Håkan Stenlund

Experiencing the Northern Lights is on many people’s bucket list. Travellers from around the world head north to experience the celestial phenomenon, hoping to snap a picture of it. Been there, done t...

Places still exist where there’s no point asking for the password for the wifi. Places where you leave your mobile behind to spend some quality time with others – or perhaps with yourself.  The Sámi e...

Kristoffer Turdell from Gällivare is the newly-crowned champion of Freeride World Tour, the World championship of Extreme skiing. His scene may be all the mountains in the world, but it’s still a run ...

Niekhu means dream in Northern Sámi. In Riksgränsen two friends have just built a hotel called Niehku. Below we list four reasons why you should choose to live the dream for a while. The first impress...

The sauna Solar Egg was created by Riksbyggen together with artistic duo Birgert & Bergström and installed in Kiruna. Since then the sauna has become a global success and taken on a European tour. Now...

In the forests of Harads he’s designed both the most natural kind of accommodation you’d expect to find – a bird’s nest – and the most unnatural: a UFO. Now he’s designed a cold-water public bath as w...

Perhaps summer and swimming isn’t what first springs to mind when you think of Swedish Lapland. But, in fact, there are plenty of cool beaches and places to go for a swim – thanks to the inland ice. T...

Verandan – the Veranda – is the new fine-dining restaurant at Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi. The food here takes you on a 12-course, exciting and flavourful trip, all overseen by the charismatic chef Alexan...

People who have visited Riksgränsen during these last 20 years or so are familiar with “Strumpan” and “Jossi”. One of them used to run the piste machine and is now a mountain guide. The other one used...

Good skiing usually depends on one thing and one thing only: good snow. But good snow has many enemies. Sunshine, temperature and wind can all mess with the fluffiness of snow. It’s best protected by ...

The world-famous ICEHOTEL outside Kiruna was initially just a crazy idea for the winter. These days it’s just as crazy – but all year round. Normally at this time of year in Swedish Lapland, something...

Sápmi Nature Camp is located just outside Gällivare. In many ways, it’s a completely different world, a place to go if you want to change a little. Sápmi Nature Camp in Gällivare, north of the Arctic ...

So you’ve gone to Swedish Lapland, Sweden’s northernmost destination, to experience the magical northern lights. Here are seven simple tips on how to get some good pictures of the beautiful light phen...

Four kilometres beyond the end of the public road you’ll find the village Särkimukka in the Torne Valley. In the middle of the woods, on a frozen lake, this is home to some ten people and hundreds of ...

Many think autumn is the most beautiful time of year in Swedish Lapland. It’s as if Earth itself grants a generous firework display of colour before the winter sleep settles over the Arctic landscape....

One brewer used to build cars for NASCAR, another is a trained social worker and a third is a business developer at the University of Luleå. Beer interest is growing and in Swedish Lapland there are m...

Two villages with the same name on either side of the mighty Torne River. Kukkolaforsen is something very special and in many ways it proves that the Torne Valley is a world of its own, filled with ta...

National parks are areas featuring a certain type of landscape, protected to preserve their natural condition. It’s about creating opportunities to experience nature. Swedish Lapland has the most, the...

If a fish, or a catch, is to be a story, the fish has to be out of the ordinary, preferably bordering on dangerous. And if the story is to become a classic, the fish should be as big as a whale or the...

In Sweden we love our coffee, and so-called boiled coffee (coarse ground and brought to the boil in a pan) is in many ways the national drink of Swedish Lapland. Preferably served with all the trimmin...

Photographer Mattias Fredriksson started out as a cleaner at Hotel Riksgränsen. Then he picked up a camera. Today he’s the most published skiing photographer in the world, still with a soft spot for t...

The world’s longest cross-country ski race, 220 km, take place in Jokkmokk. How did it all begin, and why? It’s hard to know what goes through the head of someone who’s about to travel 200 km on skis....

Bob de Jong is an Olympic champion. He’s also the oldest skater in modern times to win an Olympic medal. Last winter he went for a couple of runs up in Swedish Lapland. Dutchman Bob Johannes Carolus ...

Last year, in February, three of the world’s greatest freeskiers, Reine Barkered, Aurelien Ducroz and Jackie Paaso, went to Björkliden to see the northern lights and do some skiing. I called up Reine ...

Treehotel welcomes their first guests to the seventh and latest room among the tree tops. What begun with a viewing of a film about a small tree house, has now become one of the coolest hotels in the ...

Our home, Swedish Lapland, has been formed by the Ice Age, the seasons and the reindeer. And we, too, have lived our lives in the shadow of the forces of nature. At Nutti Sámi Siida in Jukkasjärvi a r...

The Dutch filmmaker Marco Lubbers had a dream: To go speedskating under the northern lights. And he also wanted to make a film about it. For that, he travelled to Swedish Lapland. Marco Lubbers is a f...

As far away as you can get from industrial foods, you’ll find Sámi food traditions. Nothing goes to waste. Everything has its own unique flavour. Meet Ingrid Pilto, a Sámi food creator. At home in he...

Sámi design comes in many shapes. Some of Sweden’s coolest designers have taken the Sámi expression further – to put some excitement into everyday life. ...

Galileo Galilei gave the northern lights their Latin name Aurora Borealis. A fitting description, to say the least. I’m travelling through inland Lapland, on my way home from a meeting in Arvidsjaur, ...

One of nature’s most beautiful displays takes place during a couple of weeks every summer. A mayfly called Ephemera vulgata hatches and every single fish in the lake go crazy when presented with such ...

What happens when a father and son decide to spend a couple of days in the Gulf of Bothnia archipelago? Well, first you have to promise that there will be mobile phone coverage and then keep your fing...

The Sámi call it Badjelánnda – the Higher Land. It’s part of Laponia and a favourite location for those who want to be on their own for a bit. In the beginning of autumn our co-worker Håkan Stenlund s...

In Sámi it’s called Geargevággi, which translates to Stone Valley in English. But in real life, it might as well be a fairytale. — What the —-, have you seen anything cooler than this, Zach? The Ameri...

Dog sledding through vast expanses of white is in many ways synonymous with a winter adventure in Swedish Lapland. Håkan Stenlund took a tour with the company Erlebnis Wildnis in the Vindelfjällen Nat...

Equipped with a reindeer skin and an ice drill, an ice fishing rod and maggots, our friend Håkan Stenlund welcome spring on the ice around Saltoluokta. Winter fishing has never been more enjoyable. On...

The Arctic climate calls for certain innovations to master the art of ice fishing. To close a door on the cold, be comfortable and catch a fish you sometimes need a whole house. But inside the house t...

Snow is something more than frozen water to the Sami people. It’s a way of expressing the foundation of their existence – the migration of the reindeer. To a skier, snow is also more than snow. It’s t...

When the rest of Sweden prepare for spring, Björkliden and Riksgränsen open for the winter season. Håkan Stenlund goes north, to the playground of the fanatics. “Thank you for this weekend”. “Thank yo...

The train from Kiruna, via Abisko, Björkliden, Låktatjåkko, to Riksgränsen isn’t just a beautiful journey. If it’s done right it can also be a culinary hit. Small portions are for armchair people. At ...

Patrik Strömsten, perhaps the best sommelier in Sweden, lives highest up and furthest away in Sweden. He loves skiing and life. Maybe that’s why he’s got such a keen nose for wine. — Might I tempt you...

During winter 2016 Jokkmokk winter market were held for the 411th year running. Apart from world-class Sami art, culture and handicraft, visitors are normally greeted by proper, cold winter weather. O...

One thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight metres above sea level is where you find Sweden’s highest mountain station: Låktatjåkko. It takes you a couple of hours to walk there from Björkliden and hal...

Outside Båtskärsnäs, in Kalix Municipality, you’ll find Frevisören. A campsite with 40 cabins and a couple of hundred caravan pitches. But above all: as much sea and nature as you could possibly want....