Sweden is a long, thin country that runs from farmland at the latitude of Denmark to bare tundra north of the Arctic Circle, with forest covering most of what lies in between. The one geographic fact that shapes every trip: the mountains sit along the western border in the far north, so the terrain you get depends far more on how far north you go than on which coast you choose.
Three bands, south to north
Visit Sweden splits the country into three regions, and the split follows the landscape. Southern Sweden is the flat, open part: Skåne’s fields, the west-coast islands of Bohuslän, and the two Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland. Middle Sweden holds Stockholm and its archipelago, plus the lake-and-forest counties of Värmland and Dalarna. Northern Sweden is the mountain and Arctic zone, where Kiruna, Abisko and the ski town of Åre sit.
The climate follows the same gradient. SMHI’s normals for the period from 1991 to 2020 put the annual mean temperature at +7 to +9 °C in the south and 0 to -2 °C in the north. Rain and snow are lopsided too: the east coasts and the inland north get roughly 400 to 600 mm a year, while the mountains and the west of Götaland get more than 1,000 mm. Month-by-month figures for each city are in the climate guide.
The mountains
The Scandinavian mountain chain, called the fjäll in Swedish, forms the border with Norway and only reaches serious height in the north. Kebnekaise, the highest point, stands at 2,096.8 m, which sounds modest until you remember it rises from near sea level at the tree line. The classic way through the range is Kungsleden, the King’s Trail, which runs just over 450 km between Abisko and Hemavan. The Swedish Tourist Association keeps 16 mountain huts along it, spaced 10 to 20 km apart, so you can walk hut to hut without a tent. The northern end starts inside Abisko National Park, an easy train ride from Kiruna.
North of the Arctic Circle, at roughly 66.5°N, the light does strange things. In Kiruna the midnight sun runs from 29 May to 14 July, 47 days without a sunset in SMHI’s worked example, while the polar night in midwinter lasts 27 days. Plan an Arctic trip around one or the other; the shoulder weeks give you neither.
Forest, the default landscape
Statistics Sweden’s land-use survey found that two thirds of the land area is forest, and in Västernorrland and Gävleborg counties the share reaches nearly 90 per cent. In practice this means that once you leave a city, pine and spruce are the view from every train window from Skåne to the tree line. Most of it is working forest, not wilderness, which is why the protected areas matter: Sweden has 31 national parks and was the first country in Europe to create them, on 24 May 1909. The points of interest guide lists the ones worth a detour.
Coasts and islands
Sweden’s two coasts feel different. The east coast on the Baltic is fragmented into archipelagos: the Stockholm archipelago alone counts about 30,000 islands, skerries and rocks and stretches 80 km east from the city, reachable by ordinary public ferries from Stockholm. Further north, the High Coast is a World Heritage site because the land is still rebounding from the weight of the ice sheet: the old shoreline on Skuleberget now lies 286 m above the sea, and the coast keeps rising at about 8 mm a year.
The west coast is rockier and saltier, with the bare granite islands of Bohuslän north of Gothenburg; the Gothenburg archipelago and Marstrand are the easy day trips. Out in the Baltic, Gotland has the walled town of Visby, and Öland is the other large island, reached from Kalmar.
Practical tips: the right of public access
Allemansrätten, the right of public access, is what makes this landscape usable. The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2025 handbook sets out the terms:
- You may pitch a tent on most land; one or two nights is the rule of thumb, out of sight and earshot of homes, and away from crops and livestock. Groups with several tents need the landowner’s permission.
- You may pick wild berries, mushrooms and flowers in moderation, but some plants are protected by law and off limits; the county board publishes the list.
- Campfires are allowed when conditions are safe, and you carry full responsibility. No open fires at all during a fire ban. Call 112 if a fire gets out of control.
- Dogs must be on a leash from 1 March to 20 August, and always in reindeer-herding areas.
- None of this covers motor vehicles: a campervan or rooftop tent gets no camping right from the law.
What to check before you go
- Fire bans are local and change with the weather; check the county board’s current status before lighting anything.
- Ticks carry TBE in risk zones that the Public Health Agency maps each year; it recommends vaccination for adults and children from 3 years who will be exposed in the highest-risk zone; the health guide has the detail.
- Driving to the mountains or the north in winter means winter tyres, which are compulsory in winter conditions from 1 December to 31 March.
- Confirm hut opening dates with the Swedish Tourist Association before you commit to a hut-to-hut route on Kungsleden.