There are many things to do around the Kiruna area if you like outdoor activities and wilderness adventures. Many companies offer the same or very similiar packages, here a list of popular and common activities can be found, sorted by season. There is also some other activities available. You should be aware of that pollution of the wilderness (and the city) is not liked, it's even illegal in Sweden to do so. So be sure to not leave trash behind you in the fells etc. It also keeps the enviroment in its best condition.

This section is under construction, as all the other.

All year

• The nearby space-facility Esrange offers guided tours.

• Xero, [7] Zero-gravity flights on an Ilyushin 76MDK, that is used to train cosmonaunts. The experience is offered on request and pre booking is necessary. Book well in advance though, as these flights will only be offered a few times a year and you get to fork out upwards of $8000 for the 90-min rollercoaster ride.

• Take a tour to the mine - Infomine
• Cinema
• Dancing
• Bowling
• Gym
• Swimming
• Wilderness Safaris

Winter

• Nordic light tours
• Snow mobile excursions
• Dog sled tour
• Cross country skiing
• Downhill Skiing
• Ice-fishing

Summer

• Hiking
• River rafting
• Kayaking
• Fishing
• Golf
• Hunting
• Gold digging
• Waterpark

Special Events

There are certain dates when special things happen in Kiruna:

• the snowfestival (Snöfestivalen)
• Arctic Light Film Festival (commonly: Filmfestivalen)
• the winter market
• the Kiruna festival (Kirunafestivalen)
• the summer market in Jukkasjärvi
• the autumn market

In Kiruna City

• Kiruna Kyrka The church, [5] Open daily 11-15.45, Free entry.

Kiruna Kyrka is a is one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings and is famous for its special tent like structure. It was built 1907-1912 by architect Gustaf Wickman and won the award XXX in 19xx.

• Stadshuset The City Hall, Open daily, Free entry

Stadshuset is another landmark of Kiruna, it houses the local goverment and often hosts various exhibitions. It also has an small but quite well renowned art collection of famous Swedish old artists.

• Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården

Hjalmar Lundbohm was the first manager for the mining company LKAB that is the reason why the city of Kiruna was built in the first place. This museum located in his old office and home is dedicated to the early days of Kiruna and the startup of LKAB and the building of the rail road Kiruna-Narvik.

more to come...

Jukkasjärvi

• Jukkasjärvi Kyrka [6] Open daily, Free entry.

One of Sweden's oldest intact wooden buildings, it's oldest part dates back from 1607. The church and famous for its altar painting and exquisite handicrafted organ.

• Icehotel During winters this is the world famous and original Icehotel. During the days 10-18 it functions as a museum and everyone can visit this very special and magical place, and see the ice and snow sculptures first hand. After 18 it is only open for the guests that actually will spend a night in one of the many snow rooms.

During Summers there is an ice exhibition in a large freeze house. However this exhibition is not open every year. In summer 2008 will be no exhibition.

By Plane

SAS [1] and Norwegian [2] has direct flights to Kiruna (also via Umeå) from Stockholm Arlanda. (Norwegian are usually the cheaper one, but especially students and youths (under the age of 26) can find even cheaper tickets with SAS.) Barents AirLink (Nordkalottflyg) [3] has flights from Luleå.

The small airport is located a few kilometers outside the city centre, and unfortunately the connections are kind of bad during off-season where the airport bus is only going at weekdays and not very often. In the evening or on weekends a taxi (should be pre-ordered, otherwise very long waiting time) or pre ordered coach is pretty much the only way to get anywhere (or hitchhiking), but that can be very expensive. During high season there is usually no problems since an airport bus is available then.

By Train

SJ operates night trains trains going all the way from Gothenburg and Stockholm and north along the eastern parts of Sweden passing cities like Uppsala, Gävle, Sundsvall, Umeå and Boden where sometimes a change of trains are required to get to Kiruna instead of Luleå. In summer, Connex operates trains from Göteborg and Malmö to KirunaNarvik. The train travel time from Stockholm is about 17 hours. There are two kinds of sleeping cars available on the trains, "liggvagn" which is the general ones where 6 passengers share a berth with six seats/beds. Then there are "sovvagnar", the slightly more expensive ones where a booking gives full access to an small berth for 2 or 3 people, so no sharing space with strangers is required. The cheapest option, however, is to sit during the whole trip in a normal car without any beds, in the "sittvagn". An onboard restaurant and bar is accessible for all passengers at all night trains, but they are rather expansive prices, but bringing your own food onto the train is allowed.

The train station in Kiruna is located maybe 400m from the city centre so a walk is very much possible, everything from the station is uphill all of the way.

By Bus

It is possible to take long distance busses between cities in Norrbotten County, such as Luleå, Gällivare, Happaranda, etc. [4]

By Car

It is by all means possible to rent a car and drive to Kiruna, but keep in mind that it is very far away from all major other cities, the roads are quite narrow and a little bit too often not in a good shape. Speed limits are low and speeding tickets high. Not totally without a reason, due to weather conditions and the frequency of wildlife such as hares, reindeer and moose on the road, can make the trip a little bit more interesting than bargained for.

The hazards of driving a car in the north during the winter when a car breakdown in the middle of nowhere actually can be life-threatening due to the cold should not be underestimated. The cellphone coverage can be quite sparse so warm blankets, extra clothes etc. should always be stored in the car during winter for emergencies. The road distances from Kiruna are: Gällivare(closest city) 115km, Luleå 344Km, Umeå 600Km, Stockholm 1240Km

• ICA supermarket - at the corner of "Föreningsgatan" and "Seger Svanbergsgatan", open mon-fri till 7pm, sat-sun till 2pm
• Coop supermarket - at the corner of "Hjalmar Lundbohmsvägen" and "Trädgårdsgatan", open mon-sun till 10pm
• also several gas stations who have long opening hours

Don't miss any of the local specialities consisting of various forms of reindeer meat that can be found in almost any foodplace, there is everything from simple reindeer kebab, and sandwiches with reindeer meat to luxurious reindeer dishes at the fanciest restaurants. Also salmon, moose, other fish and animals "from the wild" can be seen as specialities.

!A list will be added shortly!

In Kiruna city

Fast Food Joints

Restaurants

Cafés and Other

In Jukkasjärvi