Things to do
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Abisko National Park
Birch forest, a deep glacial lake and the U shaped gap of Lapporten make up a park about ninety minutes west of Kiruna by train. A rain shadow keeps its skies clearer than most of the region, which is why aurora watchers base themselves here from autumn onwards. The Kungsleden trail starts at the mountain station, and the summer hiking window is brief.
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Aurora Sky Station
A chairlift climbs Mount Nuolja above Abisko to a small building at around nine hundred metres, run for aurora viewing through the dark months. Visits are booked in advance and include thermal overalls for the ride up, which is exposed and slow. Clear nights are common here, though nothing is promised, and a restaurant sitting works for a longer stay.
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Icehotel
Rebuilt each winter from ice cut out of the Torne River at Jukkasjärvi, the original of the world's ice hotels opens in December and melts back into the water in spring. Art suites are carved by invited sculptors, and a year round section keeps cold rooms going through summer. Warm sleeping bags and reindeer hides handle the night, while a heated building holds the showers.
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Kebnekaise
Sweden's highest mountain rises from the Tarfala valley, its south peak capped by a glacier that has been shrinking enough for the north peak to take the title in warm summers. The usual route starts at Nikkaluokta, with a nineteen kilometre approach to the mountain station before the climb itself. Guides handle the harder eastern line, and weather turns fast above the treeline.
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Kiruna Church
Painted falu red and shaped like a Sami lavvu, this timber church was a gift from the mining company and opened in 1912. Its altarpiece is by Prince Eugen and the gilded portal figures by Christian Eriksson. The whole structure was hauled east in 2025 as the town relocates, a slow move that drew watchers along the route.
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Kungsleden
Roughly four hundred and forty kilometres of marked trail run from Abisko south to Hemavan, through birch forest, high moor and a string of mountain huts a day's walk apart. Most walkers take the northern week to Nikkaluokta. Huts open in summer and again for the spring ski season, and boats or rowing skiffs cover several lake crossings.