I stayed two days in Lulea. Without to know many things about the cities in the north of the Sweden i choose this city because there was a beautiful place of interest and because it is the last little important city before the polar circle. It was not easy to find a cheap accomodation and i had the best price for a private room in ‘citysleep hostel’ for 5O euros the night. I had a very small bedroom without windows but it is clean and the common room with kitchen is nice.. But just to sleep it was enought. Moreover the location was great, just beside the city center and the main shopping street.

Lulea is the capital of Norbotten area, with about 70000 inhabitants. The airport is located around 5km from the city center and it is a nice point of departure to explore after the swedish lapland, that it was’nt in my plans. There are many places in Lulea to enjoy the nature, the city is surrounded by the water. And it is a nice place to walk on the paths along the sea. There is also a small beach to go for a swim during the summer, and to make water sport in the sunny season. During the winter all the area is covered by the snow.

First day  i took the bus to reach the border of Finland. In fact there are no trains to go in Finland after Lulea, so the only possibility is to take the bus. But the bus is nice for this kind of travel, it is just a little bit longer. So two hours to reach the border and to be at Happaranda/Tornio.

I spent the other day to visit Gammelstad and to wander a little on the streets in Lulea. Gammelstad was one of my main reason to stay few days in Lulea. And i was not disapointed, this is a very great great and cute place.

Gammelstad is located just 15 minutes from the center of Lulea and it was easily accessible by bus. It is unesco world heritage site. It is a perfect example of a church village of the medieval period. In the past this place was the normal center of Lulea. And it is a unique village that we can find only in this place in Scandinavia. There, 424 typical houses has been built in the 15 century. All the houses are made of wood; with a perfect red color.  It was really a pleasure to walk inside this village, so peacefull and pleasant for the view. A part of these wooden houses are still lodged by the local population. Gammelstad is definitely a place to not miss if you are in the north of Sweden.