Tourism in Sweden comprised a relatively small part of the Swedish economy in 2011 at 2.9% of the country's GDP; at this time, tourism generated 264 billion Swedish krona, 98.8 billion of which was foreign-visitor expenditure in Sweden. 7.1% of Swedish household income is spent on domestic tourism.
One well-known tourist route is via train from southern to northern Sweden, viewing historical, natural and cultural attractions. This route is particularly popular among German tourists.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Sweden was the 21st most-visited country in the world, with 7,627,000 arrivals in 2006.
Swedish culture
Sweden has a number of World Heritage Sites, which are popular as tourist destinations. These include:
The agricultural landscape of the island of Öland, visited for its geological and geographical features Birka and Hovgården on the islands Björkö and Adelsö in Mälaren near Stockholm The church village of Gammelstad, Luleå, in northern Sweden Drottningholm Palace, Theatre, and the royal domain Engelsberg Ironworks The Hanseatic town of Visby The "High Coast" of Ångermanland Laponian area, Swedish Lapland, in northern Sweden The mining area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun The naval port of Karlskrona Rock carvings in Tanumshede Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm
Swedish horse racing is an unusual attraction, in that many races are actually trotting races. The horses are not allowed to gallop; they pull a small vehicle ridden by the human racer.
Swedish nature
Due to Sweden's northern location, the summer sun sets for only short periods of time (not at all north of the Arctic Circle). This phenomenon allows outdoor activities later in the evening than usual.
Sweden has a large number of lakes and forests; the former are popular for fishing and canoeing. There are several large lakes, including lakes Vättern and Vänern. The Göta Canal from Stockholm to Gothenburg allows for trips in the summer.
Hiking is popular in the summer, both in the forested regions as well as in the alpine landscapes.
Mountain-hiking is limited to the northern and north-western parts of Sweden where a nearly 1000 km long and 50 to 200 km wide mountain range borders to Norway. In the south the Swedish mountains are generally high rolling hills with some occasional pointy peaks, while the middle and particularly northern parts of the range gradually exhibit a more dramatic nature. Sweden, and Scandinavia in general, lacks notably high peaks (the highest mountain in Sweden is Mt. Kebnekaise near Kiruna, which is high). Despite this, dramatic areas are found in several places, and the northernmost parts of the Swedish mountain range house a notably large and dramatic wild alpine region, known as Laponia area. This area includes world-famous mountain regions like the Sarek National Park and is sometimes referred to as "Europe's last wilderness" or "Europe's Alaska". Covering about 9400 km2, the Laponia area is the largest wilderness in Europe with vast areas of untouched nature. This attracts many hikers each year, but visiting certain parts of the region requires experience since it is mostly roadless land with huge walking distances, uninhabited, and with a lack of cellphone reception in large parts.
Another popular area for Swedish mountain hiking is Kungsleden, or "The King's Trail". It is a 400 km long trail that reaches through nearly half the Swedish mountain range, from Abisko in the north, to Hemavan in the south. This hike does not require any extreme experience and manned mountain huts with accommodation and small shops are located along the trail. It is said to be a great nature experience of world class, both for veterans as well as beginners.
Northern Sweden and winter sports
In the winter, the Jukkasjärvi ice hotel is built every year near the northern town of Kiruna. Kiruna is also frequently used as a place from which to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern lights).
Tourists in Sweden's north in the winter often take trips in reindeer sleighs with Sami drivers, in dog sleighs, or on snowmobiles. It is also possible to ski, with downhill resorts at Åre and Vemdalen, and there are many cross country ski tracks throughout northern Sweden. Vasaloppet (in the beginning of March) is the oldest, longest and largest cross-country ski race in the world. Ice hockey is a popular sport in the winter. Many of the bays in the northern part of the country are frozen in winter, and it is possible to go ice yachting or ice skating on the ice. Many lakes are also frozen, so ice fishing (pimpelfiske) is quite common.