Bike Trip through Northern Sweden

A gravel route through Swedish Lapland — Kiruna's mines, a Midsommar that never gets dark, and an island on the border I almost didn't leave.

I started this trip in Kiruna — a city built on mining, with a climate and landscape that make that history obvious the moment you arrive. From there I rode toward the Haparanda-Tornio region.

Seskaro

I'd planned to pass through Seskaro. I ended up staying much longer than that. The island sits right on the Swedish-Finnish border, and it's quieter than almost anywhere else I rode — bike paths running through it, beaches that take some finding, and wild nature with no crowds to share it with. This was the stretch of the whole trip I was most reluctant to leave.

From there, crossing into Finland, I stopped in Rovaniemi (Santa Claus runs a year-round operation there, even in July) and Kemi.

Gravel, Not Tarmac

This route is where gravel riding makes sense as more than a trend. The unpaved roads here go places tarmac doesn't — and that's the actual point of riding gravel: not the surface, but where it lets you get to.

Midsommar in the North

Midsommar this far north means days that don't really end. The light stays low and gold for hours, the sky and sea shift through every shade of blue, and the forest goes a green I haven't seen anywhere else.

What I Ate

Salmon, prepared more ways than I expected, plus local berries and cranberries. The unlikely highlight was a pizza topped with northern fruit and salmon — and a salmon soup that I'd go back just for.

Foraging Along the Way

I picked cranberries, wild berries, and mushrooms as I went — cranberries especially, partly because they're good for you, mostly because they're everywhere up there. Riding through a place and eating what grows in it changes how you experience it.

If a gravel route through Swedish Lapland is on your list, this is the one to take.

Wioletta Rodzicz