Luleå Activities - Lapland 2011/12

Luleå has so much to see & do ......
Luleå offers some very unique and special winter excrusions and activities. The Old Town is on the UNESCO world hertiage protection register, test your driving skills around an ice track on a frozen lake or take a hovercraft tour (highly recommended by Simply Sweden) out to the pack ice (a wall of ice in the Luleå archipelago).

Hovercraft to the pack ice (ice wall) ** Recommended **

We cannot recommend this excurion highly enough. Anders is your hovercraft pilot and Anna is your chef. Following the 30min transfer out to the islands you will meet Anders & Anna. Following a short safety briefing it's time to step inside the hovercraft. It's a little noisey in there but communication is easy through the intercom. A guided tour of the archipelago as you head out to the pack ice hovering 30cm above the ice. No one quite knows where it will be or what it will look like as the wind and ice movement can change daily. After some photos and time to take in the scenery you'll head to a little log cabin located on a island for a delicious lunch hosted by Anna. If conditions for pack-ice are not ideal then the islands of Kluntarna and Brändöskär with small idillc fishing-villages offer a great alternative. With a little luck you may see seals and sea eagles!
Available 24Jan to 29Apr on Tue, Thur & Sun. Min 2 adults. There can be up to 5 people on this tour. 2hr30 tour, 3hr15 incl transfers.
Price £255 per person

Test your skills driving on ice! The beautifully set lake Ebbenjarka is covered by solid arctic ice during wintertime and upon it six different tracks are prepared. Challenge yourself or your friends in a car and/or cross cart in the extreme conditions when simply staying on track may be difficult. The cars in this activity are older Volvos in which you may practice sliding into corners, braking on slippery straights and avoiding surprise obstacles on the track. The carts are also fantastic fun and a different experience as you are so close to the ground. With 25 kilometres of ice tracks on the lake you will enjoy two hours of fun and adventure and take home some fantastic memories. The vehicles are prepared with special winter tires but should you go too far out into the snowy side of the track the instructors will provide assistance. Time is divided between driving cars and cross carts under expert supervision.
Available Jan to Apr Mon, Wed & Fri 9-12, Tue & Thurs 6pm-9pm. 2hr activity. 3hrs incl transfers. Min 2 adults.
Price £190 per person

Ice Breaker ** Recommended **

Travelling by sea - quite important to mankind but made impossible by climate in the strong arctic winter. Only since the steam-engined steel vessels of the 19th century has it been possible to operate the channels of the northern seas in wintertime. Experience the might and the wide-open spaces of the ice-covered sea. Listen to the sound of ice blocks being crushed against the hull of the boat Arctic Explorer and get a glimpse of what little man can do in the hands of nature. The tour includes about 1 hour of ice-breaking and if the ice of the Bothnian Bay is not thick enough the Arctic Explorer will go upstream the River Piteå instead where there is plenty of thick ice to break. Meanwhile the passengers can stroll around the boat, both in- and outside, visit the captain on the bridge and the non-restricted areas of the engine-room. After about 30 minutes’ journeying the boat stops and the passengers are allowed out onto the ice and for those who dare is the chance of trying to swim among the ice floes dressed in a survival-suit!
Available on Saturdays 7Jan to 14Apr 2hrs on ice breaker. 10am-2pm incl transfers.
Price £200 per person

Sami cultural experience
We visit the Eriksson forest Sámi family at Flakaberg. Lars Eriksson will show you the reindeers and tell us about the Sámi life in the past and today. Typical lunch served in wooden tee-pee around the campfire at the beautiful Gorgim lake. Shorter hike in the surroundings together with Lars. An opportunity to experience the interesting forest Sámi culture.
Available daily throughout the year.
Price £175 per person

Luleå Gammelstad (Old Town)
Gammelstad Church Town was included in UNESCO´s World Heritage List in 1996. Gammelstad is an outstanding example of a Northern Scandinavian church town. More than 400 cottages, which were used on Sundays and during major religious festivals, markets and local courts, are grouped around the late medieval stone church in Gammelstad. The cottages served as overnight stop for parishioners who lived too far away to make the journey to the church and back in one day. The City of Luleå was founded around the old church in the 17th century. Today Gammelstad consists of a unique assortment of church cottages, year-round dwellings and public buildings. The church cottages are still used in a traditional way.
Price £51 per person