Swedish Language Blog

A week ago the season started at one of my favorite tourist attractions in Sweden. And I hear you groan… If it’s one of Anna’s favorite attractions it must be somewhere up north. Ridiculously up north. Hard to get to. Rather obscure. Infested with mosquitoes. Filled with blueberries. And surrounded by wild nature. Yep. You’re right. On all accounts, except for the “ridiculously up north” bit. The place I’m going to tell you about today is moderately up north by Swedish standards. It’s practically southern Lappland. And that’s practically central Sweden if you squint at the map at just the right angle.

And the attraction I’m talking about? Världens Längsta Linbana (the world’s longest ropeway) in Norsjö. Well, technically it’s between Örträsk and Mensträsk, but since nobody’s ever heard about those places, we’ll stick with Norsjö – much easier to find on the map.

What’s the longest ropeway in the world doing in the woods, you might ask? Hmmm… It’s a long story.

It started with a mine (gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead) in Kristineberg. Back in the olden days, the ore had been transported to Boliden by road – about 100 kilometers (or 10 Swedish miles). But then WW2 happened and with it came severe shortages of fuel and rubber. In other words, road transport became pretty much impossible. But the world still needed that ore. And even more so than before. The problem of how to transport it to the coast was solved in a rather ingenious way.

“Hey, let’s build a ropeway,” someone said. And the rest is history.

And boy, did they build a ropeway, or what? 96 kilometers of it. Through the woods and over the lakes. It took 1500 men two years to finish it.

So how did they transport that ore using a ropeway? They simply loaded it into buckets and moved those buckets on a cable. Kind of like that:

These days 13 kilometers of this ropeway are used for moving tourists. Not in buckets, of course (but hey, now THAT would be an attraction, don’t you think?), but in comfortable cabins. The trip takes about an hour and a half and you can even order lunch. Or bring your own picnic along. And a camera – don’t forget about the camera!

And the best part? If you go towards the end of the season, you can see all the best hjortron patches from the air!

Yeah, yeah, nice bucket of hjortron. (Seen from the air).

And here’s the official website of Världens Längsta Linbana with all the relevant info. Enjoy!

Yeah, it seems to be the coldest beginning of summer in Sweden in the last 50 years or so! Brrr… The calendar says one thing, but the weather – another.

Still, summer is summer, and as you’ve probably noticed (or know very well, if you’re Swedish) Swedes tend to believe the calendar more than the weather forecast. Why? The calendar is never wrong. And what about the forecasts? Well, we all know how accurate those can be…

However, we won’t let such a petty thing as weather stop us from enjoying our summer, right? But what can stop us from enjoying our summer are hotel prices in Sweden. Let’s face it, they’re high. Or very high. Even with the lower summer rates, it still can be too expensive for many people and families to go out and explore the country.

One alternative is to stay at a hostel instead.

Don’t worry, it’s not just an option for starving backpackers (though a month of exploring Sweden can turn any foreigner into a starving backpacker) anymore. Many hostels have private rooms, some with private bathrooms, even. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when a hotel ends and a hostel begins, because some full-service hotels turn part of their properties into cheaper hostel options.

If you think that as a family you can’t stay in a hostel, you’re wrong. Hostels (at least those in Sweden that I’m familiar with) know that families like to travel, too. Even families with smallish children. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you see many of the hostels here offering “family rooms”. And accepting pets (hey, some families have pets instead of children).

There are two main organizations in Sweden that run their own hostels. One is SVIF (Sveriges Vandrarhem i Förening – Organization of Swedish Youth Hostels) and the other STF (Svenska Turistföreningen – Swedish Tourist Association)

I like them both, and their hostels are pretty much of the same standard, both in terms of comfort, as well as price. Of course, in big cities you can expect to pay more than what you would in the countryside, that goes without saying. But even with that, hostels are a much more affordable option than full-service hotels.

I think that there are many hostel misconceptions, especially among Americans. But in my experience, those who were reluctant to try a Swedish hostel, but soon realized they couldn’t afford to spend every night in a hotel, very quickly came around to the idea of hostels and saw that this type of accommodation in Sweden can be of high standard, clean, safe and super friendly.

Both SVIF and STF have a list of hostels on their websites. And yes, their websites also have English versions. Which organization’s hostel you choose depends solely on you and on where you want to go. For example, in Västerbotten SVIF has only one facility, but STF – four.
And to that you still need to add a whole slew of independent hostel-type accommodation (not belonging to any association). So, in other words, pretty much anywhere you want to go in Sweden, there will be an affordable place to stay nearby.

No excuses! You CAN see Sweden on a budget. True, that budget may be a bit higher than in other European countries, but what other European country can offer you as much as Sweden, huh?

One thing you need to remember – room prices in Sweden are normally given per person, NOT per room! Keep that in mind, and there won’t be any unpleasant surprises later on.
If you plan to stay at a hostel, be sure to call and book ahead. Every year, seemingly all of Sweden and half of the world come up with exactly the same idea of cheap places to stay. This is doubly true in these tough economic times – there will be even more people competing for those affordable bunk beds, especially in the more popular areas.

What else can we do to travel in Sweden without breaking the bank? If you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to comment.

Today’s word:

• vandrarhem (def. -hemmet, pl. -hem, pl.def. -hemmen) – enkelt ställe där man kan övernatta och laga mat, t.ex. när man är ute och reser – hostel

One of my favorite Swedish magazines is Vagabond. I like to travel and I like to read about travel, be it in Swedish or in English.

Vagabond is Sveriges största resemagasin and is written in a clear, easy-to-understand language (after all, it has to appeal to a wide demographic, because all sorts of people like to travel) and for that reason alone I feel it can serve as a fun aid for Swedish learners. You know how I always tell you to read newspapers in Swedish? Well, newspapers have one fault, especially these days. They’re boring. It’s all economic crisis all the time. I mean, how much of this global recession can you stomach in one sitting anyway?

Travel, on the other hand, is always interesting to read about. You can learn something new about exotic (or not) places, look at pretty pictures and pick up some useful Swedish phrases along the way. And as an added bonus, you get to experience all this from a truly Swedish perspective.

But that’s not all. If you happen to fly from/into Skavsta a lot, Vagabond is given free of charge to Flygbussarna passengers. And we all like things that are gratis, don’t we? But if you’re nowhere near Skavsta, you can still find Vagabond at your local pressbyrån. Or read the mag on-line.

And what do I mean about this Swedish perspective? Hmmm… For example, it features Thailand with the same frequency and tenacity that American travel magazines write about Mexico and the Caribbean. Swedes love Thailand, that’s no secret. For many here that country is the epitome of exotic and a winter trip to the Land of Smiles is what all my friends dream of all year.

But that’s not what piqued my interest in the latest issue. Rather, it was an editorial by Tobias Larsson, Vagabond’s chefredaktör (chief editor). In it, he says that accommodation costs, such as hotels around the world have become somewhat less expensive recently. But not in Sweden.

Well, he doesn’t say it exactly like that, but gives an example instead. What you pay for a night at the Hilton in Prague is only minimally more expensive than a youth hostel in Stockholm, one with a bathroom in the hallway.

Sweden has been traditionally an expensive tourist destination, and now with the global recession in full swing, potential tourists are thinking twice about where to go and how to make their money last. And my anecdotal evidence confirms the fact that they are bypassing Sweden. We can only hope that this trend will reverse before the summer season.

Several Swedish hotel websites already note that they will release their summer rates soon to help you plan and book your summer adventures. But will those rates be low enough to lure those foreigners, who might instead head to other European countries where their cash stretch further? We will soon find out.