Northern Sweden, Norway, and Finland
 

I will travel to Northern Scandinavia in early April. I would be grateful for information on the following:
B&B accomodations in Abisko, Tromso, Kilpisjarvi, &
Karesuvando
Local car rental agency in Kiruna, Sweden that does not charge a fortune
Visits to sled dog kennels and reindeer farms
Anything related to Sami culture
The guide books cover this area superficially, at best. The tourist agencies in the North seem to be closed until a few days before I leave!!!

There is a gentlemen named Nils Johnson who lives in Oslo, Norway who can help you with some of your questions I am sure. He comes into Fodor's frequently to answer questions and he and I have corresponded some. He has been on vacation but may be back by now. If you cannot locate his E mail address in this forum e mail me and I can have him contact you or vice versa.

I toured Scandinavia last summer with Caravan Tours, Inc. The tour director is a native of Oslo and is quite knowledgeable of the four countries. If he doesn't have the information for you, I'm sure he can direct you to someone who does. His name is Erik Engebretsen. You can fax him at
(47) 22 05 47 00 or write him at: LANDBRUKSSAMVIRKETS FELLESKONTOR, Schweigaardsgt.
34 C, Box 9347, Gronland (the o has a slanted line through it top to bottom), N-0135 Oslo, Norway
Phone (47) 22 17 23 11. He is a very nice gentleman and will be happy to help. He's done the Scandinavian tours for Caravan 3-4 times per summer for 25 years! Good Luck!

When renting a car in Helsinki I would recommend doing this at the airport and return it to the airport. Most hire companies have downtown offices but it is almost impossible to find somewhere to park the car legally when you return it out of office hours!

Save this e-mail address:<BR><BR>[email protected]<BR><BR> That is the e-mail address of tourist info in Enonteki&ouml;, Finnish Lapland. Kilpisj&auml;rvi is part of the municipality of Enonteki&ouml;. And NO WAY tourist agencies in north are closed. March/April is the high season there. And I mean it is the busiest season of the year, because people come to ski in the spring sunshine, children have their winter vacations from school, and everybody has more days off from work because of Easter.<BR><BR>The next two sites give you some general info, but oddly enough, nothing practical like addresses:<BR><BR>http://www.enontekio.fi/english/travel/liv1.html<BR><BR>http://www.supertravelnet.com/welcome.cgi?country=158_5195_7&systeemi=1<BR> <BR>The strongest Sami culture is a little bit more east, In Finland around the Lake Inari, and in Norway Tana area, plus areas around Finnish borders. Finland´s northernmost village Utsjoki is the only municipality with a Sami majority, and Inari is the meeting place of the Sami Parliament and also the Sami Cultural Centre, Siida, is locatad there. BUT there is also strong Sami influence in Enonteki&ouml; area where you are heading.<BR><BR>You will find many options for dog and rendeer sledging all over the place, at least in Finland and Sweden. No shortage of that!

I forgot to warn you. While driving, drive very carefully. Not only because of snowy and possibly icy roads (otherwise in peak condition), but mainly because of the reindeer. You don´t have to go to any farm to see those, they roam freely in herds, and driving over a hill, you might find on the other side a herd of reindeer just stanmding stupidly in the middle of the road. And they are not afraid of cars or people. So, be always careful when you cannot see what is behind a curve. Reindeer are considerably smaller than moose, but crashing with a reindeer is still dangerous. But you don´t have to watch for moose in the north, they don´t live there. Here in the south they are a huge threat in traffic.

You MUST stay at least a night at the Ice Hotel, 15kms from Kiruna.<BR><BR>www.icehotel.com<BR><BR>it ranks as my top "life experience while travelling" so far, and may never be beaten.<BR><BR>