Sweden

Sweden is the largest of the Nordic countries, a long land stretching from the mild, lake-dotted south to the Arctic wilderness of Lapland in the far north. Forests cover more than half the country, lakes number around 100,000, and a vast archipelago of tens of thousands of islands fringes its Baltic coast, while the mountains of the northwest rise along the Norwegian border.

Underpinned by the allemansrätten — the 'right to roam' that lets everyone hike, camp, and forage across most of the countryside — Sweden offers extraordinary access to nature, from canoeing quiet lakes and picking berries in summer to skiing, dog-sledding, and watching the northern lights in the Arctic north.

Canoe and kayak the lakes and archipelagos, hike the Kungsleden ('King's Trail') and the Arctic fells of Lapland, forage berries and mushrooms, ski and chase the aurora in the north, and explore the wilderness of national parks like Sarek and Abisko.

Summer (June–August) brings long days (the midnight sun in the north), ideal for hiking, paddling, and the archipelago; autumn glows with color and berries. Winter (December–March) offers skiing, dog-sledding, the Icehotel, and the northern lights in Lapland.

Sweden's forests and mountains shelter moose, brown bears, wolves, lynx, wolverines, and reindeer (herded by the Sámi in the north), along with abundant birdlife and rich Baltic and lake fisheries.

Sweden lies on the ancient, glacier-scoured Fennoscandian Shield, leaving a low, lake-strewn landscape of forests and rounded hills in the south and the higher Scandinavian Mountains along the Norwegian border in the northwest, with the land still slowly rebounding from the last ice age.

Home to the Vikings and later a great Baltic power, Sweden emerged as an independent kingdom in 1523 under Gustav Vasa. It built a modern, prosperous, egalitarian society with a strong environmental ethic, while the Indigenous Sámi maintain reindeer herding in the Arctic north.

Swedish culture blends a love of nature (and the allemansrätten right to roam) with traditions like Midsummer, fika (the coffee break), and the lakeside summer cottage, alongside the Indigenous Sámi heritage of Lapland.

Use the right to roam responsibly, and visit in summer for paddling and the midnight sun or winter for aurora and snow. Hike the Kungsleden, explore the archipelagos, and pack for mosquitoes in summer and deep cold up north in winter.