Luleå

Luleå sits on the Gulf of Bothnia in northern Sweden, and is one of the main gateways to Swedish Lapland. The city is a lively regional centre, but the real draw lies inland, along the Lule River valley, where a cluster of distinctive wilderness stays sits within about an hour of the city: the treehouses of the Treehotel, the floating Arctic Bath spa, and the safari-style Aurora Safari Camp. It suits travellers using the coast as an entry point before heading into the Arctic interior.

Read more about the area, and how to reach it, further down the page.

How do you get to Luleå?

Luleå Airport (LLA) is the largest airport in northern Sweden, with regular flights to Stockholm, roughly a 1.5-hour flight. It's a key entry point for Swedish Lapland: from here you can continue north to Kiruna, Abisko and the ICEHOTEL, or head inland to the wilderness lodges along the Lule River valley. [Flight time to confirm with product team.]

What is there to do around Luleå?

This forested wilderness of rivers and lakes, just below the Arctic Circle, is good country for hiking, kayaking, wildlife watching and Northern Lights viewing. Most travellers come for what lies inland: a cluster of architecturally distinctive places to stay within about an hour of the city, on and around the Lule River near the village of Harads.

Where should you stay near Luleå?

The Treehotel in Harads, about an hour northwest of Luleå, is a collection of architect-designed treehouses among the pines, including a mirrored cube, a bird's nest, and the Biosphere, a glass structure wrapped in hundreds of birdhouses. Further along the river, the award-winning Arctic Bath is a circular spa that floats in summer and freezes into the ice in winter, with cabins along the bank and floating villas. Nearby, the Aurora Safari Camp is a small lodge modelled on African bush camps but set deep in the forest, with tent-style cabins and a floating pontoon sauna. You can read about all three, and how to combine them, in our guide to visiting Swedish Lapland in winter.

For more on the region, browse our articles on Sweden.