Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
INFORMATION
9
Tourist o
ce
Östra Skolgatan 18C, just off Storgatan
(mid-June to mid-Aug Mon-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Sat & Sun
noon-4.30pm; mid-Aug to mid-June Mon-Fri 8.30am-
noon & 1-4.30pm;
T
0960 175 00,
W
polcirkeln.nu). A
5min walk from the train station, up Stationsgatan.
Internet
For access, head for the tourist office or the
library in Medborgarhuset, Storgatan 12.
Steam train trips
Available from Arvidsjaur between
mid-July and mid-Aug, featuring vintage coaches from the
1930s. The train runs from Arvidsjaur along the
Inlandsbanan west to Slagnäs on Fri and Sat (5.45pm;
200kr), stopping at Storavan beach for swimming and a
barbecue. Buy tickets on the train.
River rafting
In July and Aug river-rafting trips (
T
070
253 0583,
W
outdoorlapland.com; 445kr) are possible on
the Piteälven River, 45km north of Arvidsjaur. The
starting point (reachable by bus) is the Burmabron
bridge where Route 45 crosses the river. Tours start at
450kr and vary in difficulty; safety helmets and life
jackets are provided.
ACCOMMODATION
If you're planning to visit Arvidsjaur during the winter (when the higher price code applies), it's imperative to book well in
advance to secure a room, especially in February and March.
Camp Gielas
Järnvägsgatan 111
T
0960 556 00,
W
gielas.se.
This campsite also has waterside cabins for
with TV, shower and running water. It sits beside one of the
town's dozen or so lakes, Tvättjärn, with its bathing
beaches; there's a sports hall here, too, as
well as
a gym,
sauna,
tennis courts and mini-golf. Tents
140kr
, cabins
540kr
Lapland Lodge
Östra Kyrkogatan 18
T
0960 137 20,
W
laplandlodge.eu.
A comfortable bed and breakfast
place near the church with brightly decorated rooms in a
former manor house. Toilet facilities are shared but all
rooms have either a shower or a washbasin.
700kr/850kr
Ì
Laponia
Storgatan 45
T
0960 555 00,
W
hotell-
laponia.se.
The sole hotel in town, with 200 comfortable,
modern en-suite rooms and a swimming pool; popular
with test drivers from Europe's leading car companies
between Jan a
nd April when on-demand prices apply.
890kr/1270kr
Silvercross 45
Villavägen 56
T
070 644 2862,
W
silvercross45.se.
For inexpensive accommodation this
private youth hostel has
doub
le rooms with private
facilities but no dorm beds.
400kr
EATING AND DRINKING
Afrodite
Storgatan 10
T
0960 173 00.
You can sit down
here to an Arvidsjaur interpretation of Mediterranean food
with pizzas from 70kr, meat and fish mains from 99kr and a
few Greek dishes for around 159-199kr.
Mon-Thurs
10.30am-9pm, Fri 10.30am-10pm, Sat 11am-10pm,
Sun 11am-9pm.
Greya Knut
Stationsgatan 20.
A nice touch to this welcome
café is an interior designed to resemble a wooden cabin;
serves snacks, coffee, fresh pastries and bread, and also has
cheap lunches, sandwiches (often filled with reindeer meat)
and salads; there's outdoor seating here in summer.
Mon-
Thurs 9am-8pm, Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 11am-4pm.
Around Arvidsjaur: Båtsuoj Sámi Center
Hedgatan 40 • Short visit 220kr; half-day trip 600kr, plus optional overnight stay for an extra 350kr per person •
T
0960 130 14 or
T
070
642 31 66,
W
batsuoj.se • From Arvidsjaur, head west on Route 45 until the village of Slagnäs, from where you take the unnumbered
minor road 19km north towards Arjeplog. You can reach Slagnäs by Inlandsbanan, from where Båtsuoj staff will collect you if you book in
advance
Seventy kilometres west of Arvidsjaur, in the village of
GASA
, the
Båtsuoj Sámi Center
is a
good place to get to grips with the everyday life of the
Sámi.
Here, you'll not only come
face to face with
reindeer
(
båtsuoj
in
Sámi)
but also meet real reindeer herders, who'll teach
you about their religion and way of life, including the way to milk a reindeer and the tricks
of baking their traditional bread; frozen reindeer meat is also available for purchase.
A short visit to Båtsuoj of around an hour or so includes a chance to taste dried
reindeer meat sitting around the fire in a
kåta
; a longer half-day trip includes dinner of
reindeer cooked over an open fire as well as information about the
Sámi
way of life;
you can stay overnight for an extra 350kr per person. The centre also arranges all-day
cloudberry-picking
and medicinal herb-gathering expeditions (Aug; 700kr); the rare
cloudberries grow in the most inaccessible of northern Sweden's marshlands - hence
the hefty price.
