Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The main reason to visit Tällberg is that it's adorable: a whole village of precious little
gingerbread houses, mostly painted Falu Red, sprinkled over a green hillside sloping to-
ward a lake.
It knows it's cute, too - the town of 200 residents supports eight upmarket hotels and
several chic boutiques. It's a tourist hot spot and an appealing place for lunch and a walk,
but unless you're after a romantic countryside escape, it's perhaps better to stay in Rättvik
or Leksand and visit for the afternoon.
Bus 58 between Rättvik and Leksand stops in the village regularly (two to six times
daily, Skr26). Tällberg is also on the train line that travels around Lake Siljan; the train sta-
tion is about 2km below the village proper.
THE DALA HORSE
What do Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley and Bob Hope have in common? They've all received a
Swedish Dalahäst as a gift. These iconic, carved wooden horses, painted in bright colours
and decorated with folk-art flowers, represent to many people the essence of Sweden.
The first written reference to a Dalahäst comes from the 17th century, when the bishop
of Västerås denounced such horrors as 'decks of cards, dice, flutes, dolls, wooden horses,
lovers' ballads, impudent paintings', but it's quite likely they were being carved much
earlier. Sitting by the fireside and whittling wood was a common pastime, and the horse
was a natural subject - a workmate, friend and symbol of strength. The painted form that
is so common today appeared at the World Exhibition in New York in 1939 and has been a
favourite souvenir for travellers to Sweden ever since.
The best-known Dala horses come from Nusnäs, about 10km southeast of Mora. The
8am-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat) and
Grannas A Olsson Hemslöjd
( 0250-372 50;
www.grannas.com
; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 4pm Sat & Sun), where you can watch the carving
and painting, then buy up big at the souvenir outlets. Wooden-horse sizes stretch from
3cm to 50cm high (with prices from around Skr100 to Skr3500).
Public transport to Nusnäs isn't great: bus 108 runs frequently from Mora but only
Monday to Friday.
Rättvik
0248 / Pop 10,811
