Kungsleden
The Kungsleden, Sweden's King's Trail, offers a diverse 460km walking experience from Abisko to Hemavan. Established in the early 20th century, it traverses Arctic landscapes, including mountains, open fell, forests, and lakes. Divided into five sections, it accommodates various trek lengths. Well-marked and equipped with huts, the trail spans the Arctic Circle and showcases Sámi culture. Wildlife, including bears and moose, is present, and Sweden's allemansrätten allows freedom to camp and enjoy nature. The trail promises a remote, magnificent, and enriching experience for walkers of all levels.
In this post I will give you an overview of the most important things that you have to know in order to organize your trip and to have a basic understanding of what you are getting yourself into. Among others I will cover topics such as plants, animals, weather, transport, accommodation, food and at the end I am giving some personal tips and notes, some of my experiences and I also provide a (hopefully) very useful map at the bottom, that I have made myself and contains all the stops, crossings, distances and amenities on the trail.
You can also read the interview with me in the Hungarian Turista Magazin.
Quick info
Country: Sweden (Abisko - Hemavan)
Walking distance: 414km + 46km (Kebnekaise detour)
Overall distance: 460km (boat crossing: 15.3km , bus: 30.7km ) + 46km
Difficulty: moderate-hard
Total ascent: 8265m + 1720m (Kebnekaise top)
Duration: 21 days (see detailed itinerary at the bottom)
When to go: mid June - mid September
Marking: very well marked
Water: plentiful
Sections: 5
Period walked: 2023 August 8-28
Direction walked: North to South
Environment
Weather
Time to go and transport:
The best time to trek the Kungsleden trail is the summer season from mid-June to the end of September when the huts are open. Winter time can be extremely challenging due to weather conditions and deep snow, but there is indeed a winter route that mostly corresponds with the summer route and is marked with high poles so they are still visible even in the presence of a thick snow cover.
The Arctic Circle location leads to extended daylight hours, be aware that it may affect your sleep. A few hours of darkness during the night starts around mid-August. Seeing the Aurora Borealis is highly unlikely during the hiking season, best chances are at the very beginning and at the very end of the season.
It is advisable to avoid the Fjällräven Classic in August, as there are hundreds of people walking the Nikkolukta - Abisko circle. It can get extremely crowded, and difficult to progress, not to mention that the serenity and peace of the place will be completely gone during these days.
Most of the people walk from north to south, but many choose to walk the other way around. This choice could have importance at the beginning or at the end of the season (walking to or from colder regions), otherwise it is of little importance in my opinion.
Abisko and Hemavan are fairly easily reachable by public transport, the other section heads can pose some challenge. Abisko can be accessed by train (approximately 19 hours ride from Stockholm, or only a few hours if you fly to Kiruna), Hemavan has a small airport, but it is not always the easier option, taking the bus to Umea (be careful not to miss it, since it only goes twice a day) and a train from there to Stockholm might be a quicker option. The inner section heads (Kvikkjokk, Ammarnäs, Jäkkvikk) can be approached by bus only, in some cases you must change buses and care must be taken, since some buses do not go every day of the week.
The border between Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties are between Jäkkvikk and Ammarnäs. You will see the change in marking color once you crossed counties, Norrbotten uses red paint and Västerbotten uses orange.
Some useful websites to plan your transport:
Accommodation
The trail has plenty STF fjällstugor and fjällstationer, providing facilities like beds, self-catering, sauna, shops and camping spots. However, not all stugor provides all amenities. Some can only provide you with bed or camping spots, some offer a very limited selection of products in their shops, and some even provide electricity and a restaurant. Please scroll down to the map to see each stuga's amenities. Note, that this can change from year to year and also can be influenced by other factors (for example in 2023 a strong stomach flu epidemic swept through the first two section, as a results all huts shops were closed for passer-byes and every sauna stayed closed its gates for guests and passer-byes alike for several weeks).
If you become an STF member you can enjoy lower rates (check actual prices at the STF website https://www.swedishtouristassociation.com/join-stf/. Booking in advance is recommended for cheaper rates, but it doesn't guarantee a bed if you arrive late, in this case your reservation can be exchanged for a bed at any other stuga. Fjällstationer are larger than the stugas and offer comprehensive facilities such as a large shop, sauna, washing machine, restaurant etc. Prices, membership details, and booking information can be found on the STF website. Camping is allowed everywhere along the trail, providing freedom to stop almost anywhere where the day's end finds you, though good camping spots may vary, but in the worst case you will find one generally by walking 1-2 extra kilometers.
Sections 3, 4 and unmaned houses
Section 3 and 4 are not equipped with STF accommodations, however you can find alternatives to them. Still, it is very difficult to accomplish these two sections without a tent. At section 4 there are two unmaned cabins, for Pieljekaisestugan you can get the key at Jakkvikk in the ICA store, and for Rävfallstugan in Adolfsström at the Handelsbod store/cafe. I recommend using both of them (especially if you are walking from north and in need of some comfort), they are more than worth the price. In 2023 Pieljekaisestugan cost only 150 SEK and Rävfallstugan 450 SEK - it also has a sauna, that you can easily heat up with the logs next to the house, not to mention that the sauna is next to the river, where you can cool yourself after a hot session.
Food and resupply
Many walkers (me as well) stock up at home (or in some larger city in Sweden) for the first few days. This makes sense, since resupply can be very pricey on the trail. Most stugas cannot be approached by land vehicles, thus in order to restock a helicopter brings whatever is needed (and also takes away things that are not needed anymore, such as trash). The shops in the stugas mostly contain canned and dried food, and of course sweets, nothing too healthy, but keeps you going for sure. Dried trekking meal packages are readily available almost anywhere (contrary to a few years back), but you have to pay the extra price for the little weight. Abisko, Hemavan, Jäkkvik and Ammarnäs all have supermarkets, and it does feel good to finally eat something fresh after days of trekking food (like fresh fruits and vegetables!).
How much food one needs is a personal choice, dried trekking meals are super light, but also expensive. I personally like to mix the meals for the day (1-2 dried meal, some snacks and some fresh food too, like cheese, bread or an apple - this counts as luxury though, but this is my personal choice, and my stomach is very grateful for the fresh product - and carry 4-5 days of food maximum, this way my backpack stays under 13-14kg. This can be easily done on the Kungsleden, you resupply only at the section heads at the supermarkets, and only buy a few things in the stugas (such as a can of coca cola, but some also sell beer if you fancy one). I have seen hikers walking with 20kg+ backpacks and cooking meals from scratch every day twice or even three times, because it greatly reduced their costs. If you are on a budget and not in a rush this could be the thing for you. On the other hand, I have also seen hikers with very light backpacks (7-8kg), they either carry only one days supply or have a little more but everything is ultralight. These hikers usually undertake 30-40+ kilometers per day.
No need to worry about water, it is so abundant on the trail that you will generally carry only a liter with you.
What to take
As food, equipment is also a personal choice and varies between hikes and seasons. Some people can go on with one t-shirt and one pair of underwear for several weeks, some others like to take several pieces, because they prefer comfort. Both are fine, whatever your choice is. I, myself am somewhere in the middle, I like to take 2 (or sometimes 3) light merino t-shirts, a pair of leggins and even a small hairbrush (it also has a small mirror inside, so I can use that to signal in emergency situations). For the Kungsleden you definitely will have to prepare for different kinds of weather. Cold in the night, warm (and sometimes very warm) during the day, light rain all day, heavy rain all of a sudden, light wind, strong wind. Interestingly the one thing I recommend the least are sunglasses.
Boots or trail running shoes? I recommend boots, since they support your ankles, and also they stay dry longer (do not forget to treat them before you start the trail), but it is heavier and once its wet, it takes more time to get it dry again. The terrain can be drenched and extremely muddy, and the boots can help you stay dry (-ish) and warm. At some stugas you can also find shoe dryers (such as in Ammarnäs and Kvikkjokk has even a dryer room), so you can start the next day with dry equipment if you got soaked.
Sleeping bag. If you are sleeping in a tent generally a sleeping bag of +5 degrees comfort would suffice. If you want to make sure that you will not be cold, you can take an extra polar lining for colder days, that only weights about 200 grams.
For more detail you can have a look at my list in the below google sheets (list is in English, but comments are in Hungarian for now):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16nIJpdilf3vEX1xEzesLHBjy4tz1dcbPBKrHNT6yvK8/edit?usp=sharing
Costs
As always, it depends on your personal taste. I have met people who could make the whole trip (flights from Budapest included) in about 500 euros. Well, this is indeed possible, but could come with some uncomfortable situations (such as a very heavy backpack of 20kg+ or riding 20 hours on a train chair without a sleeping cabin). On the other hand, if you want to exclusively sleep in the stugas then you will have to pay a heavy price for that, as of 2023 a night costs between 7-800 SEK. If you like camping, then my personal advice is to stay in a stuga when you really need it, for example your tent and clothing needs to be dried or your body needs some recuperation in a hot sauna. Personally, I stayed in a stuga at Kvikkjokk, Pieljekasestugan, Rävfallstugan, Ammarnäs and Hemavan. In Kvikkjokk I needed a wash and dry, at Pieljekasestugan the rain was pouring, Rävfallstugan for the sauna (highly recommended), in Ammarnäs I was sick, and in Hemavan because I deserved it.
The food (and other local shopping) can take up a great part of the budget. But if being smart, you can utilize a few smart tricks on food and backpack weight. What tricks to use are again a personal choice, but it is always beneficial to steal ideas from other hikers. For example some hikers prepare a "home mix" of nuts and dried fruits, or oats and cereals for breakfast, others prepare their own cooking equipment or even saw their own backpack! I personally like to take a big piece of bacon, that has plenty of fat, 100 of this contains almost 1000 calories and can be added to other dishes as well.
Boat crossings: there are only two boat crossings where you cannot use the rowing boats (for a good reason) they together cost approximately 700SEK (70 euros), so this is the minimum you will have to pay, whereas the maximum I estimate it at 160 euros (as of 2023).
Train tickets are not too bad, the sleeping cabin costs approximately 2300SEK for the two rides (Stockholm-Abisko, Umea-Stockholm). Flying to Kiruna is not necessarily more expensive, especially if you buy the tickets ahead of time. Be aware, that train tickets cannot be purchased more than 3 months before the traveling date.
Notes and tips
Cafe and resto
Would you like to have a real reindeer burger? You can get one in a bar at Ammarnäs, just ask around, anyone will show you the direction. It has a very strong taste, and plenty fat,I recommend it to those who also like goat meat and goat cheese too, since that has a strong smell and taste, but in a very different way.
There is a wonderful little cafe-resto-hostel-shop all in one at Adolfsström, the Handelsbod. The lady who owns the place makes home made cakes, sandwiches and a really good coffee. Her shop is filled with all sorts of souvenirs that you can think of and is furnished in a very peculiar way. Does worth a visit. She also sells trekking food and other groceries that you will appreciate.
Charging batteries, phone signal
Phone signal is a rare occurrence on the trail, you will surely have signal at section heads and in cities, but not on the trail. Once or twice you can find signal on the top of a hill if it is not too far from a city. I was extremely lucky with this one once, it was the twelfth day when I sprained my ankle, and I had to tape it, but I was not sure how to do it well (yes, I should have learned how to tape an ankle before, but anyway, it happens). So luckily, I camped just below a peak 20km from Vuonatjviken, and magically could use you tube to quickly learn the secrets of ankle taping. According to some rumors, there is a plan to extend phone coverage all over the trail in a few years.
Charging batteries is not a problem if you stop (at least once in a while) at the stugas. Not all of them, but the fjallstationen for sure can provide you with outlets. If you do not want to take a room in a stuga, you can find an outlet at Jakkvikk in the ICA store. Get a coffee, have a break and charge your phone. The locals are very nice, probably will even help you.
Level of fitness required
This also depends on what you want. Do you want to do the whole trail in 10 days? Well, then you need to be extra-super fit, probably on the level of an ultra runner. But lets think about something more reasonable. Some classic hiking books divide the trail into 28 days, some days are shorter some are longer, but this gives you a nice pace, if we exclude the Kebnekase summit and the boat crossings, then you will have to walk less than 15km on average a day. This does not sound too bad, but one must not forget about the fact, that it is 15km per day for 28 days. That greatly differs from a 15km hike on a weekend with friends. You have to be fit for this (or young and reckless). I do recommend you to train at least twice a week with some weights, also do some cardio and go hiking regularly for at least half a year before the hike. This ensures you that you will enjoy the trail and will not suffer (too much). Some hikers only do hiking and say that thats enough. Maybe. I cannot say that it is not enough, because I have never tried to do only hiking as a preparation, I have always did heavy lifting combined with cardio and hiking and it served me very well during my years (but note, that I have opted for a quicker pace of 23km per day on average).
As a side note, a few months before the Kungsleden I tore my right pectoral, so I could not train with weights, but still managed to go to the gym 3 times a week and do some combination of very small weights and cardio (great thanks goes to my personal trainer for this) plus the occasional hikes on the weekends (I have recently moved to a region, where my everyday hiking options are very limited). I was not in my best shape, but the plan was set for 21 days (with the Kebnekaise extension). However, this was not my first multi-day hike, I have been training and hiking for several years, that and my stubbornness kept me going, but in retrospective, I should have added 1 or 2 rest days.
All in all, please be careful planning your days and with your preparation. I always recommend to everyone to get a personal trainer who can help you not only to reach your goals, but also to measure your level of fitness and help you with such decisions.
Maps
In my opinion, it is very hard to get lost on the trail. It is extremely well waymarked (with red paint in Norrbotten county and orange paint or winter marks - high poles with cross on their top - in Västerbotten county). To get an approximate idea about each section, their length and difficulty I recommend the cicerone books, their books are also available in e-book format, thus you can bring it along on your phone and no need to carry paper maps.
The below "inforgaphic" was created by me and contains all the huts, the emergency shelters, the boat crossings (noted where you can use the row boats), the camping spots that I have used (they are plentiful on the trail, you can find one almost anywhere, but sometimes you must walk an extra kilometer or two if you want to find a good spot). At the top you can see the notation that I have used, then below it, starting from Abisko follow the arrows. Each arrow has a number on it, that signifies the distance between its two endpoints in kilometers. Again, the camping spots here were chosen according to the average distance I wanted to cover each day. The orange poles (with number in them) show where I finished the day. On average I did 22km, but the deviation varied each day depending on the weather conditions, boat crossings and personal well-being. For example, on day 8 I was planning to camp at Sitojuare, but the locals reported heavy rain for the following day, thus we pushed it further so we could wait for the rain to pass at the emergency shelter. This meant that we have arrived at the shelter around midnight and could barely see the docks (the sun did set already), not to mention that we have almost hit an island. Please be careful.
Should you need the pdf version of the map, please send me a message and I will send it back to you.
Boat crossings info
https://www.swedishtouristassociation.com/boats-in-the-mountains/
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