【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes
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Kiruna
north of sweden
—NEW WINTER LIFE—
Preface

This article will give some personal travel suggestions for a trip to Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, to chase the Aurora based on a family of four with two children. I hope this will be helpful to friends who are planning or planning to go to Northern Europe to chase the Aurora.

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

 

north of sweden
Kiruna

Reading a long article may take more than 20 minutes. If you have not yet planned to go to Kiruna to start an aurora trip (due to the epidemic, it is estimated that few people will come to Sweden 😅😅😅), it is recommended to collect it in the future when your friends have time to chase the aurora, it may save you a lot of time!

 

write at the front

 

For this trip, the author's family arrived at Kiruna (the northernmost city in Sweden with an airport) via the points redemption flight of SAS Airlines from GOT-STO-KRN. The total mileage cost is 30,000 plus taxes and fees of 2,200 SEK. With the Swedish credit card, the Go cabin booked was automatically upgraded to the Plus cabin, so you can use the SAS Lounge (lounge) in Gothenburg and Stockholm and check in 2 pieces of luggage, which reduces a lot of fatigue during the transfer. The trip saved us more than 12,000krona in airfare. If you are interested in how to earn 30,000 airline miles, you can follow this article and search for the article <[Sweden] and don’t miss it! ! ! SAS gives you a free domestic trip every year > Learn how to earn a free domestic trip from SAS every year

 

 

01
car rental

 

 

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

 

If you have a driver's license (Chinese driver's license translation certification can be used directly in Sweden for one year), rent a four-wheel drive car. This saves a lot of time and energy on commuting. Kiruna It is very difficult to take a taxi in popular attractions, such as Icehotel. Renting a car is definitely the best thing to do! ! !
Many friends may be worried about renting a car because they have no experience driving on ice. What I want to tell you is that first of all, if possible, try to choose a four-wheel drive car, so that the car's anti-skid performance will be much better; secondly, local car rentals are all taxis. Studded tires are those with anti-skid studs on the wheels. Under normal circumstances, there will not be too much slipping, so friends can rest assured.

Amex Platinum upgraded Sixt Group C class car

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

The Sixt car we rented for this trip was upgraded to the group A car we rented with the Swedish Amex Platinum credit card Sitx Arrivedgroup C. At the same time, Platinum comes with car rental insurance that covers all additional insurances. In addition, through the SAS partner program, Sixt car rentals receive an additional 500 SAS airline mileage points. If you are interested in Amex Platinum credit card, remember to follow this article and search for Amex Platinum to get more information about this credit card. If you are interested in the SAS partner plan, you can search for SAS everyday in the article to learn more about the SAS partner plan

 

02
stay

 

 

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

 

Currently, there are not many slightly better hotels to choose from in Kiruna. I only paid attention to Scandic Ferrum and Camp Rapin, which are located in Kiruna city area. , and the Icehotel in the suburb of Kiruna. Each of these three hotels has its own characteristics, and friends can also book according to their own needs. Here is a brief summary:
Scandic Ferrum (Recommendation Index: ⭐⭐⭐)
Disadvantages: The facilities are relatively old and there are fewer types of breakfast. The front desk service level is very average.
For friends in Sweden, especially those who want to earn hotel points or SAS points when staying in a hotel, need to note : Although it can accumulate SAS airline points (500 per night for normal stays) SAS airline miles), but if you book a room at a hotel in this group during the discount period, no points and valid room nights will be accumulated , and other expenses such as hotel dining/meeting rooms will be charged if the room is booked. Fees do not even accumulate basic points. I have never seen such a weird membership points rule, so the price-performance ratio for this hotel is indeed very low. The author himself did not accumulate any points during this stay (booking on the Xmax official website during the promotion period), even if the normal consumption of hotel restaurant meals is added to the room, points will not be given. If you book a room in this hotel during the discount period, the best thing to do is not to eat in the room, but pay directly by showing your membership number
Advantages: It is located in the center of the city, just downstairs is
Kiruna center and tourist center, within walking distance to Kiruna the famous church. Currently Kiruna is the only hotel with a gym (unexpectedly it is not open during the epidemic
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes), I booked this hotel because of this;
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Scandic Ferrum's location

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Scandic FerrumHotel exterior

Camp Rapin (Recommended index: ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Disadvantages: Although it is also in Kiruna city, it is not within walking distance of Kiruna Center. I believe some friends think that from google map it seems that the hotel is not too far from the city. But if you come here in winter, considering the heavy snowfall and the temperature of about minus 20°, it will still be a challenge to walk to the center or the scenic church. When I was staying at ScandicFerrum, I went to Stejk Street Food (I will introduce this restaurant in a moment) and walked there once. Later, I chose to drive over this distance. You should know that the best distance to walk in a place like this is within sight distance😂😂😂
Advantages: independent rooms (called
radhus in Sweden, townhouses ), backed by the city's famous hiking and cross ski hillsides Midnattssolstigen. You can hike just outside the house. There are several hillsides. In winter, children can play here all day on a ski. There are free skateboards at the door of the hotel that you can borrow for free. The hotel has a swimming pool and an open-air SPA ( paid ) . If the aurora is strong enough, you can soak in the SPA to watch the aurora.

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Camp Rapin location

Icehotel (recommendation index: ⭐⭐)

Disadvantages: Not in the city, not in the city, not in the city (important things are repeated three times!!! You can see its distance from Kiruna in the picture below), the hotel is located in KirunaBeside the river in the suburbs, you can go anywhere by car taxi, so friends who want to choose this hotel need to be mentally prepared. In addition, because the hotel is out of the way, there are fewer restaurants to choose from and they are more expensive, so friends need to be mentally prepared.
Advantages:
Icehotel is its own business card. Since 1989, the hotel has invited ice sculpture artists from all over the world to carve art-level ice sculptures for some of the hotel's igloo rooms every winter. This is also rare. A different kind of experience (Picture 5Icehotel #31 means that this year happens to be the 31st year). The hotel is divided into two types of rooms: 1. The real icehotel is a room completely made of ice (this type of room is only available from October to February of the next year, and will be built again the next year after the snow melts. The price for one night is 4,000+ kroner😱😱😱, and it is very cold (the temperature in the room is about minus 5°😱😱😱); 2. Ordinary rooms are almost the same as normal hotel rooms, and they are not very attractive.
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Icehotel location

Overview of the hotel’s appearance (31 has special meaning😜)

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Room overview

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Airbnb:In addition, many friends come to Kiruna probably just to chase the aurora. And Abisko (about 100km northwest of Kiruna) was selected by National Geographic as the best northern lights observation point in the world (interested friends can directly search "Abisko Aurora Sky Station"), so many friends chose to go to Abisko directly after getting off the plane. And Abisko mostly has homestays, so Airbnb may be the best choice for Abisko. In addition, there is only one small supermarket in Abisko, and restaurants are basically closed on holidays. So be sure to buy enough rations in the supermarket and test your friends’ cooking skills😭😭😭

List of city attractions:

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

cathedral exterior 1

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

cathedral exterior 2

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Camp RapinHoushan Park

03
FOOD

 

 

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

 

Kiruna is a small city and there are not many restaurants to choose from. There are even fewer mid-to-high-end restaurants. The two relatively good restaurants are the self-operated restaurant of Camp Rapin and the self-operated restaurant of Icehotel. I personally feel that the experience of these two restaurants is not that cost-effective. On the contrary, some fast food and affordable restaurants have a better experience.

Icehotel(Recommendation Index:⭐⭐)

The Ice Menu (5 courses) provided, except for the second course which is of a certain standard, the other dishes are mediocre in appearance. As for the main course Moose filet there was a lot of fascia in the middle of the meat that had not been processed well ( I felt it should be sous vide not enough time ) Very lose points. Perhaps due to COVID-19, the service level and enthusiasm of the waiters were also very limited. After the middle two dishes were served, they left without even a basic introduction. On the contrary, the pizza of the children's set meal is quite good, and the cheese portion is sufficient, and the thickness of the crust and baking time are adjusted to the best, which leaves a good impression.

Impressive second course

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Underwhelming main course

Camp Rapin (Recommended index: ⭐⭐⭐)

The food can only be regarded as a regular meal, without too many special features.

Stejk Street Food(Recommended index:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

On the first day I arrived at the hotel, I originally wanted to find a restaurant that was closer and had a higher rating (I found it on google, but I didn’t have much hope. After all google Most of the reviews given by Westerners may not be in line with our taste) , but what I didn’t expect was that I actually ate at this hotel during my short 7 day trip 3 times (and on the last day, they were closed for the holidays, otherwise I would have eaten again). The elk and reindeer meat hot dogs they offer are definitely worth trying. The smoky flavor goes really well with the venison. In addition, if possible, please dine in his tent only. Due to the heat, if you choose hot dog buns as your staple food, the bread will become very soft when you take it back to the hotel due to water absorption and lose the crispness you just learned.

 

Stejk's location

 

【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel NotesA very good restaurant, dining in this tent【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Empes (recommended index: ⭐⭐⭐)

A unique drive-in fast food restaurant, similar to the origin of Burger king. They mainly focus on making grill burger. However, Kiruna are of shamanic origin, so they use a large amount of venison, including reindeer and elk. So this burger joint also offers burgers made with elk meat. But their Special menu’s sauce is rather strange, and I don’t know why they put mashed potatoes in the burger as sauce

Empes's location
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

Arctic Thai &Grill ( recommendation index: ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

A decent Thai restaurant, menu There are many set meals to choose from. The price/performance ratio is relatively high, and it’s a good choice if you’re tired of Western-style meals and want to change your taste. The restaurant also provides salad bar and cookie bar with different vegetable and dessert options. Because the biggest headache when traveling is insufficient vegetable intake, I chose this restaurant and ordered a meal that tasted pretty good. But what’s more important is the fruits and vegetables provided by salad bar

Arctic Thai location
【North of Sweden】Kiruna Travel Notes

 

 

This is the first article shared here. Next, I will share some activities that should not be missed in Kiruna and activities that should be avoided as much as possible.

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