Visiting Sweden 1st time

[1stTimesweden]

Good afternoon friends

We are experienced hikers visiting and backpacking (with tent) Sweden 13 September for the 1st time so your experienced contributions are invited please.

We are visiting for 4 days 3 nights. After reading many of your posts I have narrowed it down to the following as we are using public transport.

The Sormlandsleden Trail:

Stages 32 to 27 (stavsjö to katrineholm)
- Flixbus to Nykoping & Malartag Nykoping to Kolmarden
Best place for trangia fuel supply & food please?
Are there shelters with fires & wood en route?

or Alternatively

Stages 11-15 Järna to Lägessta
Martag train to Jârna
Best place for trangia fuel supply & food please?
Are there shelters with fires & wood en route?

or Alternatively

Tystberga area?

If you think there is a better example to show international visitors within 2.5 hours commute of Arlanda airport I will listen to your experience.


Many thanks from Nr The Lake District, Cumbria UK

 

[HasseQ]

Take the airport train / bus into Stockholm. For example Naturkompaniet have stores in the city, and fuel and campingstuff & equipment.

Sörmlandsleden is a good choice. Läggesta to Mölnbo or Järna !

 

[1stTimesweden]

If anybody else has anything to add - this will be nice.

I have tried to find information before asking all of you.


Thank you

 

[smux]

Are your plans to hike for 4 days/3 nights or is that your total time in Sweden?

 

[1stTimesweden]

Are your plans to hike for 4 days/3 nights or is that your total time in Sweden?

Yes a short visit Smux - 4 days and 3 nights - it was a very cheap flight (only 430ske)

If everything goes well, then I will visit more places in Sweden and other parts of Scandanavia
- the North looks very appealing.

It has been a very wet and windy Summer here in the UK (north) - so I am hoping the weather improves in the next 2 weeks.

 

[salgo601]

Here you have Sörmlandsleden 11 12 13 14 15(part of) that we did 2013

From Marifred we took a steamship to Stockholm M/S Mariefred - looks it has stopped running for the season

If you are a member of https://www.sormlandsleden.se/ you can get detailed maps
* etapp-11
* etapp-12
* .....

--> map with shelter and water

They also have info about public transportation on the page

* youtube is also a good source example Sörmlandsleden section 11. From Järna to Vattgruvan.
* more videos from the same person about Sörmlandsleden

 

[smux]

It's not a lot of time you have at your disposal for a hike, given that you are in Sweden just for 4 days and need two days to commute back and forward between the Airport and your planned hike start/stop. That gives you two full days left for the hike, so my advise is to plan for this an make the transports as efficient as possible not to loose any time.

From Arlanda I recommend that you take the Airport bus which is most cost efficient to Stockholm City Terminal (which is just almost door to door with the central train station). There are also Arlanda Express train which is expensive and a commuter train possibility (which will add an entrance fee to Arlanda to your cost, so the Airport bus is my recommendation)

https://www.flygbussarna.se/en/?gad_source=1

For fuel to your stow which you can't bring on the flight, there are possibilities depending on if you use the old spirit burner or the more modern gas burner GB-74 which uses gas cannisters. If you use the spirit burner, the fuel is called T-röd:

Rengöringsmedel Kemetyl T-röd, 1 liter | Clas Ohlson

www.clasohlson.com

if you use the gas burner, there are multiple options to find gas cannisters but a 230g will manage the time you are here. I'm linking to Clas Ohlson which is a store chain that has a store close to the central station to save you time:

Primus Powergas gasbehållare | Clas Ohlson

www.clasohlson.com

Also stores like Naturkompaniet, Intersport, Stadium, XXL, hardware stores and some well assorted gas stations will have fuel for your stow. Clas Ohlson store at Stockholm Hamngatan and Stockholm Gallerian are at easy walking distance from the city terminal and central station.

Hitta butik | Clas Ohlson

www.clasohlson.com

Also Naturkompaniet has a store on Kungsgatan which is close:

Hitta till din butik | Naturkompaniet®

www.naturkompaniet.se

From a hike perspective, I would recommend some of the parts of Sörmlandsleden that you easily can reach by train, and smaller villages/cities where you don't need to spend hours just walking thorough the streets to reach the trail. I'm not familiar with all of the trail and in particular the parts closest to Stockholm. One tip could be to select the sections between Hälleforsnäs and Flen, or if you prefer a longer distance Hälleforsnäs and Katrineholm. All of these start/stop points can be easily reached by train which you can book here (covers both SJ and Mälartåg):

SJ

SJ

www.sj.se

Finally, I hope you will enjoy your visit even if it's short. The summer hasn't been great here either, we use to say that we get recycled British weather up here in Scandinavia. For nights, don't trust shelters or wood, bring your tent which you can pitch freely in suitable places along the trail (leave the camp site as you found it, you are not allowed to cut trees or branches for wood and bring your litter with you to a waste bin). I would also recommend that you bring dried freeze food portions with you to cover for the hike to save you time here. No problems to carry such in your luggage on the flight.
Expect similar temperatures as in Scotland here, and in that area mid September frost during the night isn't unusual.

 

[vbot]

A lot of good points above. The Järna-Läggesta trail is quite an appropriate one for that stretch with a good mix of views (including a tower) and a lot of lakes. The maps you can find on the Sörmlandsleden site also shows you where there are springs for drinking water. On that stretch, filtering water from the lakes is also a good option and one I've done myself. There are lovely tent spots along the route, but don't trust there to be a lot of wood in the storage bins - they've cut back on that. There are occasional shelters, but you'll be more flexible with a tent or tarp. Hammock + tarp is also an option, since you have forest all the way.

As for the food point, I will amend what above poster has said about bringing your own food from the UK, since there are restrictions with you being outside the EU. But if you come by the central station in Stockholm, it's quick to nip into the nearest XXL, Alewalds or Naturkompaniet to get some trail food.

 

[1stTimesweden]

Just what I was after good people -

Thank you: @smux, @salgo601,vbot,HasseQ