Arctic Circle shopping
Umeå is the largest town in Northern Sweden and European Capital of Culture 2014. It has three shopping malls and its streets are filled with fashion boutiques, shops offering locally designed and handcrafted objects, vintage and antique shops and also the major Swedish retailers.
Lulea, further down the east coast has some 500 shops to choose from. The big Swedish retailers like H&M and Åhléns are here in the town’s malls and high street, along with shops offering local handicrafts of the region. In nearby Gammelstad Church Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll find local artisans producing unique design and household objects.
Shopping on the move
Sweden’s northernmost city Kiruna is a town on the move – literally. The entire town is being moved because it is gradually sliding into the iron ore mine beneath it. So come here while you still can and do some shopping. Look out for Sami handcrafted art objects and goods at Carl Wennbergs Sameslöjd and Máttárahkká, a Sami women-owned cooperative selling unique Sami produced goods.
Unique Sami arts and crafts
While you are up here do look out for ‘Sami slöjd’ - knives and cups handcrafted in elaborate patterns from reindeer antlers, as well as ‘Sami hemslöjd’ - clothing, bracelets, jewellery and bags made by the indigenous people of the region. These objects are unique and the best place to find them is at the Jokkmokk market (beside the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi) that has been running for the past 400 years. Why not treat a family member or friend and buy them a reindeer skin from Lapland?