interview
Tips from the experts
Reindeer, northern lights, endless forests: that’s how magical it is in Lapland
In Lapland, travelers can see the northern lights from September to March – here in the north of Sweden
© Getty Images
The Lapland region is not a typical travel destination. Journalist Tilmann Bünz explains in an interview why a holiday in the far north is worthwhile. He traveled to Lapland in every season for his book “Right of Way for Reindeer”.
You have been to Lapland at all times of the year – when is it the most beautiful?
Autumn and spring are recommended. Then the weather and landscape are particularly impressive. If you want to see the northern lights, you should travel to Lapland between September and March. For 400 years, on the first weekend in February, the Sami in Jokkmokk have been holding a large winter market where they sell goods and holidaymakers can learn more about the indigenous people.
Tilmann Bünz was ARD’s foreign correspondent for Northern Europe and today works as a documentary filmmaker and travel writer. For his book “Right of Way for Reindeer” he traveled Lapland on foot, on touring skis, by scooter and alongside reindeer.
© Sara Arnald
And which natural highlights shouldn’t travelers miss?
For me it is the Royal Route (Kungsleden), a long-distance hiking trail, wonderful for discovering breathtaking nature. From rare alpine plants to powerful ones Forests to beautiful mountains. You can spend the night in huts run by the Swedish hiking association STF.
Lapland is not the most typical travel destination. What tip would you give holidaymakers?
There is no such thing as “too much” clothing in winter – you should wear as many layers as possible. In the arctic cold, you should avoid skin creams that contain water because the water can absorb into the skin and cause capillaries to burst. You can survive as a vegetarian in Lapland, but you have to do your research beforehand and, if in doubt, bring provisions with you. Because: The classic is reindeer meat with mashed potatoes and cranberries.
Many holidaymakers are drawn to Denmark because of the hygge, relaxed lifestyle. That extends to the far north Scandinavia up?
I remember Micke, a former mountain soldier, who showed us how to build an igloo for a Lapland report in minus 30 degrees. He couldn’t be disturbed and worked calmly. He said: “If I hurry now, I’ll sweat. And if I sweat, I’ll freeze, and that’s life-threatening here.” There is indeed a somewhat calmer pace of life in Lapland. People talk half as fast as in big cities.
Tilmann Bünz: “Right of way for reindeer. Lapland for beginners”btb Verlag, 304 pages, 12 euros
© btb Verlag
For your last journey to the north you chose the slow route yourself. We took the night train from Hamburg to Stockholm driven. Was the journey also the destination?
This feeling did not arise in the six-passenger compartment of the night train to Stockholm. But when my wife Jutta and I left the Swedish city behind us, we fell into a kind of trance. When you look out from the train you can see houses that are so deeply buried in snow that you would have to climb out of the first floor window to get outside. The further north you go, the less likely it is that trains will be on time – changing the nature of travel. Sometimes the trains also have to stop because of the wild reindeer. They were there before the road traffic regulations – and they probably won’t get used to people’s rules.
What are the chances that I, as a vacationer, will see reindeer in Lapland?
In Sweden and Norway, the reindeer follow the old nomadic paths from their winter camp on the plains to the high mountains, where they spend the summer. It’s difficult to meet them there. Things are different in Finland. There are no high mountains there, reindeer often cross the roads: it is almost impossible not to meet them.
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You traveled all over the world as an ARD correspondent. What attracts you to Lapland of all places?
I wanted to move to Sweden when I was young. What attracted me were flat hierarchies, the egalitarian society, very self-confident women, no racing on highways and the right of everyone in nature. In the middle of my life, the dream came true – I became a correspondent for ARD for the northern European countries from Greenland to Estonia. We – my family and I – lived in Stockholm. When I looked at my dream up close, at some point I realized that I was still missing something: Above Sweden was this vast expanse, a stretch of land that is unknown even to most Swedes. And so I was in Lapland for the first time.
Transparency note: btb belongs to the Penguin Random House publishing group, which, like stern, is part of the Bertelsmann Group.