The train, with its ease of time and its discomforts of space, puts on the disused curiosity for details, refines the attention for what is around, for what flows out of the window. Tiziano Terzani
Giulia and I at Stockholm Arlanda station: despite the tiredness our real journey starts from here!
Unfortunately travel to Lapland it's not always cheap: even if you manage to find cheap flights to the Scandinavian capitals, flights to the northernmost parts of the various countries can sometimes be expensive.
When we decided to visit Swedish Lapland, one of the first questions we asked ourselves was: how to get from Stockholm to Jorn spending as little as possible but traveling comfortably?
The answer came when Isabella from Lantliv Lodge strongly recommended the night train that connects Malmo, in southern Sweden with the north, to Narvik via Stockholm.
The train immediately seemed the best choice: in fact, in addition to leaving directly from the Arlanda airport a couple of hours after the arrival of our flight, it is also cheaper than any other option.
So we arrive with the Air Baltic flight at 20, time to have a quick dinner and we transfer from the arrival terminal of Arlanda directly to the train station, integrated within the airport; here the environment is surprisingly pleasant: a few shops, a few places to have a coffee and a comfortable area with free wi-fi with stations and electrical sockets to recharge PCs and smartphones.
At about 23 pm we get on the train directly (on time) and take our seats in the second class berths (the price of the ticket from Stockholm to Jorn round trip is Sek 1.360,00 (about 150,00 euros).
Here the compartments are separate for men and women and each compartment in this category is small but quiet and clean: there are three bunks, power sockets, immaculate sheets, pillow and blankets and a small sink: the bathroom is shared and at the back to the corridor, minimal but also clean.
Our cabin on the train from Stockholm to Lapland
Although we are very tired after a tiring day between airports, stopovers and turbulence, for us the real journey begins now on this train; there are still many kilometers and ten hours to go before arriving in Jorn, in Swedish Lapland, our much desired destination, but our enthusiasm is really skyrocketing: any train journey, despite modernity, always has an ancient charm that cannot help but arouse in the traveler a particular sense of romance.
We freshen up and go to relax after the long hours of travel already spent with a coffee and a beer in the restaurant car: here the atmosphere is warm and quiet and since there are no free tables, two nice Swedish gentlemen there invite us to sit with them and after asking us where we are going and why we are on that train, they tell us with their eyes that shine with enthusiasm everything they know about aurora borealis.
The cozy atmosphere of the dining car on the night train to Lapland
Shortly after I curl up in the warmth of my bunk while the rhythm of the train and the muffled noises of the railway accompany me gently in Morpheus' arms.
At 8 in the morning the alarm goes off, time to hurry up and we move into the dining car for a muffin with blueberry jam, a hot coffee and we sit, while we wait for the arrival to Jorn, looking at the images of Lapland flowing out of the window: immense and whitewashed spaces alternate with dense forests of fir trees covered by a soft blanket of snow.
At nine on time we get off at Jorn: after almost 24 hours our journey here ends and a new one begins, from this small wood and iron station immersed in a scenario that until today we believed existed only in the tales of the Brothers Grimm.
Traveling by train in Swedish Lapland
Some practical information on the night train directly from the website of SJ (Swedish railways) from which you can buy tickets directly (the price depends on the length of the route, the class you are traveling in and availability)
Other options (in addition to ours, second class with private compartment) for the night trip are:
1 - Bed in a 6-berth compartment
2 - Private compartment in 1st class, with two berths and private bathroom.
3 - Night wagon in which there are no beds but only reclining seats
For those traveling with children there are special rates.
Thank you SJ AB for the great experience of traveling by train to Lapland.
