Forward apology for lack of pictures on this post – I must get better at documenting the journey and not just the destination!
Most people would consider it a little crazy odd to opt to go on holiday with their in laws but when my Mother in Law suggested a trip to Swedish Lapland for her birthday I found myself agreeing and booking pretty quickly. As a group of 6 (joined by some family friends) I didn’t feel too daunted by the fact and in reality it was wonderful. I am very lucky with the family I married into and as a result of that we had a great time!!
Our holiday started with a drive to Gatwick airport, a quick coffee before meeting our “tour manager” and checking in. We had booked on a Great Rail Journeys trip and our guide was Chris. It was a large group of 32 so a brand new experience for us who had only been on a 6 person trip to Uzbekistan.
A little too excited for SNOW!
Once checked and and wandered round the airport we were ready to leave and really start our journey. The flight to Stockholm was a couple of hours with Norwegian and was fine as you would expect from short haul European flights. The only downside was being sat next to each other but in aisle seats which meant I had no hands to squeeze during takeoff or landing. This happened again to Luleå and on the flight home! Downside to group bookings!!
Once we arrived at Stockholm we were delayed so had a very short transfer time between one terminal and another to catch the next flight. Queue, rushing to leave the plane, short bus trip, through passport control, legging it to another terminal, pass through security again and make it to check in. The only casualty in the end was a bag of duty free wine which got left on the transfer bus!
We all made it in the end but I wouldn’t recommend such a short amount of time between flights given that they aren’t reliable and a 15 minute walk in between terminals.
First night view from our room
Front of the hotel
The rest of the evening, check in and dinner went without much to note apart from the English pub – The Bishop Arms – next door to the hotel (which kicked off our beer drinking for the trip.)
Our hotel was the Elite Stadshotellet in central Luleå which had lovely big rooms and bathrooms, good breakfast and a nice atmosphere. You can’t really complain when their is an inside corridor between reception and pub!!
