Sweden: Stockholm, Night Train to Lapland & Hunting the Northern Lights

Roundtrip flights are not included, so we fly in when and from where we like.

Stockholm sits on an archipelago of 14 islands, all connected by bridges. A capital spread over water, the Venice of the North: this is where the group meets for the first time!

• The first dinner together breaks the ice with local specialities.

• There is no shortage of fresh fish here, so the choice is salmon, herring or lobster.

We wake on the train with the untouched nature of Lapland going past the window, and step off in the far north. What a way to arrive!

• In Kiruna we transfer in and drop the bags at the accommodation for the next few nights.

• Then we walk the streets, with a warm lunch or a fika, the slow local cake-and-coffee break.

• Later come the activities booked with the group before departure: a sauna, an ice sculpture workshop. Dinner is traditional, in a cabin in the Lapland landscape.

The fixed appointment comes at the end of the day. First, rental cars and thermal gear for the next three days: suit, boots, gloves, balaclava and hat.

• Wildlife: at a reindeer farm we get up close and learn all their secrets. Did you know reindeer are the ones that get farmed, while moose stay strictly wild?

• Or history: a nearby Sami village, and the story of a nomadic culture that adapted to a harsh environment while facing the expansionist ambitions of kings from central Europe.

• The Ice Hotel nearby is made entirely of ice, rebuilt every year, and works as a museum of ice sculptures, with a drink at the Ice Bar served in ice.

• Then the unmissable appointment: the huskies, and a sled ride through the landscapes with the dogs doing the work and the thermal gear earning its place.

Early start: the rental cars go back in Kiruna, and the last full day up here turns out to be the loudest one.

• A transfer takes us to the snowmobiles. The guides supply extra ski equipment and teach us to drive.

• The excursion runs half a day, with a local lunch out in the snow.

• Back at the hotel we grab the backpacks and board the Polar Express to Stockholm, with one more chance of catching the Northern Lights through the windows.

The train pulls into Stockholm in the morning around 10.30am, freezing-weather delays permitting, and the trip effectively ends on the platform.

• It is worth booking the flight home for the afternoon: a few last hours in the city and an unhurried run out to the airport.

• Then it is goodbye to Sweden and to the fellow travellers we have shared trains and thermal suits with. See you on the next WeRoad adventure!