Östersund & the Bothnian Coast - Sweden - page 615

Haparanda
0922 / Pop 4856
Haparanda was founded in 1821 across the river to compensate for the loss of Finnish
Tornio, an important trading centre, to Russia in 1809. When both Sweden and Finland
joined the EU, the two towns declared themselves a single Eurocity. Still, Sweden drew
the short straw: Tornio got the art galleries and the vibrant nightlife, and what did Ha-
paranda get? The world's largest IKEA.
Haparanda's other distinguishing feature is the Haparanda kyrka on Östra
Kyrkogatan, built in 1963 and subsequently awarded the prize for 'Sweden's ugliest
church' .
Rambling riverside Haparanda Vandrarhem ( 0922-611 71;
www.haparandavandrarhem.se ; Strandgatan 26; dm/s/d Skr200/325/480; ) is a godsend for
shoestring travellers, while Cape East ( 0922-80 07 90; www.capeeast.se ; Sundholmen;
) caters to the opposite end of the spectrum, with the world's largest sauna and a gour-
met restaurant. It was undergoing renovations when we visited but is due to reopen in
September 2015.
The aforementioned IKEA (Norrskensvägen 5; mains from Skr25; 10am-7pm) is one of the
better places to eat out in Haparanda, as it offers Swedish standards such as meatballs and
mash for a wallet-friendly Skr25.
Haparanda's main tourist office ( 0922-262 00; www.haparandatornio.com ; Krannigatan 5;
8am-7pm Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun) is shared with Tornio in a brand new loca-
tion, at the new bus station just down the road from IKEA.
Buses 20 and 100 run south to Luleå (Skr178, 2½ hours, up to 10 daily) and Umeå
(Skr356, 6½ to 7¾ hours, up to six daily), while bus 53 connects Haparanda to Kiruna
(Skr395, six hours, two daily except Saturday).