after travelling to Yellowstone and Colorado back in 2018, I hadn't done any big trip outside France. One in the French and Italian Alps in 2019, then another one in the French Alps in 2020 due to covid restrictions. This year, we had the opportunity to travel properly again. I could see some friends from Sweden, and so I decided to add a solo trip to the Lofoten Islands and Lappland prior to that. The itinerary would start in Luleå, via Stockholm. Then I would rent a car, see a bit of Sweden, spend about 2 weeks in the Lofoten islands, and back to Luleå. This was in September.
The first part of the journey wasn't easy : Scandinavian Airlines was a nightmare. My initial flightplan was Paris-Goteborg-Luleå. They first changed Goteborg for Stockholm, and then the day before canceled it at 10 PM... They added a layover to Copenhagen instead. Then my third flight to Luleå from Stockholm was canceled : upon boarding the plane, they couldn't shut the doors. This meant I landed in Luleå at 11 PM, luckily the hotel I was staying at was open late. But the rest of the trip would be pretty smooth.
The first real travelling part would bring me to Jokkmokk, a small town with everything you need, nearby some national parks. Something to be said for Sweden and Norway compared to my last trip in 2015 : there's now 4G absolutely everywhere, even on the most remote of roads (this is Lappland). The only way you can escape it is by hiking deep. So navigation is super easy. September in Lappland means it's already Autumn : yellowing leaves (which would be fully orange by the end of the trip), cool when not freezing temperatures in the morning. It also means very few tourists. Since there are lakes everywhere, I first went for a bit of photography.
My first real hike would be in Muddus National Park towards big waterfalls. Hiking in Swedish forests is very relaxing, but you seldom get good views, not until the waterfalls themselves. The real views would be for the next day, near Kvikkjokk and the mountains of Sarek National Park, some of the biggest mountains in Sweden (1900-2100 m). Since I had to cope with the rain (this region is very wet), I only went for a short half day hike. But it was still gorgeous. 360° views, and real arctic landscape. The silence was deafening, there aren't many animals up there.
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