Kungsleden complete

The Kungsleden is the longest and most famous hiking trail in Sweden. The entire route takes about a month to walk, but since the trail is divided into separate sections, you can easily adjust the length of your hike. The most popular section is between Abisko and Nikkaluokta.

Facts

Name: Kungsleden - Kings Way
Type: linear hike on well-laid-out and marked paths in northern Sweden, at/above the Arctic Circle.
Starting Point: Abisko
Ending Point: there are three classic endpoints: Nikkaluokta, Kvikkjokk, and Hemavan
Length:
- to Nikkaluokta: 4 long or 7 short hiking days, approx. 100 km. Can be done with a tent or in cabins.
- to Kvikkjokk: about 10 hiking days, approx. 175 km. Can be done with a tent or in cabins.
- to Hemavan: about 4 weeks, approx. 420 km. The section from Kvikkjokk to Hemavan is always done with a tent in practice.
Period: as a hiking trip: late June - early September. Outside this period, essential ferries and bridges are not available. The hike is also done in the spring, on skis, as long as the lakes and rivers are sufficiently frozen.

Overview map

Difficulty and technicality

Good paths. Continuous boardwalks in wet marsh areas. No significant elevation differences.
The harsh and fickle weather of the far north makes the trek considerably more challenging.
Depending on which part of the Kungsleden: the necessity to carry a tent and food.

Stages and variations

The Kungsleden trail consists of 2 parts:

• Abisko – Kvikkjokk (Kungsleden North)
• Kvikkjokk - Hemavan (Kungsleden South)

For those traveling by public transport, the southern part of the Kungsleden between Jakkvik and Hemavan is easily accessible and even feasible without a tent. The segment of the Kungsleden between Kvikkjokk and Jakkvik is known as "the lonely part". The number of crossings is limited to 2 by motorboat and one of 300m by rowing boat, near Jäkkvik.

In the far north of Sweden, thus fully in the realm of the midnight sun, somewhere halfway between Kiruna and the Norwegian port town of Narvik, we find Abisko. It is the gateway to the eponymous National Park and a starting point of the Kungsleden or King's Trail.

Kvikkjokk can also be the starting point for a hike on the Padjelantaleden.

In 2021, a new section between Hemavan and Borgafjäll was opened. This was named Lapplandsleden. Length 190 km. There are huts about every 20 km, but some of them are small emergency huts. Info on Naturkartan and on the website of Västerbotten.

Tip: Avoid the period when the 'Fjällraven Classic' takes place, as this event attracts an unprecedented mass of people to this region and although it may lower barriers, it also takes away that spirit of pioneering.

Kebnekaise Fjällstation is the starting point for the climb to Kebnekaise, the highest peak of Sweden. The ascent requires a well-filled extra day. The Western Route can be done solo and consists of light alpinism (F). The Eastern Route also includes walking on a glacier and a section secured with fixed ropes. Equipment can be rented in the cabin and/or a mountain guide can be booked.

• In about ten hiking days you cover 175 km on foot between Abisko and Kvikkjokk (southward - the most popular hiking direction).
• For the section Abisko – Kebnekaise Fjällstation – Nikkaluokta, this is only 100 km, to be done in 4 to 7 days, at your choice. This is done in both directions. Since 1/3 of this trail actually does not lie on the Kungsleden, it was once named the Dag Hammarskjoldleden, after one of the most influential Swedish politicians. However, commerce has won: this trail is now better known as the route of the Fjällraven Classic, an event that attracts several thousand trekkers for one week each year. They head towards Abisko.

The name Kungsleden: What's in a name

The Kungsleden was the first major project of the newly established Swedish Tourist Association STF. The completion of the railway to Kiruna and Narvik in 1902 marked the beginning; the first STF huts were some barracks of the railroads in Abisko, and the first stretch of path was already laid during the construction of the railway. The huts of Abiskojaure and Kebnekaise quickly followed, along with the establishment of the national parks of Abisko and Stora Stöfjallet.

It was not until around 1928 that the name Kungsleden first appeared. At that time, the hiking route was limited to Abisko - Kvikkjokk.

This must be understood within the political climate of that period, where the Sámi were seen as a problem from Oslo and Stockholm. They were not culturally regarded as equal, and they posed some hindrance to the exploitation of that interesting area for fishing, mining, and hydropower. Using a name that was closely or distantly related to Lapland or the Sámi would have been a public relations blunder at the time. The name Kungsleden had the opposite effect: a solid nationalist name.

The Kungsleden has always grown slowly, quietly, without much fanfare. That it is being extended to Borgafjäll in 2021 is thus building on a long tradition of STF. Choosing the name Lapplandsleden for this new section says much about the changed perception in which the Sámi are again given and take space to experience their uniqueness.

Will hikers in Ábeskovvu start their trek on the Lapplandsleden in 10 years?

Public transportation and accessibility

By car

Through the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark to Sweden.

Bridges: those who use both the Storebaelt and the Oresund bridge travel 200 km around compared to almost any combination of ferries. Compare the rates for the type of vehicle you are using via www.storebaelt.dk and www.oresund.com.

Ferries:

• From Jutland to Sweden: see www.stenaline.com. The crossing between Grenaa and Varberg is cheaper than Fredrikshavn – Gothenburg.
• From Germany to Sweden: www.scandlines.dk (the drawback is that you need to reserve 2 short crossings and it is also more expensive than the longer crossing between Jutland and Sweden).

Public transport:

• With Ryanair to an airport near Stockholm. Then by train to Abisko (www.sj.se)
• Buses in Norrbotten (return from Kvikkjokk, Nikkaluokta or Vakkotavare and Saltoluokta (Kebnats): www.ltnbd.se (Länstrafiken Norrbotten)

Topographical maps and guides

Survey map: Landmäteriet Fjällkarta (Scale: 1/100.000)

Nowadays can be printed from the website

• BD 6: Abisko – Kebnekaise
• BD 8: Kebnekaise – Saltoluokta
• BD10: Sareks Nationalpark (needed for the section Saltoluokta – Kvikkjokk)
• BD12 Fjällkartan Arjeplog
• BD14 Fjällkartan Kvikkjokk - Jäkkvik
• BD16: Vuoggatjalme – Ammarnas (for Jakkvik – Adolfsstrom – Ammarnas)
• AC 2: Hemavan – Norra Storfjallet – Gardsjon

Digital maps from Freizeitkarten.de

Signposting

Bivouacking and accommodation

The only exception to the normal rules: in the small Abisko National Park there is a bivouacking prohibition; there are camping zones at the cabins of Abisko and Abiskojaure and at Nissonjohka.

Supply options along the way

Useful resources

Kungsleden on RoVer's blog

Kungsleden on STF website

Kungsleden on Naturkartan

Trip reports

• Kungsleden Hemavan - Abisko (Mathias Wielinga)

• Ski tour around Kebnekaise (Matti Baggerman)

• A round trip around Sarek along 2 famous routes (RoVer)

• On the Swedish King's Trail (Wouter)

• Kungsleden (RoVer)

• Lapland – Kungsleden and Padjelantaleden (Koen)

• Southern Kungsleden: Ammarnas - Hemavan (RoVer)

• 7 days Kungsleden and Kebnekaise: from Abisko to Nikkaluokta (Kenneth)

• Abisko - Kebnekaise - Nikkaluokta (Griet Bouciqué)

• Nordkalottleden and Kungsleden, self-charted (Frankie Debruyne)

• Kungsleden from Abisko to Nikkaluokta (Bart Caers)

• Hiking in Padjelanta and Sarek (Frans)

• 14-day trek in the endless Lapland (Koen VO)