcome dinner of Swedish dishes at a local restaurant.

Compris

• Meet and transfer from Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Gamla Stan, the Vasa and the night train north

Stockholm, then the overnight train towards Kiruna

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Night train to Kiruna
• En traversier

Matin

A morning walk with your guide through Gamla Stan: the Royal Palace, Stortorget and its painted merchant houses, the cathedral, Storkyrkan, and the narrow lane of Marten Trotzigs grand. A short ferry or tram ride takes us to Djurgarden for the Vasa Museum, where a 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 stands almost complete after more than three centuries on the harbour floor.

Après-midi

The afternoon is free, so leave your bags at the hotel and walk Sodermalm, swim off a city jetty in warm weather, or sit over a long fika.

Soir

In the early evening we board the night train at Stockholm Central. Each pair has a 2-berth compartment with bedding, and the dining car is open for a relaxed dinner on your own account. Through the light night the train runs north through Uppland, along the Gulf of Bothnia and on into Norrbotten.

Compris

• Guided walk through Gamla Stan
• The Vasa Museum
• Overnight train from Stockholm, in a 2-berth sleeper compartment

Across the Arctic Circle to Kiruna and the Icehotel

Night train to Kiruna, then Jukkasjarvi and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kiruna
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

The train does not stop there, so your guide tells you when we pass the marker; breakfast is on board.

Après-midi

We reach Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost town, in the late morning, take the van to the hotel, a short drive from the station, and sit down to lunch. Kiruna exists because of its iron ore, and the mine has made the town move: much of the old centre is being rebuilt about 3 km east, and you see the new square and town hall on the way. In the afternoon a short drive takes us to Jukkasjarvi on the Torne River, home of the Icehotel. Its art hall is kept frozen all year, so in summer you walk through suites and an ice bar carved by artists from river ice, in thick capes at about minus five degrees. Beside it stands Jukkasjarvi's old wooden church by the river.

Soir

Back in Kiruna the evening is yours, in light that does not fade in June.

Compris

• Breakfast on the train
• Sit-down lunch in Kiruna
• The Icehotel art hall and ice bar at Jukkasjarvi
• Jukkasjarvi's old wooden church by the Torne River

A Sami host, then the train to Abisko

Kiruna to a Sami camp near Kiruna, then the Malmbanan to Abisko

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Abisko
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

This morning we drive a short way out of town to spend time with a Sami host family. Sapmi, the Sami homeland, spans the north of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia, and reindeer herding is still a living trade here.

Après-midi

In summer the herds are often up on the fells, so the visit is about the people and the way of life: a lavvu tent, how the reindeer year runs, the language, duodji crafts and joik, and a lunch cooked over the fire, often suovas, smoked reindeer. Back in Kiruna we see the church, one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings, moved east to the new centre in 2025. Then we take the iron ore line northwest, about 1 hour 15 minutes on a train timed to the timetable we confirm for your date, along the shore of Tornetrask to Abisko. Our base is a short walk from the Abisko station and the park. After checking in, an easy walk follows the Abiskojokk river into its canyon, cut deep into the bedrock.

Compris

• Visit and lunch with a Sami host near Kiruna
• Kiruna Church
• Train from Kiruna to Abisko along Tornetrask
• The Abisko canyon walk with your guide

The Kungsleden and the Aurora Sky Station

Abisko National Park, on foot, then up Nuolja by chairlift

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Abisko

Matin

After breakfast we set off on the Kungsleden, the King's Trail, which starts here and runs about 440 km south through Lapland. The first stage follows the Abiskojokk through birch forest, with the river in rapids beside the path and the mountains of Lapporten, the Lapland gate, in view ahead.

Après-midi

We walk about 5 to 6 km out, eat a packed snack by the water, then turn back for a late sit-down lunch in Abisko. The afternoon is free to rest.

Soir

In the evening we have dinner together, then ride the chairlift up Nuolja to the Aurora Sky Station, about 900 m up, where in June and early July the sun stays above the horizon at midnight over Tornetrask.

Compris

• Guided walk on the first stage of the Kungsleden
• Sit-down lunch in Abisko
• Dinner in Abisko
• Chairlift to the Aurora Sky Station on Nuolja

The Ofoten line to Narvik

Abisko to Riksgransen and over the border, then down to Narvik by train

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Narvik
• En train

Matin

A slow morning: walk the shore of Tornetrask, visit the national park's nature centre, or sleep in.

Après-midi

Late in the morning or around midday, on a train timed to the timetable we confirm for your date, we board for about 1 hour 40 minutes of the most dramatic rail on the trip. The line climbs past Bjorkliden and Riksgransen, where snow often lies into summer, crosses into Norway at the watershed and then drops about 500 m to the sea at Narvik, clinging to the mountainside above the Rombaksfjord, with tunnels, snow sheds and waterfalls between the views. The Ofoten line was opened in 1902 to carry Kiruna's ore to an ice-free harbour, and ore trains still use it. In Narvik we check in a short walk from the station, find lunch on our own account at a cafe nearby, then visit the war museum, which tells the story of the battles for the port in 1940. Late in the afternoon the Narvikfjellet cable car takes us above the town for the view across the Ofotfjord, subject to the season's operating days; we confirm at booking.

Compris

• Train on the Ofoten line from Abisko to Narvik
• The war museum in Narvik
• The Narvikfjellet cable car, subject to the season's operating days; we confirm at booking

Narvik to the Lofoten Islands

Narvik over the Tjeldsund bridge and the Lofast road to Svolvaer, then on to Leknes

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Leknes
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Matin

The driver loads the bags and we leave Narvik at about 8:30 am after breakfast along the Ofotfjord, stop for coffee at the Tjeldsund bridge, then take the Lofast road, opened in 2007, through tunnels and over bridges that tie the islands to the mainland.

Après-midi

In Svolvaer, the Lofoten's main town, we sit down to a seafood lunch by the harbour with the peak of Svolvaergeita, the Goat, above. The afternoon road runs past fjords, white beaches and cod-drying racks to central Vestvagoy, where we stay three nights near Leknes.

Soir

You unpack once, and the evening is free.

Compris

• Scenic drive on the E10 and the Lofast road with your guide
• Coffee stop at the Tjeldsund bridge
• Sit-down lunch in Svolvaer

Reine, Hamnoy and the end of the road at A

Leknes to Hamnoy, Reine and A, then Nusfjord on the way back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Leknes
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

We leave early, because the road west to Reine is narrow and fills with coaches and campervans by mid-morning. The first stop is Hamnoy, where red rorbuer fishing cabins stand on stilts below sheer granite peaks, then Reine across its bridges, in what many call the most photographed view in Norway. We go on to A, the village at the end of the E10, where you can walk among the stockfish racks and the old fishing station buildings and look out to the open sea.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Reine, with fish caught in these waters. If the weather is clear and the trail is open, anyone who wants can climb Reinebringen with your guide, about 448 m up steep stone steps, while the others stay in Reine.

Soir

On the way back we stop at Nusfjord, where the entry fee is included,, one of the best preserved fishing villages in Norway, and are back near Leknes by late afternoon for a free evening, perhaps a walk on the beach at Haukland if the weather is kind.

Compris

• Hamnoy and Reine early with your guide
• A, the village at the end of the E10
• Sit-down lunch in Reine
• Nusfjord fishing village, entry fee included

Activités en option

• Reinebringen climb with your guide, weather and trail permitting, no fee

The Trollfjord by boat and Henningsvaer

Leknes to Svolvaer for the Trollfjord boat, then Henningsvaer

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Leknes
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in the village, and the afternoon is free to wander the harbour, galleries and cafes.

Soir

In the early evening we return to Leknes for a farewell dinner together, to toast the trains, the fells and the islands. In June the sun circles low over the sea all night.

Compris

• Boat trip from Svolvaer into the Raftsundet and the Trollfjord
• Henningsvaer with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Henningsvaer
• Farewell dinner

Fly home from the Lofoten

Leknes to Leknes Airport, or to Harstad/Narvik Evenes

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

A last breakfast with the mountains outside the window, and the morning is yours. Walk to the shore, find a bakery for a cinnamon bun, or sit out with a coffee while the group says goodbye. Leknes Airport (LKN) is a few minutes from town, with short flights to Bodo and connections to Oslo and onward home, and we take you there in time for your flight. If you are flying from Harstad/Narvik Evenes (EVE), we drive you there instead, about 280 km and 4 hours or more back along the E10, over our 4-hour driving guideline, so we leave after an early breakfast and stop for coffee on the way; book a flight leaving after about 2 pm. If you want to stay on, we can add nights in the Lofoten or arrange a Hurtigruten coastal voyage north or south; ask when you book. Your guide sees you to the airport and checks your flight before saying goodbye.

Compris

• Transfer to Leknes Airport (LKN), or to Harstad/Narvik Evenes (EVE)