Åre, Sweden

The last week of February is Sportlov, or sports break, for Stockholm schools.  It's a week off school for skiing or heading to the beach for much needed sunshine.  We went the traditional route and headed to Åre, Sweden, (population 1,500) a popular ski destination eight hours northwest of Stockholm.  A very long drive... the best route is E4 to Sundsvall then E14 to Åre (main roads and good fencing to protect cars/passengers from moose encounters). 

not an inch to spare... we could have taken a train or flown but wanted the car to get around town easily

The little town of Åre, population approx. 1,500, is home to Peak Performance and 46 ski lifts, situated on Lake Åre at the base of Åreskutan (Mount Åre) where skiers can ski in and out of town. There are three main ski areas... Åre, Björnen (east of Åre) and Duved (west of Åre).  Ski runs (or pists) are categorized green (very easy), blue (easy), red (intermediate) and black (difficult).  Every lift area has a restaurant and most have outdoor grill areas for those who like to bring their own picnic.  Ski rentals are plentiful about town and at most lift areas. 

downtown Åre

Gordon and the girls skied every day but one at the Rödkullen area.  Gordon became a true parent after making Gabby and Sofia frustrated and/or meltdown four out of five days skiing.  At one point Sofia declared she would sleep on the mountain rather than ski any further.  Despite the minor setbacks Gabby and Sofia did great skiing and improved greatly over the week.  Audra decided skiing was not for her after the first afternoon.  She and I spent the rest of the week running our private shuttle service.  I realized at the end of the week I had planned to binge watch some popular series on Netflix... oh well. 

happy ski bunny

Gordon helping Sofia out with the 'pancake' lift the first time

Sofia and Gordon

Gabby

the view from Rödkullen ski area

Sofia and Gordon

 

We rented a great apartment in central Åre, a 10-15 minute walk to town from Mittiåre. If we visit Åre again we will definitely try to rent in town to be able to walk everywhere and use the car less. Buses and taxis are plentiful as well. 

view of Åre village from our balcony (three minute car ride to town)

sunrise over Åre

view of the ski runs from our apartment (about a 400m walk to the runs)

view of Lake Åre from our balcony

sunset over Lake Åre

The last day of skiing Gordon wanted to try the Åre Björnen ski area (close to the Copperhill Mountain Lodge) Björnen has a larger beginner ski area with a great little restaurant.  Parking is not as plentiful as Rödkullen.  In the end Gordon and the girls preferred skiing at Rödkullen. 

great little Bistro Cafe at Björnen

What to do in Åre if you don't ski?  Audra and I explored the old stone church, Tännforsen Falls and took the kabinbanan (cable car) to the top of the mountain (all separate blog posts).  We checked out the little Åre Karameller candy shop but never made it to the Åre Chocolate Factory.  We knew every nook and cranny of the town but never made it to the Åre Moose Farm where you can kiss a moose.  If there had been fresh snow on the ground we would have booked a dog sledding outing... Sofia has been wanting to go again since we went in Kiruna last March. 

The restaurants in Åre are charming and cater to the tourist crowd by serving a lot of pizza, burgers and garlic bread.   Åre Bageri, Wersens, Creperie and Supper were all good.  Broken was mediocre American bar food and Huset was okay. 

Åre Bageri has a nice breakfast buffet with plenty of seating

Åre Bageri

Wersens and Creperie were our favorite restaurants

Wersens - in the center of Åre is charming, good and does not take reservations

Wersens

Supper, off the main square, served tapas style South American food

chips with beef mole and sour cream

mini sausages and buns and pork tacos

mushroom springrolls

Creperie on Årevägen

Creperie - dessert crepes

Creperie - savory galettes

After five days of fresh mountain air and skiing the girls were beat and ready to head home.  We'd definitely return to Åre if there weren't so many other places we want to visit in Europe!