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GALLIVARE |
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GÄLLIVARE is one of Europe's most important sources of iron ore,
while Europe's largest open-cast copper mine sears the landscape 20km to
the south, its gargantuan bucket-shovels and dump trucks just dots 250m
down. The tourist office ferries trips to the iron ore mines (mid-June
to Aug Mon-Fri 9.30am & 1.30pm; 160kr) and copper mine (June-Aug Mon-Fri
2pm; 160kr). Astounding statistics - 300 tonnes of high explosives are
used for each blast - pepper the tour, which also takes in Kåkstan , a
rebuilt shantytown on the site of the original iron ore mine; and you
stop long enough to sample local delicacies like reindeer, salmon and
lingonberry juice, all for 75kr at Café Endast för Nyktra . There's not
much to Gällivare itself. Little remains of the seventeenth-century Sami
village, and the river and surrounding mountains are really the nicest
feature of the town. You can walk up to Björnfällän , a four-kilometre
hike on a well-marked path - the views are magnificent. Buses make the
journey (160kr return) to the summit 3km north beyond Björnfällan to see
the Midnight Sun daily between mid-June and mid-July. Buses leave from
the train station at 11pm, returning at 1am.
The tourist office is at Storgatan 16 (June to mid-Aug Mon-Fri 9am-8pm,
Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-4pm; tel 0970/166 60,
www.gellivare.se ). Its long summer hours are aimed at late Inlandsbanan
arrivals, and the office has a café downstairs and a museum upstairs
dealing with Sami history. The youth hostel (tel 0970/143 80;
£5-10/$8-16) is at Barnhemsvägen 2, behind the train station, and offers
accommodation in small two-person cabins (no bed linen provided), though
there are a few three and four bed cabins too. There's also a small
private hostel, Lapphärbärget (tel 0970/125 34; £5-10/$8-16), next to
the Lappkyrkan by the river, and a hotel , the Dundret , Per
Högströmsgatan 1 (tel 0970/145 60; £35-40/$56-64), close to the station.
The campsite (tel 0970 100 10) is by the river; for snacks or an evening
coffee and cakes by the river, make for the Strand Kaféet near the
campsite at Malmbergsvägen 2, beside some relocated vernacular buildings
and a few captive reindeer.
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