Spellbinding Sweden

Reindeer, dancing colours in the sky, woodsmoke and hooning about on snowmobiles in swimsuits, Ella Foote is captivated by winter in Sweden

I landed at Umeå Airport in northeastern Sweden at dusk. By nightfall, I was submerged in ice water, the Northern Lights dancing green overhead. It was like I hadn’t flown from home but died and transitioned to a spirit world of wonder and magic. It felt so other worldly, so removed from my life and so utterly wonderful I could barely believe it. It was cold, -20ºc air temperature and snow muffled all sound, but here I was near-naked and submerged in ice-cold water while nature performed above. It was the most spectacular welcome to Sweden and only a couple of hours into my trip I thought I had peaked. I was wrong.

Umeå is a city in the northern province of Västerbotten, an area that offers a variety of experiences for tourists as well as a natural wonderland. The wild nature of the county includes coastline, lakes, mountains, valleys and deep forests. It offers year-round outdoor adventure and swimming, but I was here for a winter experience. As well as the city of Umeå, the province is home to Skellefteå, home of the IWSA Winter Swimming World Cup. I was hosted and guided by community leader, conservationist and ice swimmer Dan Allen-Hörnfeldt and community organiser, creator and explorer Elvira Lundgren. As well as Umeå locals, Dan and Elvira are part of the founding team behind Umeå Kallbad, a community-built sauna on the Ume River. The pair, friends with a shared passion and love of the wild, shared their love of their homeland and introduced me to incredible people while sharing the most magical experiences Sweden had to offer.

Dan and Elvira dreamed up the idea to plunge into an ice hole under the Northern Lights long before I arrived and one of the most magical elements of experiencing it was sharing it with them. Their child-like joy and infectious love of the wild environment they introduced me to were as warming as the sauna they had arranged for us to use between ice hole dips. It was just the beginning of demonstrating to me how Sweden is largely built on foundations of community. From the roots of the indigenous people in Sámi culture, to the people power who have built community spaces along the Ume River today. I was introduced to Swede after Swede who not only care about their country and culture, but about the people living there, no matter their origin story. It was a week of connection and humanity; one you can experience too.

Umeå is also known as the City of Birches, a name given due to the wide birch-tree lined avenues which were planted following a devastating fire in 1888. The birch trees today offer picture-postcard scenes as snow collects on their branches, but they were planted for practical reasons as they are fire-resistant and prevented further fires from spreading. The city is creative and progressive, the largest in northern Sweden and on the edge of an incredible natural playground. The Ume River runs through the city and is part of a growing outdoor swimming community. Dan and Elvira are at the root of that community transforming Umeå into a swimmable city and it all began with their community project, Umeå Kallbad, their sauna, open to everyone all year-round.

My first morning in Umeå started at Kallbad, it is a place with soul. It is located on the banks of the river on an island at the lagoon on Bölesholmarna, people gather here to celebrate nature, connection, and the resilience found in icy waters. In summer, there is a swimming lane in the river with stairs down to the water and in July, Riverfest finishes here. Inside the sauna there is a mix of locals, students from other countries and ice-plunge tourists like me. Everything on site is created, built and dreamed up by the people that use the space, from the changing rooms to bike racks.

As well as a city that celebrates the natural wonder, Umeå has fantastic cultural highlights and places to eat. The food here is a huge draw. Most of the restaurants use local produce and delicacies. Reindeer, moose, whitefish, lingonberry, Västerbottensost cheese and Vindelnrökt smoked pork are just a small list of extraordinary food to be found. I ate with Dan and Elvira at Bröd & Vin where we shared plates that focus on social experience as well as the food itself and also enjoyed Lilla Krogen, a restaurant housed in Umeå’s former courthouse sharing an inner courtyard with the old prison. There are still iron bars on the windows and the waitress said the cellar once linked the building to the prison. The food is creative and seasonal, a mix of European and Swedish. The restaurant is small, and popular, booking is a must.

After a couple of days in Umeå, I travelled north with Dan and Elvira to Skellefteå, the county’s second city and host of the IWSA Winter Swimming World Cup. We were all due to take part in the event, but while en route, we stopped to visit a Sámi reindeer ranch. Hosted by Jon Krista Jonsson, his reindeer ranch offers visitors a chance to learn about Sámi ways of life, reindeer herding and land-based livelihoods.

We were welcomed into a traditional lávvu, a tent similar in design to a Native American tipi that is used by the Sámi people, where Jon Krista prepared coffee over an open fire. We shared reindeer meat and heard stories and lessons from Indigenous practices and sustainable land stewardship before getting to meet and feed the reindeer. Another magical and child-like experience. Getting up close and connecting to the reindeer was every bit as moving as you could expect. No matter how old or jaded you are, we all hold the idea of reindeer being magical creatures and Jon Krista’s love and respect of the animals just added to the spectacle.

Skellefteå is around a two-hour drive from Umeå, you can also take the train. The journey, no matter how you travel, is beautiful. The city has a gold mining history and was once known as Guldstaden, Gold Town. Today it is a vibrant, modern town and much like Umeå, offers both urban and wild experiences. Part of Swedish Lapland it has coastal, forest and countryside locations as well as offering a cultural hub. We stayed at the Wood Hotel, which is constructed entirely from regional timber and has a rooftop spa complete with a pool offering panoramic views. The building is also home to the Sara Cultural Centre, a space for arts, performance and literature. It is an impressive shared space, another founded with community in mind.

While visiting Skellefteå we took part in the winter swimming event, which you can read about on our website or in the April issue of Outdoor Swimmer. But one of the biggest highlights from visiting this part of Sweden was our visit to Lappvik, a real, small-scale working Swedish farm outside of the city centre. This isn’t a tourist trap made to look like authentic Northern Sweden; it is an authentic farm with roots stretching back to the 1600s. It is a family home where the animals, food, nature and farming are all genuinely connected.

We were welcomed by Ola and Emelie Boström who live on the farm as well as work the land, forests, lakes and surrounding sea. Ola is a Shepherd and Snowmobile Guide but also cooks and shares his produce with visitors. From the moment we arrived to the moment I left, I was in awe of their attitude and approach to living.

At Lappvik the animals, land, food and seasons are closely connected, life here follows the natural rhythm of the year. When we visited the land was frozen and covered in snow. In winter Ola offers snowmobile experiences, sauna and ice-hole plunging. It was the most exhilarating morning I have ever spent in a swimsuit! Everything was provided for comfort and safety, but also with thought in mind. Once we were fully kitted out we were taught about the snowmobiles and then it was as simple as hopping on to the machine and trusting.

Having never been on a motorbike I was nervous and feeling the power beneath me, adrenaline was spiking with a twitch of my hands. After a short time, it became easier and fun! Ola took us through forest, fields and eventually out to an open, frozen lake. Here we were able to go faster and gain confidence without worrying about other obstacles. Half-way through the tour we stopped at a fire pit and enjoyed Fika, the Swedish tradition of taking a break to drink coffee and eat with others. While Ola heated the coffee he shared his passion for his farming, telling the story of his work and animals. We shared the meat from the farm and Emelie’s homemade fudge with hot coffee from the fire.

It was everything to share the moment with Ola, Dan and Elvira. It is a memory I hold onto today, when I witness the worst of humanity in life or the news, I think back to the snow-covered land and sharing that hot coffee. I have a backpack that still smells of the woodsmoke of the trip, unlike any other smoky smell and I am transported back to the moment. And, just when I didn’t think Lappvik could get any better, Ola opened up his ice hole in the lake and shared his hot sauna with us. Even better, we were able to use the snowmobiles to travel between sauna and ice. Yes, that’s right, we snowmobiled in our swimsuits and then disappeared into a hatch under an old chestfreezer lid marked by spruce trees to bathe.

With thanks to Dan and Elvira for hosting in Northern Sweden. Thank you to Visit Umeå and Visit Skellefteå for supporting the trip.

Trip info:

Elite Hotel Mimer, Umeå & The Wood Hotel, Skellefteå – elite.se

Northern Lights Photographer & Guide: Fredrik Larsson – fredriklarsson.se

Community Sauna: Umeå Kallbad – umeakallbad.se

Sámi Reindeer Ranch: reindeerranch.se

IWSA Winter Swimming World Cup 2027: February 19-21 – iwsa.me

Lappvik: lappvik.com