Sweden is a large,
geographically varied and strangely
little-known country whose sense of
space is one of its best features.
Away from the relatively densely
populated south, travelling without
seeing a soul is not uncommon. The
south
and southwest of the country are
gently undulating, picturesque
holiday lands, long-disputed Danish
territory, and fringed with some of
Europe's finest beaches. The west
coast harbours a host of historic
ports -
Gothenburg ,
Helsingborg
and
Malmö , which is now
linked by bridge to Copenhagen -
while off the
southeast
coast, the Baltic islands of
Öland
and
Gotland are the country's
most hyped resorts, supporting a
lazy beach-life to match that of the
best southern European spots but
without the hotel blocks and crowds.
Stockholm , the capital,
is the country's supreme attraction,
a bundle of islands housing
monumental architecture, fine
museums and the country's most
active culture and nightlife. The
two university towns, Lund
and Uppsala, demand a visit
too, while, moving northwards, Gävle
and Gällivare both make
justified demands on your time. This
area, central and northern
Sweden, is the country of tourist
brochures: great swathes of forest,
inexhaustible lakes - around 96,000
- and some of the best wilderness
hiking in Europe. Two train routes
link it with the south. The eastern
run, close to the Bothnian coast
, passes old wood-built towns and
planned new ones, and ferry ports
for connections to Finland. In the
centre, the trains of the Inlandsbanan
strike off through lakelands and
mountains, clearing reindeer off the
track as they go. The routes meet in
Sweden's far north - home of
the Sami, the oldest indigenous
Scandinavian people.
