After travelling to Stockholm on your own, your Guide picks you up at your airport, hotel, or wherever, on Wednesday, as soon as you are ready. The first day will be spent traveling north, paralelling the Baltic coast, arriving at last at the maritime city of Hudiksvall. We will stay in a 19th-century hotel with oldtime charm and modern comfort. Sights along the trip include 1000-year-old churches, ancient grave sites, and old castles. Activities on Thursday and Friday will include excursions around the Hälsingland countryside, meeting local musicians and folkdancers, visiting museums, and sampling local traditional cuisine. Saturday is the Norrbol Fiddle Festival. It is a small local festival, with mostly local musicians participating. There will be concerts, jamming, and dancing. Traditional folkcostume will be worn by many participants. Sunday is the Delsbo Fiddle Festival. It is the longest-running festival in Sweden. Fiddlers from all over Sweden will be there, and there will be a folk-accompanied church service before a full day of music. Monday we will go southwest to Dalarna, where we will take up residence for a few days on a farm near Leksand. During our stay there, we will travel to the most well-known places around Lake Siljan. We will visit the art museums at the homes of painters Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson, unique churches with spectacular artwork, the family factories for the famous Dala Horses in Nusnäs, Europe's most acoustically perfect outside theater, and much more. Wednesday is the great fiddle festival in Bingsjö, with thousands of participants enjoying music and dancing all day and into the night. Friday we go east to the province of Uppland. Over the weekend we will attend another fiddle festival, this one featuring a large percentage of nyckelharpa players. We will also have a session with a local fiddlers' team, and sightsee around this region rich in folk culture and history. Tuesday we will have an opportunity for sightseeing in Stockholm to finish up the trip. Then you will be dropped off at your point of continuation, for travel further on your own, or for the trip home. |
Tim Rued's Sweden Tour 2013 June 26 - July 9 |