Sweden Sports & Outdoors Tips by Sjalen Top 5 Page for this destination

Trotting

Trotting is a huge sport in Sweden (otherwise mainly found in the USA, France, Germany, Italy and the other Nordic countries). There are courses in the tree biggest cities and several others. See where on the website below. There are several ways to bet both in individual races (winner, 1-3rd place) and in various meeting combinations such as the "Daily double" where you pick the winners in two races, V75 where you select some horses you think might win the 7 classiest races, and so on) and it's also fun to go there just to see a typical day out for many Swedes who bring their own chairs and picnic. Solvalla in Stockholm is the biggest course in the country, but can be a bit too big for the genuine atmosphere. For that I would recommend small town courses like Kalmar or Axevalla (Skara) where you get close to both people and horses and where some even have camp sites and people stay for a whole week's summer meeting sometimes.

Equipment: Luck and your favourite pen. As much money as you can afford to lose.

Snowmobiling

To be ctd.

Theme: Other

Nordic skiing

to be ctd.

Theme: Skiing/Snowboarding

Downhill skiing

to be ctd.

Theme: Skiing/Snowboarding

Sailing and boating

I have read somewhere that Sweden has more pleasure boats than any other nation per capita and I can well believe that. With the long coastline and 90 000 lakes I mentioned in the fishing tip, it is hardly surprising that people spend a lot of times on water here and any waterside town wanting to attract new residents try to do so with cheap jetty rentals and so on. You don't need much money to buy a small boat but if you do have a lot there are huge yachts too. There is the constant battle between the West and the East coast with the West coast locals dismissing the Baltic Sea and calling it a lake :)))

If you want to sail, Gothenburg is an excellent start with the Royal Gothenburg club and the archipelagoes around it inviting to weeks of sailing. Here, the island town of Marstrand is THE yachting hub but any village you visit will have a fishing history and lots of sailors. The major regatta is around the island of Tjörn whilst the neighbouring island of Orust is famous for boatbuilding. If you want to stay on the East coast, Sandhamn in the outer Stockholm archipelago is a major yachting hub with the Royal club, organising the famous Gotland Runt regatta.

Other places with great sailing and boating possibilities are Västervik which is known for its boat constructing, World maritime heritage Karlskrona, Luleå in the north with its archipelago, the High Coast which is a World Heritage, and the northern peninsulas of Scania where you can hop across to Denmark. Then there are the big lakes Vänern and Vättern and of course the Göta Canal between Lake Vänern and the Baltic Sea, also known as the "Divorce Ditch" as it can be trying to marriages to holiday along it :)))

Finally, there are old school ships from bygone days sailing around between the archipelagoes. Some have sailing courses, some relaxation retreats and all sorts of other themes.

Equipment: You can rent dinghies in Stockholm city centre (see Stockholm page). Otherwise, ask the tourist offices for current listings of boat rentals or yachts you can join.

Theme: Boating/Sailing

Fishing

Having more than 90 000 lakes, many rivers and a loooong coastline, Sweden has some excellent fishing opportunities. You need fishing licenses for most places but the local tourist offices and/or sport shops can help you with that. Many tourist offices organise package fishing tours (especially in the north where transport is scarce) but you can also do it alone.

In the south of Sweden, the river Mörrum is world famous for its salmon and other fish (the tackle industry ABU was founded in the nearby village of Svängsta...) and in County Halland you will find the rivers Ätran and Lagan full of fishing opportunities if you visit the towns of Halmstad and Falkenberg. Apart from those really famous ones, most lakes and coastlines here have various opportunities and in Scania in the far south you can for instance go trolling between Sweden and Denmark whilst the East coast further up have whole archipelagoes. The West cost north of Gothenburg is THE fishing centre of Sweden (look at all the fish restaurants in the city) and here you almost just need to chat up the local fishermen to have a go at places like Hönö island and the many fishing villages like Smögen, Klädesholmen, Grebbestad and many, many more.

Stockholm itself is famous for the fact that you can fish just outside the Parliament but there are lots of other possibilities in the archipelago and Lake Mälaren alike.

The north has so much it is impossible to list it all here but the major, majestic rivers are full of fish and the four northernmost are protected from hydropower development so there fishing is very good. Then there is good fishing around the main highland lakes such as Storuman. There are also famous winter fishing competitions here, such as at Torneträsk outside Kiruna where people spend a day on the ice. In summer, DO remember to bring mosquito repellant up here!

Theme: Fishing Trips

Website: http://www.sportfiskarna.se/sportfiskarna/

Riding

Sweden has more horses per person than anywhere in Europe! There are 30 horses for every 1000 people in the country these days, after a depressing lull in the 1960s when the cavalry had mostly disappeared and farming had modernised. Only Ireland comes close to that figure and since many horses are used for trekking, I suppose it is because we are such a nation of outdoor lovers with a reverence for nature. On horseback it is easy to get close to nature. Even wild animals in the forest don't smell you and run, since they smell only the horse...

For forest trekking, the small but surefooted Icelandic horses are VERY popular. If you look for "Turridning" (trekking) in the yellow pages (or ask the local tourist office), you will often come across Icelandic stables everywhere. There are also national breeds to discover, such as the Swedish warmblood which is best seen at the National Stud in Flyinge outside Lund and the Gotland pony ("russ"), which can be found wild in Lojsta on the island of Gotland. Finally, there is a North Swedish draught horse which is used for forestry and for trotting but also seen in other areas. These can be seen at for instance Vången outside Krokom in Jämtland. Trotting is indeed a popular sport too (see separate tip) and beats racing. Many "failed" trotting horses also become cheap family horses which is another reason for the many horses in Sweden. If you want to take riding lessons, note that riding schools are often fully booked and demand advance registration (especially in the major cities) but trekking centres also sometimes offer school riding.

For those of you who want to see international show jumping and dressage, the biggest shows are Göteborg (early spring), Falsterbo (July), and Stockholm (November). There is also eventing on the beach in central Malmö in August (see Malmö page)! Whitsun sees the main national championships for both horse and pony at the famous Strömsholm Castle (near Västerås) which is the national equestrian education centre.

Equipment: Most places will lend you a hard hat for their tours so just bring sturdy footwear if you intend to ride yourself.

Directions: Flyinge is outside Lund, Strömsholm outside Västerås, Falsterbo is south of Malmö and, in general, you will find lots of equestrianism in Scania (Skåne), Östergötland (Linköping area) and the Gothenburg region due to the agricultural plains there.

Website: http://www.ridsport.se

Icehockey

During winter, football gives way to the hockey season which is a hard time in Sweden for those who do not like it since it seems to be on telly almost every evening. Personally, I watch the Olympics and World Championships but the problem with hockey is that it has so many OTHER important cups which are also transmitted and which makes it boring since if Sweden didn't win one, it can still win another so which country IS the best??? Anyroad, watching hockey live can be great fun and the two top divisions Elitserien and Allsvenskan have teams from all over the country battling it out. Games in Stockholm are often played in the huge Globen arena or nearby Hovet depending on division and there are several teams. Dalarna with towns like Leksand and Mora is another interesting region but there is also Link?ping, Karlstad (F?rjestad), G?teborg (Fr?lunda) and J?nk?ping (HV71) to name a few towns with "reliable" teams these days.

Equipment: The site below has everything you need in English including not only fixtures but all the...ehum...vital statistics. Click on "games online" for instance...

Theme: Sports Watching

Website: http://www.swehockey.se/