Sweden
Discover Sweden
Introduction
Sweden runs 1,570 kilometres from the Baltic coast at Malmö to the Arctic fells at Kiruna — far enough that Malmö is closer to Rome than to the top of its own country. Planning it as one destination is the commonest mistake visitors make.
Stockholm is built across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, with an archipelago of some 30,000 islands beyond it. Gamla Stan, the old town, occupies one of the central islands and retains its medieval street plan.
Around two-thirds of the country is forest, and the far north is Sápmi, the Sámi homeland, where reindeer herding remains a working livelihood.
Allemansrätten — the right of public access — allows anyone to walk, camp and forage on uncultivated land, which makes Sweden unusually cheap to travel for anyone willing to sleep outdoors.