The trip was ready to begin, and the goal for the first driving day was to reach Sweden. We set off from our home in Southern Finland and sped through Finland without major stops. The destination was Tornio, from where we would cross the border into Haparanda and then drive as far as we could.
In the evening, we arrived in Tornio, where we stocked up on food supplies. On the Haparanda side, we visited the “most important” attraction, Candy World, to pick up some travel treats. Candy World is a massive candy store with something for every taste, and the extensive selection of loose candies made our mouths water as soon as we stepped inside ๐ . We ended up with about 1.5 kilos of snacks, enough to keep our sugar levels up for a long time.
We continued our journey from Candy World in Haparanda. The weather was miserable with heavy rain, so we didnโt bother to look for any sights along the way and just drove straight ahead. As evening turned into night, we started looking for potential places to spend the night.
In Swedish Lapland, there were rest areas at regular intervals with clean water toilets, spacious parking areas, and overnight stays were allowed. Eventually, we found the Stenbron rastplats rest area where we decided to stay for the night. It was well-located at the intersection where the E10 road heads towards Kiruna and Norway. The area was wooded, by a river with an old bridge, a very nice and beautiful stopping place. There were several other overnight visitors, but we found a spot for our car where we could sleep peacefully. There were also clean water toilets here.
In the morning, it was lovely to wake up here, and the first night in our “brand new” bed gave us a good sleep, and we found it very comfortable. We made breakfast at the picnic tables available at the rest area. We enjoyed breakfast at our leisure and took in the scenery before continuing our journey. The plan was to drive leisurely through Sweden and see what the trip had to offer.
The landscapes at this point in Sweden are very similar to Finland: flat and forested. Occasionally, reindeer would trot along the road, just like on the Finnish side of Lapland. It really added to the northern ambiance ๐. We stopped for a lunch break by the shore of Soutojรคrvi, finding it an ideal and beautiful spot by the lake. The weather was much better than the previous day, with the sun shining brightly, making it a perfect place to cook and spend some time.
Next, we stopped in Kiruna. There wasnโt much that interested us here, so we drove around the town for a bit and visited the Kiruna Church.
Trivia: In Kiruna municipality, somewhat off the beaten path, is the Esrange Space Center, from which rockets have been launched into space.
The scenery around Kiruna starts to change, becoming more tundra-like and then more mountainous, even though they arenโt officially mountains. The landscapes are stunning, especially from Tornetrรคsk onwards, with beautiful tundra and lake views. You wouldnโt believe youโre in Sweden!
For the night, we stayed in a wild camping spot near Abisko, along with a few other cars. The next day, we planned to explore the Abisko area, visit the Abisko National Park canyon, and a nearby waterfall! More on that in the next post.
