Scandinavian Summer

Welcome to Kiruna

Arrive to Kiruna by plane or train for a short transfer to the Icelandic Horse farm shown to your guesthouse. Depending on what time you arrive, you may want to add lunch, which is served at around 1pm and not included in the trip cost. You’ll have time to visit the horses in their paddocks or stalls and catch a glimpse of the Scandinavian Mountains where you’ll be riding the rest of the week. This evening the group will enjoy a 3 course dinner in the dining area attached to the barn.

Intro ride by the Kalix river

After breakfast you’ll pack up be vehicle for your first ride. During the tour there will be a pack horse carrying the food and supplies, but you’ll be carrying your own gear in saddlebags on your horse. Your guides will give suggestions of how to pack. The horses are trailered and you’ll be assigned a good match for your ride on the south side of the Kalix river. You’ll go through forest and start climbing the mountains for the first fantastic view.  The Scandinavian Mountains are home to the Kebnekaise massif, the highest peak in Sweden.

Tonight you’ll stay in a Sami style tepee tent called a lávvu, where you will sleep in sleeping bags around the fireplace, where you can make a fire if desired.

To Ratekjokk, a Sami community

The next morning you’ll pack your things and ride over the bare mountain and  down to the small Sami settlement called Ratekjokk, where you will stay for two nights in a cabin. The owners of the tour company have their roots in Ratekjokk so this place is really “home.” They have a few houses there, a sauna right by a small river and the horses have lots of pasture there

The Sami are the indigenous people of the area, whose culture revolves around reindeer. A Sami community is an economical and administrative community that cares for the reindeer in the area. There are about fifty Sami communities in Sweden and the reindeer herding area covers around half of the area of Sweden. Just a small part of the Sami population are members of a Sami community. Leaváš and Girjas are Sami communities in the mountain area. Here in the west close to the Norwegian border is where the reindeer normally are in the summer and in the lower mountains during autumn and spring. In winter time they are more east in the forest land.

Enjoy the sauna and dinner this evening before overnighting in the cabin.

Tour from Ratekjokk

Ride from Ratekjokk for the day and return for second night in the cabins.

Mountain ride

Ride out from Ratekjokk today for another night in the tents. You’ll see some of the imposing mountain ridges, deep sculpted valleys, high boulder fields and beautiful pine primeval forests that are typical of this area, and perhaps some reindeer.

Return to farm

Your final day from the mountains will bring you back to the starting point and to the farm. You’ll feel the satisfaction of completing your wilderness ride, and of a hot shower tonight! Your final dinner as a group to be enjoyed on the farm.

Departure

A final breakfast before transfer to Kiruna airport or train station.