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Kungsleden (The King’s Trail) Helpful Information

Instead of answering every single mail and personal question about the Kungsleden trail.

So did I decide to make this general post (FAQ) about the Kungsleden trail, this post will answer the most common question I have got about the hike.

If you’re a member of STF (Swedish Tourist Association) So will you get discounts on Accommodation at the cabins/tenting spots, the river/lake crossing when you use the boat and some % on some of the travel gear in the big mountain stations.

Read my experience from the first part of the hike here.

Read my experience from the second part of the hike here:

You can sign up as a member at Abisko Mountain Station, Saltoluokta Mountain Sation, Nikkaluokta Mountain Station or Kvikkjok Mountain Station.
Or you can do it online at  STF webpage.

The price is:
Adults. 26+ years.   Youth Member 15 – 26 years.   Children 5 – 15 years.
295 SEK.                   150 SEK.                                        30 SEK.

There´s minimal phone connection on the hike, even with local sim card, but all cabins have emergency phones and the mountain stations offer free WI-FI.

When to hike Kungsleden?

The hiking season starts around mid-June and last to around late September, mid-October.
But this depends on weather condition and can change a bit from year to year.

Like mention is my post about hiking the Northern Section so did I try to hike Kungsleden in early June (2015), but there was still way too much snow. And there was still snow on the highest parts of the hike in mid-August.

If doing the hike in June – July so will you experience the midnight sun, but it´s also the high season for mosquitoes.

NB. Try to avoid doing the northern section of the hike when the running race “Fjällräven Classic” is happening, about 2000 extra hikers additional to the normal hikers will be on the trail at that time, every hut will be full, and the trail will be VERY crowded.

The Dates for Fjällräven Classic in 2016 are August 5 – 12.

kungsleden,sweden,outdoor

The map of Kungsleden that you can get from the tourist information in Abisko

What to pack?

You can do Kungsleden either as camping hike or cabin hike so you will need to decide when planning your trek which one you are going to do.
Stay at the Swedish Tourist cabins along the trail or in your own tent. The smaller cabins can be full during high season and when
Fjällräven Classic is happening.

But note if doing the southern part of the hike so are the very l distances without any cabins at all.
I did this trek as a camping hike, and this is a brief description of what I carried with me.

The weather can change fast even during the summer, and you can easily get full sun, heavy rain, strong wind and even snow on the same day.
So pack for both summer days and cold rainy days.

There possible to do laundry machine wash (for a fee) in the mountain stations, NOT in the cabins.

Kungsleden hiking sweden

Your backpack can never be too full.

Osprey Kestrel 48L backpack. TOTALLY USELESS would be better of carrying my stuff in a plastic bag.
MSR windboiler, small gas kitchen.
1L gas for the MSR windboiler.
REI cheap backpacking tent.. See the Northern Section Post why I decided to carry a cheap tent!
Fjällräven Abisko Sleeping bag.
Therm-a-Rest sleeping mat. (That broke the second Night).

Head Torch (Never used it, coz of the midnight sun).
Walking poles.
Mosquito Hat.
Mosquito Spray. Very Important!

Salamon Speedcross 3 shoes.
Crocs (To use when done hiking for the day).

Jacket. Rain and windproof.
Rain Pants.
Hiking Pants. Thick ones, so mosquitoes don’t bite through them.
2 Pairs of shorts.
3 Pairs of hiking t-shirts.
2 Pairs of wool t-shirts.
Woollen jumper.
A pair of Thermal underwear.

6pairs of hiking socks.
1pair of woollen socks.

6pairs of underwear.

Toiletries.
Toilet Paper.
Hiking Towel.

First Aid Kit. Including the “normal” stuff, plus sports tape and blister plaster.

Plus Food.

Food/Supplies

The starting point at Abisko Mountain station has a small store with the most useful supplies; there´s also a Coop Supermarket 15minutes walk from Abisko Mountain station.

In addition, so are the small stores in basically every other cabin along the trail. On the northern part, these following cabins have small stores: Abiskojaure, Alesjaure, Sälka, Kaitumjaure, and Vakkotavare.

The stores in the cabins all have a reasonable selection of dried food, canned food, pasta, rice, soups, chips, chocolate, candy, soft drinks, beer cans and more.

You can pay with either cash or credit card in most of the cabins.

The prices are a lot higher in the cabins than in Abisko and in the supermarkets.

I did the trek without buying any food along the trail, I bought enough food at the Coop Supermarket for the Northern Section, and bought the rest of my food at Saltoluokta Mountain Sation.

Sleeping

If staying in cabins, you don’t need to carry a sleeping bag, only a sleeping bag liner.
All guests will get a mattress, pillow, and blanket. And all cabins gets heated when it gets cold.

All cabins got sauna where you can relax after a long day of walking.
All cabins have a kitchen that’s both guests and people paying for tenting can use, normally 2 gas stoves and the most normal pots and pants.

The where the prices for staying in the cabins during the 2015 summer season.

Northen Section (Abiskojaure, Alesjaure, Tjäktja, Sälka, Singi)

STF members: 400 SEK, 43 Euro.    NonMembers: 500 SEK, 54 Euro.

Tenting
STF members: 100 SEK, 11 Euro Non-Members: 150 SEK, 16 Euro.

You can also pay a “service fee” to use the kitchen if you are not staying/camping in the cabin.

STF members 40 SEK, 4 Euro.         Non-members 60 SEK, 6 Euro.
The prices are about 10% lower on the rest of the cabins along the Kungsleden hike.

Toilet/Garbage

All cabins and wind shelters have toilets that everyone can use.

Every cabin and wind shelter have recycling stations where you can leave your trash.

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Kungsleden in northern sweden is one of the best hikes in all of Europe, here´s some helpfull information about the hike

Kungsleden in northern Sweden is one of the best hikes in all of Europe, here´s some helpful information about the hike.

Everything you need to know about hiking Kungsleden trail in northern Sweden

Everything you need to know about hiking Kungsleden trail in northern Sweden

 

Fabien Sarcletti

Wednesday 28th of August 2019

Hey, how did you manage to keep your food safe from animals at night (especially bears)? Did you store them in trees or somewhere else away from your tent?

Christian L.

Wednesday 28th of August 2019

To see bears along the main Kungsleden trail is extremely rare. so that´s no problem to keep the food in your backpack and inside your tent during the night. BUT on some parts are lemming a problem so you might want to store the food hanging from a tree.

Ella

Tuesday 25th of December 2018

How easy is it to navigate your way through the Kungsleden? From someone with terrible navigation skills. And, do the cabins require to be pre-booked or could you stay as you arrive?

Milos Jocic

Sunday 4th of August 2019

What brought you here? The Ritual, movie 👹 Anyway good material 👍

Christian L.

Tuesday 25th of December 2018

Hello Ella. The first section of Kunglesden is very well marked, and it´s simply just to follow the trail. No navigation skill is needed for this part of the hike. The second part of the hike is also very well marked but not that got maintained. The cabins on the first part are recommended to pre-book especially during July. Try to avoid the week when the race Fjellreven classic is happening.