I spent a lot of time exploring travel options above the Arctic Circle and thought I would share them, especially given Alan Slomans desire to walk the Kungsleden in 2010.
Flying
There are 4 major airports in the region of the Kungsleden and Nordkalottleden Trail. These are Tromsø and Narvik in Norway, Kiruna in Sweden and Kittilä in Finland.
Train
The train systems in Sweden and Norway and very good, their routes are widespread and enable access to many hiking areas.
In Sweden it is Swedish Rail (SJ) they have an overnight service to Abisko the start of the Kungsleden, which is also a midway stop on the Nordkalottleden. The train also continues to Narvik which enables travellers to arrive or depart from an alternative airport.
In Norway it is Norwegian Rail (NSB) sadly their trains do not travel far enough north, but if your destination is Rondane or Jotunheimen along with many other walking destinations then NSB is the ideal service especially with the Gardermoen station located at the airport.
Buses
There are many bus services in Norway and Sweden, however, whilst planning my trip to Lapland the following services were part of my plans.
Tromsø to Oulo service may be useful.
Between Narvik and Tromsø there is a Nor-Way Bussekspress.
Buses services in the Rondane Jotunheimen area. Fjord1 offers a lot more than bus services.
Accomodation
I was intending to use Hostels provided by Hosteling International and there are many in Norway.
I have no doubt there are other links that may be of use, equally providers will change but after many hours of searching the web, it was these providers that appeared to meet my needs in regards to travel and accommodation, your experiences may be different.
Nielson - What can I say!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for these wonderful links. I shall go through them all with a fine tooth-comb!
Many thanks
Alan
Your welcome, we all collect information, but it often requires some else to ask the question before we realize that the information we have may be useful to others.
ReplyDeleteThat's indeed a very good collection of useful info. While I don't need to travel in Sweden and Norway to get up north, its useful to know and pass on to other folks! Tak!
ReplyDeleteHendrik if you want to add information from the Finland side you could add it to your blog and I will link to it from here blog.
ReplyDeleteAnother place to dream about. I've always wanted to do the Kungsleden. Oh well, when I get made redundant!
ReplyDeleteRoger, sounds like a plan. Shall try to fit it in this week!
ReplyDeleteI would like to offer information from the Norway side of things but Nielsen has covered it well! All I will say is that I find the staff at the bus and train information offices to be extremely helpful, especially if your planning any kind of trip that involves the national sport of hiking! Everyone speaks good English too which is very helpful for people like me who are struggling to learn the language!
ReplyDeleteHoldfast I agree completely, I had a couple of questions about traveling in Lapland and had email responses within 30 minutes from both bus services. That is service.
ReplyDeleteRoger, I finally finished the post on travelling in Finland! Read it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://hikinginfinland.blogspot.com/2009/07/travelling-in-finland.html
Roger, what does a bus rip in Norway usually cost? I try to find out what the trip from Karasjok to Kautokeino costs, but the online timetable doesn't give me a price.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insights, Roger. Yes, planning a trip, but its not yet 100% sure if it will go through as planned.
ReplyDeleteI'll write them an Email =)