The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Åresjön

This is a super fun trail for kids. They can use their imaginations to bring the trolls to life!

Toppstugan Åre is Sweden's highest café, at a height of 1,420m atop Mount Åreskutan. Cookies, hot chocolate, waffles are all served without running water! Everything is transported manually for your comfort. Generally open between 10a.m. - 3p.m. but this is subject to weather conditions - the hut has been rebuilt a few times over the years due to storm damage. Don't run by without stopping in!

On the Trollstigen trail, you can experience fairy tales and legends about goblins, trolls, giants, and other unknowns with your children (but also without). Along the path, parts of the sagas and fairy tales from the Åre valley are captured on signs. The hike can start at either Åre Torg or Fjällgården.

The mountain range lies in one of the most extreme climate zones in the world. Wind gusts of sixty meters per second and absolute world-leading icing as well as violent thunderstorms are not uncommon. The Åreskutan attracts like a magnet the low-pressure foothills from the Atlantic, which often make their way over the mountain range here. In the event of sudden changes in the weather, you are lucky to find shelter in such a hut.

The 1.3 kilometer long one-way path offers children, in particular, a glimpse into the mythical world of Åre. It is said that trolls are hiding along the way, so you always have to keep your eyes open. Some hide in the roots of trees. Others petrify during the day. Legends and fairy tales of Åredalen are mentioned on signs along the way. Like the story of the Riesenrut in Skut and its fight with the Riesenjätt in Spett. The path meanders sheltered through the forest and follows the roaring Mörviksån or Susabäcken, as it is popularly known, in the upper part.

The 826 meter high Totthummeln is - along with Åreskutan and Mullfjället - one of the three peaks of Åredalen. Not many people climb the summit in winter, but in summer it is a popular hiking and excursion destination. The Totthummeln is the fastest accessible and most weather-protected of the three peaks. If you cover the entire route from the valley on foot, you have almost five kilometers of hiking distance and around 420 meters of altitude ahead of you. The tour lasts about an hour and a half, but you should allow more time as you may want to stop more often and enjoy the view or even take a detour to Teddy Rock.

Ludvig Tjärnström and Leslie Monroy run Sweden's highest café, the "Toppstuga" on the summit of Åreskutan at an altitude of 1,420 meters. It's definitely not easy, but they actually serve homemade cakes and waffles here. And they claim to have a dream job despite (or perhaps because of?) the absolutely crazy weather conditions. In 1892, Sweden's highest mountain hut was built, located in one of the most extreme climates in the world. Wind gusts of sixty meters per second and absolute world-leading icing as well as violent thunderstorms are not uncommon. The Åreskutan attracts like a magnet the low-pressure foothills from the Atlantic, which often make their way over the mountain range here. The material for the construction was transported up by horse-drawn sleigh. The café is not open every day due to the weather, but you always have the opportunity to seek shelter in the so-called shelter of the hut in the entrance area. Even when the "Toppstuga" is not open, there is a diverse selection of food and drinks in the cable car mountain station.

860 meters in altitude in seven minutes: The Åre cable car (Kabinbanan) makes Åreskutan the most easily accessible high mountain in Sweden. The mountain station is at an altitude of 1274 meters, the valley station is located just above the central square Åre torg at 421 meters above sea level. From the mountain station and from the nearby summit at an altitude of 1,420 meters you have a view that stretches for kilometers over the mountains of Jämtland. The cable car was built as part of the Åre project, where the Swedish government decided in 1972 to allocate money to create a ski area in Årefjällen where “normal” people could also afford to ski. The Kabinbana was opened in 1976. Each cabin can accommodate 75 people. The train usually runs every 20 minutes. Dogs are welcome in one of the mountain huts, but four-legged friends must generally be kept on a leash on the mountain.