Stockholm 21-23/07/26

Tourist stuff.

I had a sandwich of two bright sunny days with a wet one as filling between them.

New buildings

And old

The train arrived at Stockholm Central exactly on time but we didn't have to vacate until 06.15, time for breakfast in the dining car and a chat with the driver who was waiting to move the train to the cleaning area before going off duty.

Coffee shop

I walked to the hotel, which was about an hour and a half away, to leave my rucksack before returning to the centre on a commuter train.

Traditional boatbuilding 

Nice view when drinking coffee 

The public transport system is excellent. Trains, commuter trains, metro, trams, buses and ferries all accessed with a single 3 day pass that only cost about £25.

King Eric the something surveying a museum entrance 

At the waterfront 

The centre of the city was very busy but it is the height of the tourist season so only to be expected.

Commuter line sttion

Seagull feeling important on a statue outside Central Station 

It is a big city with a prosperous feel with it's wide streets and many shops and cafes. I was staying in what I can only describe as a business suburb with lots of new office buildings but even here it is as clean and tidy as the tourist spots.

Old bits between the new

Wide streets and trams

I wandered through the streets looking at architecture, shops, etc. until I reached the waterfront, not difficult here as Stockholm is built with waterways all round and through it.

Lots of open spaces

Metro station painted like a dungeon 

The waterfront is amazing, there are boats old and new of all types, shapes and sizes. It was even good when it was pouring with rain.

A passing squirrel 

The hotel area

The Vasa museum was excellent but very popular, I went early in the morning which seems to avoid some of the queues and congestion.

The Vasa

An unfortunate sailor from the Vasa

The ship and the conservation efforts are incredible but how on earth they thought that such an obviously unseaworthy vessel would survive is unbelievable.

The Vasa

Model of one of the Salme ships

Another museum, Stockholm is full of them, had an exhibition called "Vikings before the Vikings" which was about the Salme ship burials in Estonia. All fascinating stuff.

Stockholm waterfront 

I took a couple of ferry trips rather than pay extra for a tourist boat which was good way to explore the area.

One of the many ferries

Prices are high but not ridiculous and the shrimp sandwiches delicious.

Sailing in

It is the Baltic sea here but there are almost no tides and the water is only brackish which is why the timber wrecks can survive as there are no shipworms.

From the ferry

Lots of things to do and see, it wouldn't be difficult to spend at least a week here and there would still be plenty more to experience.

Coming back to the centre of Stockholm 

The new EU passport control measures held things up a bit but the airport was otherwise easy to negotiate with plenty of shops to waste money in.

Going home

The plane left on time and arrived half an hour early but things got back to normal on arrival.

Typical British Rail

Kungsleden 20/07/26

Day 20. Syterskalet to Hemavan (finish)

It was a grey cold morning when I packed up for the last time on the Kungsleden for a relatively short days walk.

Looking back to the misty hills

Just down the valley and a climb over to the top of the cable car that comes up from Hemavan.

A final farewell 

It was a good walk with lovely views again with the bigger hills behind covered by cloud. I was sorry to be leaving these beautiful hills behind and thought that a Canadian girl that I met near the beginning maybe had the right idea.

The cable car top station

Her plan was to walk the trail from Abisco to Hemavan then turn around and walk back to Abisco, I did think about it.

Down to Hemavan 

The walk down through the woods to the visitor centre and official start/finish of the Kungsleden was through various bits of ski parafinalia that you only see on bare hillsides in Scotland.

Ski tow in the woods 

I had lunch in a restaurant above the supermarket and considered my travel options.

The end 

There was an expensive flight tomorrow or a cheaper but considerably slower route by bus and train to Stockholm where I am planning to spend a few days seeing the sights.

Waiting for the bus 

I decided on the bus/train option. Seven hours on the bus to Östersund then a sleeper train Stockholm which arrives at the ungodly time of 05.05.

More lakes and trees seen from the bus

The sleeper train arrives to whisk me away to Stockholm 

I also booked two nights in central Stockholm and one at the airport before flying to London the next day so I will have plenty of time to explore.

The walk was only a very small part of Sweden 

Total distance walked 414km.

Total ascent 8265m.

Kungsleden 19/07/26

Day 19. Tärnasjö to Syterskalet.

There was a brisk wind and rain showers over the hills as I left the cabin to walk beside by the lake.

Wood crane's-bill

The showers didn't cross the lake so I stayed dry but saw some nice misty rainbows.

Rain showers on the other side

The path crosses the lake through an archipelago of islands via several new bridges(2023) which have replaced the old very wobbly boardwalks.

Nearing the lake crossing 

A climb up and over to the next Fjällstuga which was a good shelter from the wind for my lunch stop.

One of the bridges between the islands

The archipelago 

There was a good bridge across the river below the cabin, actually the last one on the trail, before the start of another long climb up and over the next ridge.

The route goes between the distant hills

Last bridge of the trail 

The gap between two hills in the distance marked the start of a huge U shaped valley and some spectacular scenery.

Dramatic gap between the hills

There was a very strong, cold wind blowing up the valley and I stopped behind the conveniently placed emergency shelter to put on some extra layers.

The windy pass

The steady descent between the two hills was amazing, an almost flat valley floor with almost vertical snow splotched cliffs on either side. Glencoe on steroids.

Steep rocky sides

The wind eased as I descended and at a turning point in the valley there were several camping spots near the Fjällstuga.

Viterskalsstugan

I was told that a herd of reindeer had passed through the valley yesterday, just my luck as about the biggest animal I've seen this trip, apart from a few birds, is a frog.

27k walked 

400m ascent 

Kungsleden 18/07/26

Day 18. Aigertstugan to Tärnasjö.

It was a cold morning with quite a strong wind but sunny, very good walking conditions.

Leaving the Fjällstuga 

It was a long steady climb which steepened to the 1000+ meter pass between two hills. 

Looking back

The views were superb and although it was cold enough to wear gloves I still managed to sit on a rock for a while enjoying the surroundings.

Huge open plateau 

Once I reached the top there was about 4k of rocky and barren landscape with various lakes and knolls, really beautiful but decidedly chilly.

A bit rocky

There is an emergency shelter just before the path sweeps down, across a river and then ascends to another shelter.

Very rocky

Rocky with lakes

Emergency shelter and toilet

The path through the dip

The path continued it's climb to a pass and then descended to the birch forest and the Servvejuhka River which is crossed by another wooden bridge.

And over the next ridge

There is a Fjällstuga not far from the bridge that I had though of stopping at but I was enjoying the walk and didn't want to stop.

Over the bridge 

The path climbs steeply away from the cabin before easing towards the top.

To more lakes

There is a long easy descent to a bridge where my guide book said "the camping is very good"

Over the top again

I'm not sure what the author's definition of very good is but all I found were a few rocky bits amongst acres of dwarf birch. The wind didn't help either.

Descending towards the bridge

I was enjoying the walk and conditions so I looked at the time and the distance to the next cabin and decided to keep walking.

Descent to the Lakeshore 

A long up and down section then through the trees and past several lakes before getting into thicker woods for the final descent to Tärnasjö

View from Tärnasjö

A long but very enjoyable day with a comfortable walking temperature and hardly any insects.

Climbing up the first hill of the day 

33k walked

900m ascent