My INCREDIBLE trip on the Arctic Circle Sleeper Train (2019)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
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I really hope you enjoy this trip of over 1,600 km from Stockholm in Sweden up to Narvik in Norway. A true bucket-list journey, this is nowhere near as expensive as you'd think, and the only barriers you have in taking this trip are managing to brave the cold.
My tip: for snow, head there in April like I did. It's a little above freezing and the thaw is beginning, but it's still truly Arctic - watch the people on quad bikes and snowmobiles in my video! In summer, the snow mostly disappears, leaving behind a rich green landscape. It's still a wonderful, beautiful place, but I rather prefer the snow myself! Don't go in midwinter if you can help it - there's not much daylight at that latitude!
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Make sure to get a flight up to svalbard from Oslo with norwegian, one of the most northern airports in the world. I flew there in August 2013 and we landed in complete daylight at 2 AM.
@@EinkOLED Also flights to Tromso in Northern Norway look pretty spectacular, especially during wintertime although probably best before the sun sets very early. SAS has some connections with the CRJ's.
Ohhh Paul Me like You Ive always wanted To Do this Trip Although Been&lived In Sweden Never Done"" Cheeers And thanks For at least Completing part Of my dream// Archair for now Brilliant Tc Uk
Paul What day did you go up to narvik.By the way these carages are fro the 80s and 90s some of the carages with wifi are from the 2000s
This looks like an amazing journey Paul. Sweden has such beautiful scenery. Love watching the videos, so immersive. The second car looks very 90's.☺️
Around 8 years ago I left my passport, laptop and money in one of the lockers at Stockholm station. A few hours later I tried to retrieve my stuff but my digital key wouldn't work due to leaving it as unoccupied (it's a complicated). Anyway the security opened the locker and all my stuff was missing, so I was without a passport, or laptop and a wallet and I reported it to the police and embassy. A few hours later whilst walking through the station, the security guards recognised me and told me that someone who had opened the supposedly locked locker and had handed in all my stuff to the railway office. I shall never forget that day and truly appreciate the honesty and trust of that unknown swedish man. It's people like that which shines a good light on your country.
@Blue collar Gold pockets TH-cam faith in humanity is like a roller coaster. You gain it by reading the original comment, only to click on "read replies" to lose it instantly again by yours.
Blue collar Gold pockets Way to absolutely shatter the wholesomeness of this post with your pathetic racism. Shame on you!
I guess blue collar gold pockets deleted his reply. What a coward.
Same sort of thing happened to me. About 3 years ago, I left my phone in Basel, Switzerland. It was in the middle of a public area and I couldn't use find my iPhone as my phone didn't have an international data plan. I put my phone on lost mode and texted it instructions to return the phone in both English and German. I then filed a lost items report to the metro police. The next day, I got a mail saying that they had my phone. I went to the police precinct and was able to safely retrieve my phone. I'm eternally grateful for the the hospitality of European cities.
I deleted his comment. I don’t tolerate that kind of thing here.
If I were younger, I would love to make that same trip. I am 72 and my health is failing; but it's amazing that I can vicariously live through your journey with you.
@@pmcvantage - agreed Dwight = I'm nearly 71 !!
Do it Dwight!
Do it, Dwight! It’ll be fun, I bet!
its never too late.go for it
I'm 67 and enjoy these travel videos for the same reason.
Visiting (by proxy) all these places reawakens my sense of pure wonder and delight.
We are --- at our center --- Observers on an endless journey!
Fun fact: This train used to have an onboard cinema. There was a combined Cinema/Bistro car for this purpose.
@@burgerboy5088 I care, so you're wrong
@@burgerboy5088 you cared enough to reply
BURGER BOY hey I hate to brake it to you but I thought It was interesting.
@@burgerboy5088 he didn't mean your comment
Back in the swinging days of Abba.
Riksgränsen is actually the swedish word for "the land border". so there it is, a station named after the fact it is located next to the swedish-norwegian land border.
Ah, i just commented the same thing lol
Likewise for Norway.
Except "Riksgrensen"
"The Realms Border"
@@alexanderh6074 "reich" is German.
"Realm" is the English equivalent, and "Rike" is the Norwegian and Swedish equivalent.
"Riks" is just a variation of the word "Rike" indicating that something *belongs* to the realm rather then *is* the realm, if you get my meaning.
National border is proboly the most accurate translation
@@matsv201 Not really.
"Nations" didn't really exist back when the word was created, "realms" did.
That’s a nicer shower than my flat! The scenery looks stunning.
It’s a nicer shower than mine at home too!
So to answer you on the restaurant coach on the second day, it's an R4 dining coach. There's a total of 15 built and they were all built in 1987-88.
The other restaurant car is a much older R12 coach built in 1968-69 and then rebuilt in 2000-01.
The Coach you slept in is a WL6 from 1993-94. On a side note Many of the older swedish sleeper coaches have an interior more akin to a hunting lodge on wheels with wooden wall coverings and everything, since that was the norm all the way until the mid 90's.
Yes, the R12 were rebuilt 2000-2001 from R2 when they were given an interior inspired by the Orient Express (the catering was actually carried out by a private company called Svenska Orientexpressen (Swedish Orient Express) and were used for InterCity services Stockholm-Västerås-Gothenburg), although the current condition is from another rebuild done in 2015. There are only four R4 cars left now - four were rebuilt to combined restaurant and cinema cars S12 (Yes, a cinema on rails! Although the cinema are is no longer used) and five cars were rebuilt to combined restaurant and seating cars RB11. For more info about Swedish trains, I can recommend www.jarnvag.net/ (in Swedish only).
I paused when he asked, scrolled down expecting to find the exact models listed in the comments. I wasn't disappointed!
Damn, this guy beat me to it!
Var det jarnvag.net som hjälpte till här också? :P
@@AlxRose Where do you find all this info?
I have loaded food and drinks on many a R4, RB4 and some other have now forgotten the name of, i still think removing the chefs from the R4 was a bad move, imagine the scenery with a nice freshly cooked steak and some wine :)
I'd call that very good value for money. UK rail companies, please take note.
Joanne Gray and Amtrak lol
And UK residents take note, the toilets were left clean and tidy for the duration of the journey...
@@underwaterdick Because there is an attendant in every carriage
@@mellowfellow4755 or because people treat the toilets with greater respect?
I don't understand HOW you can get poo covered toilet roll on the floor. It's isn't hard to put it in the toilet.
@@underwaterdick Its a lot easier not to have to see that if there is a little man that makes it go away
I took this trip in the late 80’s from Stockholm and it was fantastic. I encourage everyone to do the same like you and me.
Greetings from Canada 🇨🇦, the Great White North
Greetings from the minor black south 🇦🇺
I took the train in the reverse direction in June 2000.
I started in Copenhagen, then train to Bodø via Oslo, then Hurtingruten ship to Tromsø, then bus to Narvik, train to Stockholm.
That sounds like a lovely trip. Would love to do something similar next time I visit my family in Norway.
I'm planning more or less the same trip for next spring, hoping for less restrictions due to pandemic.
Bodø to Tromsø by bus might be faster (12 hrs instead of 23, with a two-hour stop at Narvik) and more eco-friendly, the E6 is very scenic, but it'd be also quite uncomfortable and tiring.
Once in a life you surely can afford that short ship trip, definitely not that mortal sin for the environment like cruises are. If you think that Hurtigruten has started renovating fleet by using hybrid tech…
@@iuciubbb ummmmmmmmmmm
Most interesting! I’m Swedish and have been contemplating this trip for several years. I had no idea the tickets can be had at such a low cost. The ideal continuation of the trip (for me) would be to go by boat from Narvik to Bergen. Thanks for yet another great travel video!
straight to the point, adequate information, no showing off , professionally well done video.. excellent
That's 80's decor.
Those chairs are Ventsia chairs made by a Finnish company called asko in the 80's
They break quite easily but I think they're pretty cool and comfortable
I was going to put the time frame somewhere between 1987 and 1997.
Oh yezzz, soooo 80-ies
I've always loved those chairs but never knew the name - thank you!
You actually did have access to the SJ Lounge in Stockholm if you were travelling on the same day as you went from Gothenburg, since you had first class tickets on that journey. You have access to the lounges in both cities all day, before and after your journey.
He did not have a first class ticket. First class suites have their own bathroom with shower in it on the sleeper train.
Christer Jonsson Herman’s referring to the trip he made, that same day, before connecting to the sleeper train. He says that trip was first class and allows him access to lounges both at the departure and arrival stations.
good thing to know ,thanks!
Electrification of railways in Europe started a lot earlier than a lot of people think. In Sweden it was 1915, in the Netherlands, 1908 and in the UK it was as early as 1883. It's only in the UK the rollout seems to have stalled.
In Switzerland it was 1899
Awww, this has been on my wish list for some years. From Narvik, there are buses that take you to Bodo, where you can get on trains all the way to Oslo (with a change), then a high speed train to Stockholm, doing a big circle. Some day.....
The resturantcart that took you from Boden to Narvik is called "R4", it was built in 1987-1988. Six och the fifteen built carts were refurbished as "S12" (bistrocart with a cinema). If you want to check out a charming traincart you should look inside one of those.
The first dining car (SJ R12) at 6:40 was built in 1968 but the interior is from 2000. The second dining car (SJ R4) was built in 1988 and hasn't changed since. :)
Trivia warning. This arctic train trip is a legend even for us swedes. Its sometimes pack full with people from asia. They want to see the northern light, as in their culture they need to see it once in their lifetime. They go to the station Abisko, where there is a top mountain restaurant with glass in the roof to see the northern light. A nice meal sometimes served on this arctic train is the "suovas". Its smoked reindeer slices in a thick brown sauce, mash potato with lingonberry to it. You might want to take this train in july to experience the midnight sun. In july its possible to travel all the way from Gothenburg/Stockholm to Narvik in a first class sleeper. The best hotel to see the midnight sun is at the highest rise building in northern Norway, Scandic Narvik. If you want to do more hardcore, take a rental car and drive to Svolvær in Lofoten. Take in at Scandic Svolvær, drive north to Straumvær and see the midnight sun at all its glory.
@EkonomenAsking the asian travellers why they go to see the aurora lights gives you the answer....:-)
Amazing report as ever! Since I’m from Sweden this was especially interesting for me! As for temperatures I can inform you that when I did my military service in 1983, one day we had 48 degrees under the freezing point! Again, thanks for the report and carry up the excellent work! Cheers from Hans, Sweden 🇸🇪!
Centigrade?
@Ban Crows Sweden only uses centigrade or celcius.
I live in Stockholm and I have been planning to do this journey for many years. This clip gave me a good idea about how it is actually. Thanks for your efforts. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
I took the train from Stockholm to Kiruna in the 1990s. The train used to have a movie theatre car.
Hi Paul,
Love your reviews of Planes, Trains, & etc…
If I might add a bit of subtle railroad vocabulary (by conventional tradition):
-A Dining or Restaurant Car is full "At Table" service of food either cooked fresh or reheated.
-A Grill Car is one where customers sit at a Counter, rather than Table, and Short Order/Fast Food style cooked to order.
-A Buffet or Café Car is where the customer buys pre-packaged food from an Attendant, who may also reheat packaged items meant to be eaten warm.
-A Mini-Buffet or Store Car (think Virgin Pendolino) is a Car where items are purchased from a case or shelf with the Attendant only taking payment.
Happy Flights!
A little correction: There is not one attendant per sleeper car. The entire train is usually staffed with 3-4 people (excluding the driver), where at least one is managing the restaurant car. Thanks for an awesome trip report with one of my favourite train trips! Almost as good as the trip Chur - St Moritz - Tirano in Switzerland/Italy.
Great train report as usual. One of the best thing about your videos that you always include meal service in every report. Lots of blogger forget food is one of the most important part of traveling.
I appreciate his accommodations tour. Especially the conditions of the lavatory and showers. The Swedish train system is as clean as the Swiss railcars, if not more so. That's impressive.
The decor for the carriage where you had breakfast looks very early 90s - almost like the motel that Alan Partridge used to live in before he got the caravan.
Paul, im hooked on your videos. I wish my dad was still around to enjoy them with me. He loved the trains and we rode Amtrak many times in our lives. Im sure he is riding the rails in the great beyond. RIP dad. I took him and all my grandkids on a day trip from Deland Florida to Kissimmee and back. He loved it. I cherish the pic i took of him that day. He rarely smiled but his smile that day was awesome.
Thanks for sharing that story! It's amazing what an impact trains can have on our lives. I just wish the trains in the States matched that of Europe or Japan.
That's typical 80s decor, that is! The nostalgia!
All SJs wagons with pneumatic doors are from the 80's, the older ones are from the 60s.
Actually 90's
Maybe you are traveling with them but in case you didn't know, the people at 6:39 are high profiles on SJ including the Senior Vice President
That's a nice catch, FreakshowFapper!
What is SJ?
@@GC-ps9mn swedish rail
@@GC-ps9mn Swedish Railwyas " Rj"
*Sj
Thank you showing us this, but I also like to See than a Bit of your destination. In this case Narvik.
Did that trip in 1974, mid-summer so light pretty much the whole trip. Seemed like 12 hours of birch trees, lake, red house, repeat over and over again plus 6 hours of mountains. Still was a hck of a trip. Took the Hurtigruten to Bergen. Heck of a trip.
"the countryside is fantastic as long as you like trees" 😅🤣🤣
When going by train in Sweden you will see some of our trees. If you look out on the other side you'll see some other trees.
If there are fewer trees you will come to the border of Sweden within 2 hours. 😃
I am so jealous on what you done , you made me seriously consider doing train trips like this which I have never thought they existed lol
And it's also so cheap! My guesses where at least five times higher price than that!
@@comments6482 In Sweden remember to book well in advance as the prices increase the closer you get to the departure date.
Also if you only travel to Luleå there are first class sleeper cabins where you have a shower and toilet in every cabin and there's only two beds.
There's also a much cheaper resting car which has 6 "beds" of a lower quality that's more like couches with sheets and you don't have access to a shower.
Do it!. Too many tourists avoid Scandinavia becouse it is seen as super expensive and not tourist friendly. That is simply not true. The train is great value, wonderful scenery and the Swedish and Norwegian people down to earth!.
I wish I could afford to do this trip, but Sweden is pretty much literally the other side of the world (I'm in Australia). At least with channels like this, I can experience the trip from the comfort of my recliner at home.
I am from sweden, we can switch countries for like 5 mounths at the winter!
Thank you for an enjoyable video from Stockholm to Narvik by train, brings back memories of my interrail trips from Ireland to Sweden via the UK, Netherlands/Germany/Denmark. The trusted bible for rail travel was the Thomas Cook Rail timetable, trains going on ships between Germany/Denmark and Sweden. This was before the Øresund Bridge. Thanks for the memories.
That restaurant car looks like an "R4" it was the last real restaurant car to enter service with inter city trains in the 1980's.
This means it has a fully operational kitchen for cooking food and not just the heating faculties of the Bistro cars that are the norm. The Kitchen isn't really used and hasn't been for a long time.
I worked furnishing these trains with food in 1999/2000 and even back then the kitchen wasn't really used, but i used to love these carriages because they felt like a real dining car.
Nasty rumors said proper restaurant servicing was discontinued to not compete with the more spartan X2000 high speed trains entering service in the early 90's
But i would say the R4 is a pretty good representation of what dining cars historically looked in Sweden.
I’m taking my first train ride in February. It’s short only 4 hours, Houston to San Antonio
Oh this bring back memories! In the late 80ies, I as a young kid of around 4 me and my family was going up north to my moms birthplace (Korpilombolo) and we went by an SJ trained pulled by an RC locomotive. We're 6 in the family so my mom and my slightly older sister (2,5 years) was in one 4 bed cabin and my dad and my big brother and oldest sister was in another 4 bed cabin. There was also a somewhat creepy man in our cabin, the décor in our train back then was similar I think, memory is lacking after 30 yeas but it was darkish blue beds and tan wood paneled walls or perhaps tan metal I think, had the same type of safety netting.
We had our own food on the train so we pretty much never left the train cabin. We stopped in Luleå and then we were picked up by my uncle and went by car the rest of the way up north, I think, don't remember much of that, remember the train ride though and I loved it (besides in my eyes the somewhat creepy man)! My mom on the other hand didn't like it as she was suffering from motion sickness the whole trip up north. Funny enough she was also sea sick, yet she started working on a cargo ship that operated between Israel and Sweden, she suffered through storms and got an offered a job on a cargo ship in Brasil and was thinking of doing it even though she still suffered from sea sickness. But she changed her mind when she met my dad, he worked on a ship between Gothenburg and UK :)
Thanks for the memory trip!
I have actually ridden this train a couple of times, although only southbound from Umeå . I have ridden both sleeper carrriges and couchettes, even ridden the seating carrige once, which was horrible..Espscially since that was before the Botnia line was built, or rather during the building works for that line., which ment the branch to Umeå was closed and SJ hadn't done a proper job of ordering rail replacement buses.
And by the way, that dining car is from the 80's. The Arctic Circle Train is actually a franchised service,, the coaching stock is mainly leased to SJ from the Transport Administration, which carries a silver-red livery. Any other liveries that may appear in the sleeper trains (i. e. the black locomotive and the all-red dining car) signals that said carridge is part of SJ's own fleet.
I did this exact trip Oct 2019. Possibly the coolest thing I ever did.
What did you do in arctic circle?
@@bacigcI travelled to see the Northern Lights.
As a railfan and advocate of night sleeper trains I need to add this line to my bucket list.
Paul great video. It's nice to see a journey like this that most people probably wouldn't think of taking, or for that matter, know about. Your narration has become a lot more professional and relaxed in feel over the past 12 months. This video, aside from a few wobbly shots, could easily pass for a report from the BBC Holiday Programme or ITV's Wish You Were Here, for those old enough to remember these travel shows. Keep up the high standard and variety of travel experiences that you cover.
In the days when there were ferries from Newcastle to Bergen and Göteborg, I and my partner drove to Narvik a couple of times. The extra driving required to go via the channel is just too much. But you've given me an idea now. A cheap flight to Stockholm, then the Arctic Circle sleeper.
Taking our camping equipment (as we did when we went by car) might be a bit more of a challenge though.
It is probably cheaper to buy a plane ticket directly to Narvik (via Oslo). I live just 2-3 hours from the airport and have many times travelled to London and back that way. I have paid between about 60 and 100 £ each way with Norwegian.
But then again, sometimes the ride is the fun. Check out Lofoten while you are there.
enjoyed it. Please you could also show us your destination, Narvik
and come to finland please. If you thought Sweden is remote and full of trees, we are remoter and fuller of trees
Also mosquitoes and lakes! But lovely!
Well Finlands landscape isn't really that different from Sweden's. Except that Sweden has more lakes, More mountains, more farmlands at some places and is also full of forest in other places. The North of Sweden is actually even more rural than Finland, 12% of the Swedish population lives in Norrland which takes up 60% of the total land area.
Sweden is more varied, it's much warmer than Finland in the south but a bit colder in the north western part than in Finland cause of the mountain range. Finland is only forest.
Isak Samuelsson you’ve never been to Finland, have you xD
@@petejohnsson760 Am I wrong?
@@isaks7042 it has a nickname of "The country of a thousand lakes" something like that.
As a teenager, I managed to somehow slither under the safety guard in the top bunk, fell, hit my head on the stupid ladder and landed spine first on some ladys very hard suitcase on the floor. Been taking the plane ever since ;)
Nice, I am moving to Kiruna in September and this seems like a fantastic way to get all my luggage with me
I went to Narvik far in 2008, have a good memories... after that we reached the station of Lulea, Haparanda/Tornio, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and finally Helsinki. When I think of that journey I become nostalgic... nice video mate BTW.
Just want to tell you how much I enjoy your reviews Paul. I have recently retired and have had the most amazing time wingin' it around the world.
Thank you Margaret!
One day you should take a journey from Narvik all the way across the arctic circle and down to Helsinki. A lot of beautiful scenery, sleeper trains and beautiful Scandinavian efficiency. I did this on an interrail journey in 2018 and boy oh boy did it not disappoint. Second class Finnish sleeper car with shower/en-suite (solo occupancy!) cost me 50€ for an 18 hour journey from Rovaniemi to Turku.
Its good that you are European, have the luxury of not having visa and can enjoy everywhere but what about others . We can see your vid videos . I lived in sweden for 5 years so i know and used to x 2000. But its good to live in sweden only in summer and big no no in winter . Good Work .
If you grow up here the winters are not that big a deal. Sure it's dark, cold and makes you want to kill yourself but it makes saunas amazing.
@@informitas0117 No, growing up (or living) in Northern Sweden certainly does not want you to kill yourself! Who gave you that idea?
The Swedish loading profile is wider than the international standard, those railroad-cars won't fit on the continent.
With in Sweden is 3,4 meters and internationally it's 3,15.
There's an even bigger profile that mainly freight trains use on a number of lines as well.
You can google "Lastprofil A" and "Lastprofil C" if you are interested.
Brilliant. The editing and narration are outstanding. I now have a new item on my bucket list. Thanks for posting this.
@Hello William Alford, How are you doing?
The decor in the dining carriage looked like a mix of 50’s(build) and 70’s(furnishings) a real mash up.
The entire consist looks that way. That sleeper looks like it was cobbled together out of standard industrial shapes, like it was really built on the cheap. I know Scandinavian design can be on the austere side but that passenger equipment is taking it to an extreme. On the other hand for £68 what can one expect.
Me and my friends actually took the same train during the 2017/2018 New Year, from Umeå to Kiruna and Abisko. Probably the most impulsive trip I've ever had since we book it a day before the trip and got a pretty good student discount. Even though it was between -20 and -30C when we were there, Abisko is amazing and the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi is really cool as well! We were in 2nd class and the seat was surprisingly very comfortable for an 8 hour trip!
Loved watching that. Brought back some happy memories.
I didn't discover the joy of night trains till I was 50 and have done several around Finland/Sweden/Norway but I always feel you're missing so much shut away in a cabin, so I spend the night in the seats where you have bigger windows and better conversations.
Your 8 hour slumber meant you didn't notice that that train takes long stops at the rural stations so people can take their dogs off the train to relieve themselves!
Worth saying that though Narvik is the end of the line, if you're OK with buses you can get to Tromso, Hammerfest and even Kirkenes from there.
I enjoyed it tremendously! Beautiful scenery. Thank you for showing me places I'll never get a chance to see on my own.
I went to Sweden once about 30 yrs ago . I liked it , I started saving money as soon as I got back so I could visit again , hopefully in another decade or three I will have enough to return
Excellent video : informative without excessive / excess information. A very professional job - well done Paul. Enjoyed every minute, and Paul's modest enjoyment of the trip is infectious in a nice way.
“As long as you like trees.” Paul, I’m from Sweden so I know exactly what you mean! 😂😂🇺🇸🇸🇪
Come to the Hebrides !
We don't have any trees ..!
Awesome video as always, would be amazing to see you in Australia riding some of the trains over here 🙌
Yes! I waiting for Paul do The Ghan and Indian Pacific!
Cirno bring your money with you. They’re both tourist trains and very expensive, but very nice.
I know thats why I am hoping Paul able to do it someday, because its impossible for me.
Flying High Charlton The Overland is one of Great Southern Rail's underrated services, especially in Red Premium. They spoil you with food, lots of legroom, lots of seat room and drinks. Of course, The Ghan and Indian Pacific are not overrated in any way and they are great too.
Being Swedish and having grown up with caravan vacations in the north, I’m now dreaming of taking the sleeper train to Kiruna after the pandemic, and then have a rental car and drive myself to Narvik so I can stop by whenever I want to along the E10 from Kiruna as the mountains up there means a lot to me and I especially love the view up from a mountain in Abisko. I’m disabled and dealing with severe chronic pain so I’m no longer able to travel by road all the way like I used to in childhood, but sleeper train would for sure provide a comfortable way of traveling all while seeing more than from an airplane window. I also live by the rail between Gothenburg and Stockholm so the sleeper trains pass by here too so convenient enough to hop onto one not far away from home. But yeah, my soul longs for the north... A bit like Bilbo wanting to see the mountains again...
fun fact: the RC class is what Amtrak based their AEM7 locomotive off of
Wow! I did this trip when I went interrailing around Europe in 1991! Was an amazing experience and so good to see this report. Pity it wasn’t a bit longer but thanks for sharing 👍👍
@Hello Paul, How are you doing?
At 07:20 he's passing by Hudiksvall. I work in the office with the blue sign that says "Monitor".
@Fonterrorism NZ yes, about 15 thousand people live here.
I took this train about 3 weeks before Paul here did, but I travelled just from Narvik to Kiruna and back. There was just two carriages, a seated coach and another seated coach but with a kiosk and a compartment for the guard.
Hope you enjoyed your stay in Norway, Paul. If you return, I highly recommend taking the Nordlandsbanen train between Trondheim and Bodø. Very nice scenery, especially during the summer.
@Hello Ken Myrheim, How are you doing?
Great video with an OMG moment when I realise that the breakfast dining car chairs are exactly the ones we have around our breakfast table nook at home
Great Video paul....currently I am in the very top of Norway working. Last month very cold and wall to wall snow, this month light from 4am to 9.30pm and melting fast...next month start of no dark at all.
The Arctic is an odd place for sure...
I recommend trying the hurtigtuten from Bergen to kirkenes in Norway. That's a great trip in mid summer.
Hope the far north is treating you well - wonderful country up there 😊
My guess for the secondary dining car décor is 1987!! Although moveable chairs on a train seems quaintly nostalgic for a different age.
Amazing! I did this Tour in 2017 and it was awesome!
Thanks for this Video:)
I rode this train in 1972 as part of a circle trip Malmo, Stockholm, Boden (side trip to Finland), Kiruna (overnight), Narvik, Tromso (by bus), Bergen and Copenhagen. Incredible scenery and since it was late June I got to experience 24 hours of sunlight a day. I had an experience like the locker in Stockholm story posted in the comments. On my return to Boden from Finland I had a 3 hour layover waiting for the train to Kiruna. I went out on a walking tour and when I returned to the train I heard an overhead page that sounded like my name. Going to the train office I learned that I had left my card case in the Finnish train and it had been turned in. Imagine what would have happened had I boarded the train to Kiruna only to find that I had no passport, ticket or money in the north of Sweden on a Sunday!! Closest call to travel disaster I’ve had in 60 years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
@9:20 That's a solid 1980's style carriage.
A friend of mine and me took that train three years ago in the arctic summer (with a stop-over-day at Abisko) and enjoying midnight hiking in the Fjäll and the white nights without sunset.That was amazing.
68 Pound!!! That's close to the price for a ticket from London to Manchester.
Tom Hill bro I live too north Sweden only night trains are cheap
Do you know how to get to that Price ? I look official website the further date possible.. but get Price of 160€. Unless it's the Price given is for one person in a share sleeper... Thanks for the help :)
@@daadirmohamed6580 Well, I'm curious cause i can't get to that price ? could you tell me how would you reach that price ?
benjamin léonet you can easily purchase through SJ app or SJ website. Cheap , clean , and good service
@@daadirmohamed6580 I have tried several date, but couldn't find anything no where 68 £ on the video. Price for a own cabin is about 2000 sek at best. So we far away for the price on video. For example :
Stockholm Central -> Abisko turiststation
Fri 30 Apr 2021, 18:07-11:02 (2087 SEK). Would be very kind if you can check it out for me and tell me how you could get that lower price.
i HAVE TAKEN NUMEROUS LONG DISTANCE TRAIN TRIPS IN THE U.S., Canada, and Europe. This looks like so much fun and can relate to your travel. Thanks for your good video. Rail fan from St. Louis
Really fun to see you travel in "my country", hope you enjoyed it :D
I recommend riding the canadian, it still uses 50s era passenger cars and its well worth the trip scenery wise
Paul reported this train spot on time. The Canadian Via transcontinental trains are usual hours late. They're also expensive.
I really like these non-standard trip reports!
May I suggest the business-class coaches in the Baltics? Lux Express in particular runs coaches between Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and St Petersburg, as well as domestic destinations in Estonia, with coaches that have a Lounge cabin in the back half. I use this product whenever I travel around the region myself, I know it's very popular (often the Lounge seats will sell out before the regular cabin), and it could be interesting to your viewers. Even the regular cabin in these buses is very nice, actually.
AnTyx EE and they have free coffee and chocolate
I did this route April 1 1974 after 18 hrs of travel from Zurich to Stockholm in coach ... no showers on the train back then, but I did have a little sink in the sleeper room, I then travelled 6 more hrs by bus from Narvik to Tromso
@Hello Rick Sterling, How are you doing?
I live in Alaska's Arctic Circle, and I was surprised to see almost the exact scenery in winter as we have. Have you ever ridden one of the Alaskan trains?
Watching in TV. "Railroad Alaska".
Sounds like a dream trip.... I'm a traveller. Been all over the world including Sweden and Finland, but never to the Arctic Circle. One day I'd love to see the Northern Lights. Fingers crossed...
Absolutely love these videos. Keep up the awesome work! Fun and helpful info and while staying personal and interesting.
Norway is beautiful. I grew up a “bit” south of Narvik, in Oslo. Sweden is also pretty, though there are not as many mountains as in Norway. It has been a long time since I moved from Norway, so this made me a bit homesick. I still have family in both Norway and Sweden. Thank you for posting this. Looks like a great trip.
You didn’t mention in your report that Kiruna is also the location of the famous Ice Hotel. Sleep 365 days a year in sub zero temperatures. Awesome place to get married too
Wonderful. I travelled by this line to Narvik in 1980.
8:40 , sounds like Corona haha. took Me a while to figure out hat you meant Kiruna // from a fellow swede
Every time he butchered the pronunciation I said it correctly after him :P
Did the same trip in 1978,but in summer,so the midnight sun was out.Great!
9:57 That carriage you sat on is a type R4 build in the 80's :)
I did that journey the other way in June 2015 as wanted to experience the midnight sun / 24 hour daylight. Even in June the Lake at Rikgransen was frozen and snow on the mountains. I broke my journey and had two nights in Kiruna and did the iron ore mine tour. Caught the afternoon sleeper to Stockholm and like you I had the 3 berth compartment to myself. Excellent value and cheaper than the air fare plus hotel room price if I had flown down from Kiruna. It was nice to start my day in Stockholm shaved, showered, fresh clothes and having had breakfast.
12:40 Riksgränsen just means the Border of the Rike or reich or realm (same word as the hindi word raj actually)
Yes in Hindi it's Raj..like realm or kingdom.
It's a very nice route, however going the same route by car definetly is alot nice and more interesting; You're confronted with reindeer and moose, can just stop at the lakes and actually have an even better view at the fascinating landscape
"This is the end of the line, and it's also the furthest north I've ever been in my life"
Well, I don't want to be _that guy_, but Narvik is at 68°25′14″N 17°33′36″E, and Riksgränsen is at 68°25′40″N 18°07′20″E, so techincally Riksgränsen is further north than Narvik. Sorry mate. ;)
Not further north than the Narvik Station.
@@MegaBanne Ah, yes! You are right. Sorry!
Narvik srarion is at 68°26′30″N, 17°26′30″E, so it IS further nirth than Riksgränsen station, which is at 68°25′32.99″N, 18°07′38.14″E. Sorry! 😳
Magnificent. Not been on a sleeper train since January 78 - and that was just the Caledonian as far as Stirling. Must do more travel - and these sleeper services like wonderful.
Great report 👏👏. I live in Norway, but have never been on this train.
You should also try Bergensbanen, Flåmsbanen, Dovrebanen, Raumabanen and Nordlandsbanen 😁 . A lot of beautiful Norwegian scenery 👍😀
I love your videos, already looking forward to the next one 🙂
I took this trip to Narvik in 1979. The second restaurant car looks like the one from back then. I remember the last couple of hours there was only laxrätt left on the menu, a salmon dish. Very nice though.
Interesting trip. I took it in summer to experience the sunlight 24h a day.
Awesome video mate, and while Im not a great fan of train travel, your adventures put them in a more attractive light...keep them coming, I really look forward to them..cheers from NZ.
@Hello Roger William, How are you doing?
We’ll be doing the same journey later this year when we visit Kiruna, and this helped give us an idea of what to expect, thank you.
Fantastic review as always Paul, always loved your train stuff!
Also, congrats on the sponsor, and well done on the plug; that was one of the smoothest I've ever seen.
The R4 restaurant carriages (the second one) were built 1987-1988. There are only 4 of them left in use.
Yay train!
this is 2nd best train trip report.
Just short of Amtrak Empire builder video.