It’s wintertime in Sweden! Last weekend I went on a trip to Falun, which lies about three hours by train up north from Stockholm. I have been planning to escape into the winter wonderland for a long time now. Since last winter, there wasn’t too much snow, especially not around Stockholm, I had to move my plans. But this year, we have been blessed with snow for some weeks now – so I took the chance and went up north.
Trying out cross-country skiing for the first time
When I was little, I went on some weekend ski trips with my family and I enjoyed the days in the cold nature very much. But for many many years, I didn’t find the time (or the snow :D) to go on another ski trip. I wanted to change this, as the Swedish winter offers the best possibilities for winter sports! In Falun, I tried out cross-country skiing for the first time. If you have your own skis or want to get into the skiing business frequently, you’re probably off best if you buy your own skis. Many people sell their skis online and they’re most of the time in a good condition! But if you just want to try it out, like I did, I recommend you to check out the renting possibilities of the place where you plan your ski trip to. I found a place to rent skis in Falun, and everything worked very smoothly. For the first day, I chose to go skiing in the Lugnet stadium in Falun where just one week earlier the cross-country ski world cup took place.
Choose your route wisely
As you can imagine, if the world cup took place in this stadium, the routes for skiing were quite hard. I had chosen the shortest round (3km), but it was still very hilly, and I had to pause or take off the skis multiple times. If you’re completely new to skiing and don’t want to take a course or similar, I would advise you to choose your route wisely and search for flat tracks. On the second day of skiing, I decided to take a longer walk to a lake where the tracks were shorter (2km) but also not as hilly as in the stadium. This was way more fun, and I enjoyed the time on the skis!
Winter wonderland Falun
Falun is known for the Falun Mine (Falu Gruva) which I visited back in summer. 70 percent of the world’s copper was once produced in this mine. Nowadays, the place is a World Heritage site. So far, I have only connected Falun with this astonishing mine, but this winter weekend has shown me completely new sites of the city. On the last day of the weekend, I decided to explore the Lugnet naturreservat in Falun by foot. There are some tracks online and I chose to do a loop of around 12km. Even though Germany also gets snow during winter times, I haven’t seen this much snow in years! It was incredibly beautiful to walk through this winter wonderland and see the nature covered in snow.
Sweden has a lot to offer regarding winter sports! I definitely recommend trying it out when you’re here in winter. But even if you’re looking for winter hikes, there is a lot of nature to explore!
Enjoy the snow!
// Maria