Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
snug church town cottages, the youth hostel is by far the
most atmospheric place to stay, replete with creaking
floorboards and low ceilings. So
me cot
tages hav
e their
own
bathrooms and kitchens. Dorms
240kr
, doubles
480kr
Wilhelmina
W
hotellwilhelmina.se.
Showy though rather rambling
hotel where each room (and the sauna) has stunning views
out over Volgsjön lake and the distant mountains. In
summer, breakf
ast is served o
n the open-air terrace, high
above the lake.
850kr/1200kr
Volgsjövägen 16
T
0940 554 20,
EATING AND DRINKING
Krogen
Torget 3
T
0940 108 88.
Has simple dishes such
as pasta carbonara and meatballs for 65kr, and is also a
popular place for a drink
or two. There's also a summer beer
garden at the rear surrounded by a small hedge.
Mon-Sat
10am-9pm, Sun 11am-9pm.
Martin Bergmans fisk
Junction of Vildmarksvägen
and Route 45
T
0940 250 90.
Accomplished smokehouse
and deli serving top-notch smoked salmon and other
seafood; plans are afoot to open a restaurant, too. This
place can be easily reached on foot from town by walking
around 3km along the lakeside path, Strandpromenaden.
Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat 10am-5pm.
Stenmans Konditori
Volgsjövägen 21B
T
0940 128
28.
Long-standing and much-acclaimed
konditori
which
now has a nice and airy upstairs lounge, as well as outdoor
seating in summer. A good choice of panini, salads and
home-made quiches as well as coffee and cakes.
Mon-Fri
7am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm.
Wilhelmina
Volgsjövägen 16
T
0940 554 20.
For
something more upmarket, try this hotel's traditional
northern Swedish dishes such as Arctic char (165kr).
However, the house speciality is pork schnitzel stuffed with
Västerbotten cheese and Dijon mustard (155kr). Mains cost
145-275kr.
Mon-Fri
10.30am-9pm,
Sat
11.30am-8pm, Sun 11.30am-7pm.
The E12: Blå vägen
The one defining factor that unites the small settlement of
Storuman
with its
northwesterly neighbours,
Tärnaby
and
Hemavan
, is the
Blå vägen
(Blue Way) or E12,
as it is less poetically known, running through all three villages. This major artery, one
of northern Sweden's better roads, is so named because it follows the course of the great
Ume River that flows down from the mountains of southern Lappland to Umeå on the
Bothnian coast. Water is omnipresent hereabouts, not only in Storuman, a sleepy little
town which sits on the banks of the eponymous lake, best used as an access point to
the mountains, but also all the way up to Tärnaby, a small-time skiing centre, and
Hemavan, the start of Sweden's longest and best hiking trail, the Kungsleden, leading
500km north to Abisko.
Storuman
In 1741, the first settler arrived in what was to become
STORUMAN
, 68km north of
Vilhelmina. His first neighbours didn't appear until forty years later and even by
World War I, Storuman, then called Luspen (the
Sámi
name for a river which
emerges from a lake) numbered barely forty inhabitants working just eight farms.
Things changed, though, with the arrival of the railway in the 1920s; today
Storuman is an important centre for the generation of hydroelectric power. That
said, there's not much to the town: the centre consists of one tiny street that
supports a couple of shops and banks. Whilst in Storuman check out the town's
emblem,
Wildman
, a giant-sized red figure who stands near
Hotell Toppen
(see
opposite) madly brandishing a club, a traditional symbol for Lapland encapsulating
strength, riches and determination.
Old railway hotel
Arriving at the train-cum-bus station on Järnvägsgatan, you can't fail to spot the
wonderful
old railway hotel
, on the opposite side of the street. Built in association with
the Inlandsbanan in 1924, the wide-planked, tarred exterior in National Romantic
style hides an ornate interior, complete with wrought-iron chandeliers and decorative
