Luleå

The city of Luleå, on Sweden’s northern Baltic coast, is now home to 45,000 people and is one of the most important cities in all of northern Sweden. First mentioned in the 14th century, Luleå developed into a trading center. In the 17th century, land uplift forced the town to be relocated closer to the coast. After a fire in 1887 destroyed almost the entire city, Luleå was rebuilt and soon became Sweden’s most important ore harbor, linked by rail to the mining town of Kiruna and the SSAB steelworks. Luleå is also Sweden’s northernmost university city and a bishop’s seat, with its cathedral rebuilt in 1893. The original old town, “Gammelstad,” the site of the first settlement, is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Luleå has a special appeal for visitors in every season. The archipelago on its doorstep, with its many holiday homes, invites visitors in summer not only to take extended boat trips but even to swim—just 110 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, though the water stays well below 20 degrees Celsius. The many forms of water sports dominate the summer calendar in the archipelago. Kayaking, fishing, sailing, or taking a passenger boat to one of the more than 750 islands are popular summer activities. A marked archipelago trail allows hikers without their own transport to make a longer journey through the solitude of the island world, using boats or pre-booked crossings. Ongoing land uplift will raise the land around Luleå by a full meter over the next 100 years. The character of this archipelago—the only brackish-water archipelago in the world—has also created a landscape of rocky outcrops, sand dunes, and moraine areas.

Winter, too, offers visitors a varied program of activities. Long-distance ice skating, ice sailing, kite surfing, and dog-sled rides on the ice are unforgettable experiences. Ice fishing, sauna sessions beside an ice hole, ice hunting, or simply taking in the dramatic sight of pack ice are other unique activities Luleå offers during the cold season. In winter, some ice roads are also open to motor vehicles. Luleå and its surroundings combine the allure of the north with the diversity of the Baltic coast, making the area an underexplored holiday destination for nature lovers.