
DIS Blog
Slow traveling to Abisko auroras
Last spring, DIS Stockholm student Jocelyn (she/her Vanderbilt University) took an overnight train to Abisko, a town in northern Sweden, to chase down the northern lights.
Read her story below to learn about her slow travel journey to the Arctic Circle, from start to finish.

It started with the longest train ride I have ever taken in my life.
Round trip, my roommate, Khanh, and I were on a train for about 29 hours total.
However, they passed by quicker than you might expect. There were beautiful views during daylight, especially during sunrise and sunset, of snow-topped evergreens and glittery mountain slopes that kept me well-occupied. One of the best aspects of slow travel, if I do say so myself.


I could only sleep when I had two seats to myself and could lie down, rolled up like a literal Swedish cinnamon bun. (One of the benefits of being short is that I can fit in places like these.) I wish we had been able to book a sleeper seat for the full overnight experience, but they were unfortunately already sold out. The sleeper carts did look comfy though.
Beyond the beautiful views, there were also bathrooms on board and options for food, like sandwiches, coffee, and even reindeer jerky if you’re feeling curious.
Arctic travel tip 1: Book things early if you can!
I highly recomend you book train seats early, especially if you want a bed in a sleeper car. We bought tickets a month before our travel day, but we were still unable to get beds for the night rain. Accomodations can also be scarce! So planning ahead is key.
I used the site for VY, a rail company operating in northern Sweden, for booking train tickets securely.

Exploring the Swedish Lapland
After our overnight train, we arrived to Abisko the next day and went off to spend some time hiking in Abisko National Park.
We didn’t have much of a plan going in and were so surprised by how stunning the mountains were! The sun, sky, and clouds laid over the peaks, lighting and shadowing the landscape into an impressionist painting come to life, blanketed with soft pastels that gave the cold views a juxtaposing coziness. Khanh and I had never seen mountains that big and snowy before or even been anywhere so wintry, so it was amazing to see that they were all around Abisko.
It was difficult to comprehend the scale of the mountains. The trees that were more than double my height were only pinpricks on the slope. Even people (near the bottom left of the above photo), who are not even close to the mountain’s base, are dwarfed by it!
Arctic travel tip 2: Bring a ski mask or a scarf if traveling to the Arctic!
We were layered up well enough to be warm except for our faces. The cold ironically burns so bad, so cover up. In general though, definitely have at least three layers on, both top and bottom. And most of all, do not forget gloves if you value your fingers!

Another thing I found fascinating was the effect of footsteps on snow. We’ll see the standard boot tracks, snowmobile tracks, cross-country ski tracks, dog tracks, and the occasional smaller animal tracks, but sometimes we see phenomena like this below.
I’d guess that the weight of the footsteps compressed the snow within each step, strengthening its integrity, while the softer snow around the tracks is blown away by the wind and leaves these interesting, little structures behind. (Upon further research I do think I’m right.)



Some trees were surprisnlgy still quite green, despite the cold. Others were just very tiny.
We continued walking for about three or so hours. We got lost a couple of times because we couldn’t take our planned hiking route. The snow was too soft on unworn paths and we would keep sinking to our knees without snowshoes…
Tip: The tourist stations or hotel receptions may rent snowshoes out!
Arctic Travel Tip 3: Get help from locals
For example, the tourist stations or hotel receptions may rent out snowshoes – they really do help!
Only one restaurant?
We stopped and had a nice dinner at Brasserie Fjällköket, which was a short walk away from our accomodations. It seemed to us like this might actually be the only restaurant in the entire area? It has a lovely, ambient setting, but you need a reservation and it is quite a bit pricey, as many things are in the Arctic.
Khanh and I shared a starter, entrée, and dessert for a total of around 600 SEK. We had a peculiar pea soup (I think there was some horseradish in there throwing us off), an absolutely delicious suova, and a crème brûlée.
Suova is a dish made from dry-salted, smoked, and cured reindeer meat which we had alongside a savory gravy, pillowy mashed potatoes, tart lingonberries, and refreshing pickled cucumbers that all complemented each other perfectly. It was definitely similar in composition and flavor to a plate of Swedish meatballs! They also started us off with bread and seed crackers which I really quite liked.




There is also a grocery store nearby, where we picked up cheap meals, as well as a box of cute, little, heart-shaped ginger snaps that I’m absolutely obsessed with.
Finally, the northern lights
Now, for the main reason we dragged ourselves this far north. Going in, we honestly thought we wouldn’t see anything. The forecast was cloudy all weekend, and the KP index used to predict aurora activity was relatively low. Moreover, nobody we knew had successfully seen the lights so far, so despite 2024 being a very active year of auroras, we were not feeling optimistic.
Our receptionist recommended that we go to the pier at Lake Torneträsk to view the northern lights, which is a 10-minute walk from our stay at the Abisko Guesthouse and known for offering clearer sight of the skies due to the water and lower amounts of light pollution. I do have to warn you, it’s quite windy by the water.
Arctic travel tip 4: Get an aurora forecast app!
I used one called “My Aurora Forecast & Alerts” and kept an eye on the KP index, cloud coverage, and local sightings to decide that 22:30 would be a good time to head out, but it could be different for you.
We hadn’t even quite reached the lake’s shore when the clouds parted and we caught our first glimpses of emerald sheens, glowing over the stars with an almost nebulous effect.
It sounds cliché, but there are truly no words to describe how fantastical it is. It is awe-inspiring to see the lights rippling and dancing as if they were alive, tuned to music we could only feel, not hear. It’s the closest thing to magic that I will ever experience in my life, I’m sure of it. I lasted maybe five minutes before I started tearing up.
Some of the first subtle glimmers we caught…

…and then the aurora in full force.


So yeah, it was amazing. I still haven’t gotten over how absolutely lucky we were.
The next day, Lake Torneträsk
The next morning, we only had a bit of time before we had to catch our train at 12, so we took a short trek to the same lake as last night, just to see it during the day.

We saw some beautiful interplay between the sun, clouds, and mountains that almost appeared mythological to me, like someone was coming down from the heavens to smite something.
The lake was a lovely spot. We got clearer views of some mountains and I could only imagine how beautiful it would be in the summer with the peaks reflecting off the lake. Instead, however, we saw a cute, little house on the ice. Or maybe it was on an island. I really couldn’t tell.

Arctic travel tip 5: Double check train stops
It was a bit confusing for us at first, but there are two main areas in Abisko, with two different train stops. We stayed by Abisko Östra, but there is also Abisko Turiststation, which is a bit farther on the tracks. They’re different, and I’ve been told that Abisko Turiststation is a bit farther from the lake, so keep those in mind when booking tickets and housing.
Reflections
Our mode of taking the train also allowed us to appreciate the distance we were traveling, experiencing how far north we were going by seeing the scenery change. Just as great, it costs half as much and is more sustainable than airplanes, which have much greater carbon emissions. We had a good time employing the slow travel methods the Swedes, and I would think a fair amount of Europeans in general, are fond of.
That being said, we did have to make some sacrifices. We arrived back in Stockholm at 8 in the morning on Monday, and we both had a class to make it to at 10, so our Monday was even more painful than usual.
But it was absolutely worth it. Seeing the northern lights was a lifetime bucket list item of mine that I never truly thought I’d actually be able to do. I was already loving Stockholm, but this experience may have cemented studying abroad in Sweden as the best decision I have ever made in my life.
But because we weren’t expecting to see any auroras, we relaxed a bit more and were more in the moment since we weren’t constantly thinking ahead. Having hefty expectations of an experience can make us too pigeonholed on the perceived idea of something rather than enjoying what we do have.
“The best things in life are like auroras. Natural. In states of change. Beautiful, in their unpredictable serendipity, and just as memorable for it.”
Instead, we should let ourselves be surprised by the unexpected delights, and that is probably my biggest takeaway from this trip. The best things in life are like auroras. Natural. In states of change. Beautiful, in their unpredictable serendipity, and just as memorable for it.
