Purpose: This blog aims at helping others plan their hike of the Kings Trail (Kungsleden) as well as serve as a record of our journey. Current information on logistics, budgeting and general expectations of the trail in English can be difficult to locate. We hiked the trail from the start in Abisko to the end in Hemavan from early Aug to early September 2015. We hope this helps you as your plan your Kungsleden Adventure!
Transportation:
- Getting to the Trail Head (Abisko):
- We took the overnight train from the Stockholm Arlanda Airport to Abisko. To book this 20 hour train ride visit the SJ website.
When booking on the SJ website select Stockholm airport “Arlanda C” to “Abisko Touristis station”, there is also a stop before Abisko Touristis called “Abisko Ostra”. There are more accommodations and food options at Ostra however it’s about 2km from the trail head whereas Abisko Touristis is across from the trail head. Because all accommodations were fully booked at Touristis we stayed in Ostra and the owner of the hostel was kind enough to drive us to the trail head. You could easily walk to the start of the trail from Ostra.
We took a sleeper cart (one cart for two people, we had our own room). Cost was 130€ pp. Recommend bringing your own food aboard for dinner as dinning options are very basic. With the sleeper cart a basic breakfast was included. Also, the cart had it’s own bathroom/ shower. The shower was pretty interesting (see photo below).
Because there was only one train to Abisko each day we booked a hotel at the airport to get the timetables to work for us.
- Getting from the Trail End (Hemavan) to Stockholm:
- We took a small 34 seater plane on NetJet. This was the only town along the Kungsleden with an airport. The plane ride took about 2 hours, 135€ pp and stopped once along the way in Vilhelmina before reaching Stockholm.
- Additional Travel Options:
- We met many folks along the way who had different types of itineraries. Many folks started and ended at different points along the trail. Several folks were able to take a combination of buses (also found on the SJ website) and trains.
- You can also fly SAS with their daily flights to and from Kiruna then take the bus, train or taxi to transfer to Abisko. This appears to be the closest airport to Stockholm. More information on transfers visit the STF website. It appears you can fly to Kiruna direct from Stockholm or from the airport Stord in Norway.
- We met some hikers who were dropped off by helicopter to start / end the hike. Helicopters are relatively more affordable than in other countries as helicopter fuel is not taxed in Sweden. There were many helicopter transportation companies we saw advertising along the way.
- You can fly to the northern international airport Arvidsjaur, then take an 8 hour bus ride (53€) to Abisko. With only one bus a day (bus 21) from Arvidsjaur to Abisko it can be a difficult to align flights with the bus schedule.
FAQs | Abisko – Abiskojaure – Alesjaure |