Lapland: A day on the trail of the Sami indigenous people｜Sweden

The tour starts at the holiday home in Bjärdakken or at the tourist information center in Sorsele and lasts approximately seven hours.

Our journey into the Sámi past and present follows the Vindelälven River. First, we visit a traditional reindeer corral (rengärde) on the Laisälven River. From there, we continue upstream along the Vindelälven toward the Sámi village of Ammarnäs. Along the way, we stop at several historical sites and learn about the events that took place here hundreds of years ago.

For coffee, we light a campfire on the banks of the Vindelälven. We collect fresh water directly from the river and prepare our coffee the traditional Sámi way over the open fire.

In the afternoon, we visit a 200-year-old Sámi church settlement (Kyrkstad), the wooden church of Ammarnäs, and climb the village’s landmark, Potatisbacken (“Potato Hill”). From the top, we enjoy a beautiful panoramic view over the meadows of the Ammarnäs Delta and look out toward the southern part of Europe’s largest nature reserve, the Vindelfjäll Nature Reserve.