Lapland Clave.....

"asadi" wrote in message
...
As a matter of curiosity, what airport would a person be flying into and
what would then be the next step ... car rental?

Last year, I flew into Stockholm. From there, I got a sleeper cabin on an
overnight train to Umea for $75; definately a great way to go. Flying into
Umea is also possible, but it adds quite a bit to your plane ticket, and you
miss a nice rail journey. You can get the tickets at the central train
station in Stockholm easily.


Some curious searching shows the airfare to be about $1200, roundtrip,
from
Ohio.

To where? Stockholm, or Umea?


The Embassy here says that there are no restrictions as far as bringing
your
own rods and flies with you.

That's correct, although you might run into some stubborn security guards
who force you to check them. I met one in Germany. And rumor has it that
they have sniffer dogs in case you are bringing in a load of cocaine or
something. g


What would the highs and lows be like, weather wise? Gonna need those cut
little mesh net hats for the black flies?

Its 24-hour daylight, so the variance isn't all that much. In Farenheit, the
highs were early afternoon at around 80, the lows were 3-4 AM at about 50,
maybe. Bugs were completely manageable; no mesh hats required. The weather
was incredible.


Say a person wanted to spend a night or two in a hotel, prior to
departure,
just to have a few beers around town and do a little sightseeing, what
would
a less than first class hotel cost?

About $100 a night for a 3 star. If you can find one. There's not much
sightseeing in Umea, and if you come up on the train, you'll see plenty of
wondrous sights.

--riverman

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:47:55 +0100, "riverman"
wrote:

Last year, I flew into Stockholm. From there, I got a sleeper cabin on an
overnight train to Umea for $75; definately a great way to go. Flying into
Umea is also possible, but it adds quite a bit to your plane ticket, and you
miss a nice rail journey. You can get the tickets at the central train
station in Stockholm easily.

The train sounds interesting. Is it $75 round trip? From what I can
tell it's about $150 for round trip airfare between Stockholm and
Umea. The advantage of flying all the way is that your baggage would
be checked to Umea, so if any of it missed a connection along the way
that's where it would be sent instead of just to Stockholm.
--
Charlie...

"Charlie Choc" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:47:55 +0100, "riverman"
wrote:

Last year, I flew into Stockholm. From there, I got a sleeper cabin on an
overnight train to Umea for $75; definately a great way to go. Flying
into
Umea is also possible, but it adds quite a bit to your plane ticket, and
you
miss a nice rail journey. You can get the tickets at the central train
station in Stockholm easily.

The train sounds interesting. Is it $75 round trip? From what I can
tell it's about $150 for round trip airfare between Stockholm and
Umea. The advantage of flying all the way is that your baggage would
be checked to Umea, so if any of it missed a connection along the way
that's where it would be sent instead of just to Stockholm.

True, but the Swedes are accomodating enough that you could tell them at the
airport to forward your bags to an address in Umea, and I'm sure they'd do
it. Or you could just plan a few layover days in Stockhom 'just in case'.
Its a beautiful city, and well worth spending some time.

I was finding Stockholm/Umea r/t for about $100 last summer, but you had to
get it far in advance.

The train was $75 for the northbound leg, which included a sleeper car that
I shared with 3 other guys. For $90, I could have gotten a private cabin,
with air conditioning (it was a very hot summer. Next year, I'll do that.)
The southbound leg was $50, but it meant a 3 hour bus ride for the first
leg, then a connection to a high-speed train for the last 4 hours into
Stockholm. The train tracks don't actually go into Umea, but they are
constructing it, and it might be done by next summer. Vaughan?

--riverman

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 01:28:35 +0100, "riverman"
wrote:

I was finding Stockholm/Umea r/t for about $100 last summer, but you had to
get it far in advance.

I didn't see any that cheap, but I'll look some more. Far in advance
is no problem - if I decide to come (and bring my sons) I'll want to
get my plane tickets by the end of Feb before the FF award mile
requirements on Delta go up.
--
Charlie...

Stockholm. The train tracks don't actually go into Umea, but they are
constructing it, and it might be done by next summer. Vaughan?

--riverman


I think we will both be old men before they get that finished
mate.............. AND what do you mean - not much sightseeing to do around
Umeå!!!! Just where do you get off slagging off our fair city like that?
:-)))

If you join us again next year I promise not to leave you hanging around the
bus/train station for several hours on a Sunday morning in
summer...........Hopefully the rest of the trip made up for the poor start,
and in my defence, I did have an 800km drive to make that day.

Vaughan

Stockholm. The train tracks don't actually go into Umea, but they
are constructing it, and it might be done by next summer.

Is this true? I just checked the timetables at http://www.tagplus.se/
and they do have trains going directly from Stockholm to Umeå
(Stockholm Central - Umeå Central).

--
Jarmo Hurri

Spam countermeasures included. Drop your brain when replying, or just
use .

"Jarmo Hurri" wrote in message
...

Stockholm. The train tracks don't actually go into Umea, but they
are constructing it, and it might be done by next summer.

Is this true? I just checked the timetables at http://www.tagplus.se/
and they do have trains going directly from Stockholm to Umeå
(Stockholm Central - Umeå Central).



So they say. The Northbound actually stops in a town about 45 minutes west
of Umea (Vannae), and a waiting bus takes you into town. Its not a bad ride,
but the schedule saying it arrives in Umea is a bit premature.

The southbound train I took departed from Sundsvall, so I had to ride the
bus to get there. It was a beautiful doubledecker bus ride, and I didn't
mind it a bit.

All in all, the train rides were very relaxing: the evening before I went to
sleep, I stood at the window and watched the forest roll by, with deep mists
rising from the grass and the occasional farmhouse with yellow lights in the
windows. It was excellent, and I wouldn't trade it for a plane ride.

--riverman

riverman So they say. The Northbound actually stops in a town about
riverman 45 minutes west of Umea (Vannae), and a waiting bus takes
riverman you into town. Its not a bad ride, but the schedule saying
riverman it arrives in Umea is a bit premature.

Well, the infamous _they_ claim it can be done now with just one
train, no bus rides or other changes (byten=0)

http://tinyurl.com/ud8p

In any case, a one-hour bus ride is no problem. And, as you said, the
atmosphere during the train ride is something very unique.

--
Jarmo Hurri

Spam countermeasures included. Drop your brain when replying, or just
use .

Is this true? I just checked the timetables at http://www.tagplus.se/
and they do have trains going directly from Stockholm to Umeå
(Stockholm Central - Umeå Central).

--
Jarmo Hurri

Jarmo,
As Myron has already mentioned, you can get to Umeå by train, and that can
include actually arriving at the train station. But the train line is a bit
indirect and, not infrequently, it involves changing to the bus in Sundsval.
At least I think that is true, I have never actually taken the train in
Sweden, and I'm not sure why you would actually want to do this, flights in
summer can be pretty cheap. Then again, I hate travelling by train, so I am
not a good judge.

Vaughan

"Vaughan Hurry" wrote in message
...
Stockholm. The train tracks don't actually go into Umea, but they are
constructing it, and it might be done by next summer. Vaughan?

--riverman


I think we will both be old men before they get that finished
mate.............. AND what do you mean - not much sightseeing to do
around
Umeå!!!! Just where do you get off slagging off our fair city like that?
:-)))


Whoops. Caught being ungrateful. ;-( Nice city. Nice nice city.

Actually, your fair city was a very pleasant place to have a beer and check
out the wimminfolk. But it really paled when compared to the beauty of the
drive north (I prefer a good deep woods over any interesting architecture).
Nontheless, I think there are some touristy things to see (like the river
mouth; where was it again? Down by the ocean?) so maybe next year I'll have
the chance to see more of the region.

If you join us again next year I promise not to leave you hanging around
the
bus/train station for several hours on a Sunday morning in
summer...........Hopefully the rest of the trip made up for the poor
start,
and in my defence, I did have an 800km drive to make that day.

Yes you did, and I think driving all the way from the SW and arriving after
an 8 hour high speed drive in a mood to have a stranger as a houseguest was
nothing less than Herculean. I absolutely appreciated the effort it took to
come get me! Thanks, again, and I hope you've finished the whiskey by now.

--riverman