When Andy Anderson came back from Swedish Lapland for the second time this year and told me that he visited The Ice Hotel, I knew we needed to share the images as well explain a bit more about this very special place in the world he visited. You may recall that Andy visited Swedish Lapland once already this year and Anne Telford wrote about it in a post titled; Andy Anderson. A Viking Explores His Roots. If you did read it or saw the images you would know why he returned so quickly.
Enjoy the second round of images and what Andy had to share about his visit.
In March of 2016 I had the pleasure of traveling to the far north of Sweden on behalf of Swedish Lapland Tourism with Håkan Stenlund. I had visited once before a few months ago before the end of the year, but now I got to experience Swedish Lapland in all its winter glory.
First up was a trip to the world famous Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi. This fully functional hotel is created from massive blocks of ice cleaved from the local Torne River and turned into a surreal wonderland by artists and ice sculptures.
Next, we headed out for a day of dog sledding with Explore the North in Kangos, Pajala. It’s amazing how peaceful and quite it is when your being pulled by the amazing sled dogs.
We then traveled north to Abisko National Park and called the Abisko Mountain Lodge home for our stay. We hopped into a helicopter for a better view of the famous Lapporten Mountains and the surrounding lakes. Took a snowcat to the highest lodge in Sweden, the Låktatjåkko Mountain Lodge for some pancakes and time by the fire, before almost getting stuck there in a whiteout snowstorm. We made it back down the mountain and capped off the visit with a day of ice fishing.
We went as far north as possible before hitting the Norwegian border to hang out with some reindeer tended by the local Sámi natives and spent the night in an old railroad weather station transformed into a hotel and restaurant by Sweden’s most award-winning sommelier Patrick Strömsten. Nothing like sipping some of the worlds best wine at the top of the world.
We journeyed back south toward the port city of Luleå. We stopped off along the way for some reindeer sledding at the Nutti Sámi Siida before reaching Luleå and taking a drive out over the harbor on the ice road to travel between the islands of the archipelago.
I had an amazing time getting to know the people, places, and activities of Swedish Lapland while creating amazing images and I’m ready to return anytime!
To see all of the Swedish Lapland images from both trips, link here.
