For my 38th birthday, my wife surprised me with five days of ice skating across Sweden’s frozen lakes.
As first-time visitors to Sweden’s skating scene, we started at Lake Runn near Falun, a well-known spot where we rented a lakeside house. Over the next few days, we explored the area by car and discovered many great ice skating opportunities.
We skated in these three locations, for a total of 42km:
- Lake Runn (Falun) - A large lake with multiple skating tracks. Only one route was open during our visit.
- Lake Runn (Vika) - A smaller section of the main lake with good ice conditions.
- Lake Väsman (Ludvika) - Our favourite. A 10km track through winter landscapes.
The first two days had cloudy weather with some snowfall. The lake tracks weren’t as perfect as we imagined, but the ice conditions were good enough. The fresh snow made the early skates quite magic.
Then the weather changed. Overnight, the clouds cleared and we had blue skies and sunshine. Temperatures dropped to -20ºC.
We were prepared, dressed with multiple layers of technical clothes, so the cold wasn’t a big problem. The hardest part was taking off gloves to use the camera.
We met other ice skaters from the Netherlands. No surprise given the Dutch love for skating. Our Viking skates (a Dutch brand) and gear made it obvious we weren’t Swedish. For us this was an adventure, for the locals it was just another day on the ice.
Between skating sessions, we tried simla, a traditional dessert from the Dalarna region. It’s a pastry filled with whipped cream and almond paste. Very satisfying after hours on the ice.
We also went cross-country skiing a couple of times, covering 20km at Stangtjarnsstugan. The forests and snow trails were a nice change from the open lakes.
Our rental house had a private lakeside sauna, for a classic Swedish experience. We tried the tradition of cutting a hole in the ice for a post-sauna plunge.
By the time the sauna was hot enough, around 45 minutes, the ice had formed again. In the end, only one of us went in. I’ll admit, I wasn’t that one..
We’re already planning to return next year, perhaps venturing further north to hunt for clearer ice and the northern lights.