November 2021

Orit is a licensed tour guide for Sweden and started her company Luxury Beyond which designs custom journeys throughout Scandinavia and Northern Europe. The company's niche travel specialties include Adventure, Food & Wine, Art & Architecture, and Wellness.
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Q. What should travelers know about journeying to Swedish Lapland and staying in hotels like the ICEHotel?
A. Winter and summer in Swedish Lapland are 2 completely different worlds. Summer has its special charms, you have sunlight nearly 24 hours every day, fantastic hiking and fishing opportunities here, you can go fishing in the Jukkas river for perch and trout. One should consider that there are a few mosquitos, but that shouldn’t be a turn-off. It’s really beautiful in summer and I don’t think most people consider this region for non-winter activities. We do have this thing with winter, though, and most people believe it must be pitch dark because the sun doesn’t rise. This far North, it’s a different level of black and of the dark is blue and it’s amazing. It’s also a natural phenomenon, it's called kaamos --which gives the arctic and area north a certain magical appeal. 

Q. What's your favorite part about this destination?
A. We like to send our guests to Kiruna, Sweden’s northern-most town, which was a village built on top of a mine. Here, in the summer you get to meet with the Sami people and visit their reindeer in the meadows. And, in the winter, you can try your own hand at driving a sled pulled by their reindeer. The Sami are the indigenous people of the North. You’ll find them in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, as well. They resemble the Inuit people from Alaska. They do come from Asia; they have been populating the Nordic countries long before white European people first arrived. To meet and interact with the Sami people is one of the must-do’s in this region and should not be missed. Summer or winter: sitting by the fire, listening to the stories they tell. 

Q. Can you give us an over-the-top experience you can arrange for clients here?
A. Winter or summer, it's very cool to visit SSC - the Swedish Space Corporation. While it's possible to stop by on your own; visitors go, see a bit, have a coffee, and you just remain in the visitor center. The SSC is part of a worldwide chain that monitors satellites; it also plays a big role in the education of astronauts. What we do -- that no one else can do – is arrange for clients to visit accompanied by the only astronaut in the Nordics, who will take them on a behind-the-scenes tour of the space center. It’s a completely out-of-the-box experience that mesmerizes both kids and adults. The SSC is a very important station because it’s so close to Russia. 

Q. What are the entry requirements for visiting Sweden?
A. Sweden re-opens its borders for fully vaccinated Americans on November 5th. It was always possible to come via Iceland with vaccines and negative PCR tests. Sweden had been open for a few months and then decided to close its borders to US travelers when the US was designated a Red Zone by the EU. Even when Sweden shut its borders, many of our clients decided to divert slightly either through Iceland or come via Copenhagen, Denmark. Only direct flights from the US into Sweden -- like those to Stockholm -- were the ones Americans were not permitted to enter the country by. Entering from any other country was fine. Americans can fly on nonstop flights again starting November 5th. It's been a bit confusing, but these are the clearest details here.

Q. What makes this region better than before?
A. It did take a while, with the pandemic, but for this area, the ICEHOTEL, my preferred one here, is even better. First, it's open 365 days a year. And you know that it changes every year, different artists and creators come to design new suites. They start building the suites as soon as the Jukkas River freezes, so they cut beautiful crystal-clear ice from the river, and sculpt exquisitely designed suites.  In winter, it’s pure magic, but most guests would manage maybe10 minutes before they'd want to go to the bathroom, and they have to go outside of their suite in -40° C weather. That's not very sexy. Now normally, if you went, you would have a warm back-up room in a standard hotel building. There were no bathrooms in the ice suites, but now there are beautiful rooms where you have your own en suite and your own sauna, and to get there from your suite, it's well-insulated in between.  What we like to do, that's very exciting and magical is instead of a car transfer from the airport, we arrange a dogsled. They supply all the clothes necessary for the weather, you get into the sled and they whisk you away to the ICEHOTEL. It's pure excitement. 

Q. Are all tourist attractions/facilities/services open?
A. Yes, with one exception: Jukkasjarvi Church, which is a historic wooden church, it’s not so easy to visit. We can arrange that with advance notice. There is also a church at the ICEHOTEL with an ice altar and ice pews and it’s a great place to do a vow renewal ceremony or get married if you do all the paperwork needed for getting married in Sweden. It's very different from Las Vegas or Reno. (laughs).

Q. Are all excursions available?
A. Absolutely, yes. There are some tours that are entirely seasonal, and were long before COVID, like a biking tour you wouldn’t take that in winter, but everything is running.

Q. What’s it like to dine out, go shopping, and go on tour around the country?
A. No one is wearing masks, everything is open, and the food scene is mind-blowing. Typically we start guests off in Stockholm for a few days before heading north. There are amazing, Michelin-starred restaurants. Also, the shopping is phenomenal, being an American the VAT is 25% so you’ll get back 18% when you submit your receipts at the airport. 

We are doing a 2-week program for guests that starts off in Iceland, and before they go up to Lapland for their adventure at the ICEHOTEL, I have them do a few nights in Stockholm just in time for December 13th, St. Lucia Day, which is huge all over Sweden. They are going to do foodie tours; Stockholm is so Christmas-y. They are staying at The Grand Hotel where there is a big Lucia procession, with white gowns and lights in the girls' hair.  It gives you chills, it’s so spiritual. And the song is…(laughs) now I’m getting chills. If you want you can also go across the bay to the Cathedral, with a full-scale Lucia service, songs, and candles, and outside of the Cathedral, there’s the Christmas market, which has been there since the Middle Ages....since Stockholm became Stockholm. And it’s the same families at the stalls, year after year, selling gluwein, handicrafts, and food. You get to experience all this warmth and a spiritual sense that you are not just “here” in the space. It’s a great feeling that we are all part of a bigger, longer chain in history, that no matter where you come from, whether you’re Jewish, or Christian, or Buddhist, if you’re there, you belong. This is the sparkle of Sweden!

As travel resumes, we are revisiting some of the best images from years past.  Please #planethoppers your Instagram photos so we may follow all your future journeys!