Do you like snow? How about darkness and cold? If so, the arctic circle might be right for you! We took an overnight train from Copenhagen up to Kiruna, Sweden, in the arctic circle, in February, 2024. It was a snowy adventure and as beautiful (and as freezing) as it looks!

Train Trip Copenhagen -> Stockholm -> Boden -> Kiruna

What a ride – intended as a 21 hour trip on a sleeper train with bunk cabins, delays led to it taking much longer, an extra 6+ hours due to switching issues. Without delays, the train ride would be really nice, but the many hours at the Boden station, without any information on when or whether we would be moving again, and not many food options, was super frustrating. Rudy and Penny got onto a replacement bus (only 2 seats available) which then broke down! So needless to say, the travel to Kiruna was exhausting. If I went again, I’d fly to Kiruna, where you can take a dog sled to your rental, which sounds incredible, and take the train home.

Jukkasjärvi

Our home base was a town called Jukkasjärvi, and it was wonderful – quiet and close to the ICEHOTEL, Jukkasjärvi Church, and the Sami Museum. We had the coziest rental, and watched the northern lights from our porch. Also, there was just so much snow, so deep, and it kept coming down.

  • These streaks are s a sign that the aurora is starting

Jukkasjärvi kyrka 

This historic church was built in 1608, and the decoration inside is inspired by the Sami culture. The wooden triptych just behind the altar depicts scenes from a local religious movement called Laestadianism, created by Lars Levi Læstadius.

We took a drive to Challenger Park, where we followed some trails to a campsite and a frozen lake. We were on the lookout for moose, which we didn’t see, but we did see reindeer!

ICEHOTEL

One of the coolest things to see in the Kiruna area is the ICEHOTEL, where they create an entire hotel and art gallery from ice. We did not sleep here, although you can – its very pricey. Spending our afternoon exploring all the rooms and then having fancy cocktails and drinks in a bar made entirely of ice was so incredible.

Sámi Culture at Márkanbáiki

One of the days of our visit was spent at Márkanbáiki, to learn more about the way of life of the Sámi, indigenous people in Europe who have been nomads in Lapland for over 4,000 years. Reindeer herding, fishing and gathering are all core elements of their traditions and customs. We pet and fed reindeer and ate a wonderful lunch at Café Sápmi.

Kiruna Town

The city of Kiruna has a few interesting sites – namely the church. Its one of Sweden’s largest wooden buildings, built in the early 1900s, in a Gothic Revival style, with a very cool art nouveau altar. Otherwise we wandered around the town and played in the snow, but Jukkasjärvi was a lot more picturesque. We ate a very tasty lunch inside a teepee at Stejk Street Food.