Welcome to the weekend coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea? This is going to be a different coffee share. Yesterday I put together a list of fun things to do in the region of Dalarna (Sweden) where I live, for a loved one that is planning to visit for a couple of weeks this summer. I put a lot of effort into thinking about the places we love the most and figured that there might be someone else out there that would appreciate knowing about some of these places from a local’s perspective. The photos are my own. The links I share for some of the destinations are not mine, and I do not have anything to do with these companies other than the fact that my family enjoy these destinations immensely. These are all extraordinary places to visit again and again. The places are listed by how close they are to the center of Falun, closest first, furthest distance last.

Falun (in town, or with a maximum of 30 min of travel time.)

Slussen – 30 min walk from the center of the city, or 5 min by car. Featuring walking trails, lake Runn (one of our largest lakes), mini golf, cafe/restaurants/ice cream (https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/do/eat/cafe-slussvaktarn ), small harbour, boat tours.

Dalarnas museum https://dalarnasmuseum.se/visit-us/ Located right in the middle of town, perfect for a rainy day. Right next to shops, and restaurants. The river ”Falu ån” runs through town, right outside of the museum and has nice walking trails in every direction.

Elsborg our ”old town”. See the oldest houses from the mining era, and walk the picturesque cobblestone streets. Free.

Hälsingårdsbryggan walk on the docks and try some extraordinary ice-cream (only in the summer time). 7 min by car from the center of Falun, or 4,2 km beautiful walk from town.

Falu Copper Mine (https://www.falugruva.se/en/om-oss/) A few minutes walk from the center of Falun. There’s a fee for the guided tours inside of the mine. The area around the mine is free to walk around, and a lovely place for a picnic. There’s also small stores featuring local craftmanship, a museum, and a café. There are nesting eagle-howls that lives in the mine, and it is possible to see them at one of the look-outs. The mine, and the area around the mine is part of the Unesco World Heritage list.

Gullnäsgården (https://gullnasgarden.se/cafe/ Open when the school holiday start. A beautiful summer café by Lake Varpan (coffee, fika, lunch, ice-cream), beach, swimming, rent a canoe, walking trails. Easy to get to by car (7 min), or bus (15 min) from the center of Falun.

Carl Larsson Gården (https://www.carllarsson.se/en/)13 km/16 min by car, a very beautiful drive through the countryside. (It is possible to take the bus as well. The buses don’t go very often.) There’s two different ways to drive to Sundborn, take one way there, and the other way home, both are very beautiful. Carl Larsson was a famous artist, so was his wife. Their artist home, and the surrounding property is famous. During the summer there’s a nice cafe, and an option to take a guided tour. It is possible to book the guided tour in English. There’s a fee for the tours, but walking around the garden and surrounding property is free. There is a very nice gift shop here. The whole village of Sundborn is amazing to walk around, and there’s many places to go swimming on a warm day. There’s a regular grocery shop (on the smaller side), and also an amazing store with local produce.

Near Lake Siljan:

30 – 90 min one way. It takes 2-3 hours to drive around Lake Siljan. It is a drive of a life time, very memorable. Many of these places mentioned are on the way, there’s many more possible stops than mentioned here. They can be seen the same day, or each be one day trip. There are several places to stay the night along the drive as well.

Långbryggan Rättvik (https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/do/attractions/langbryggan ) My daughter’s favourite beach. 45min by car, or 50 min by bus. A few minutes before reaching the destination there’s some amazing vistas where you see most of Lake Siljan. At the beach there’s local ice-cream (the best in the area, not the same as the one at Hälsingårdsbryggorna.) The sandy beach is very large and the walking trails are amazing. There’s an RV park, you can rent a cabin, boats, bikes etc etc. The town of Rättvik is known for different craftmanship and traditional folk music, there’s several interesting stores, cafés, and restaurants.

Mora (https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/mora)1 hour 20 min by car, or 1 hour 30 min by bus/train. It is sometimes described as the gate to the mountains. It is also the place of the finish line for the famous long distance ski race ”Vasaloppet”. It’s a picturesque town with a small front street with shops, and some museums nearby. The most famous museum is probably the Zorn museum https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/do/attractions/zorngarden. I’ve actually taken the guided tour there a few times, and think that it is worth it. The Zorn Cafe is extraordinary, and there’s many people visiting town only to go to that cafe.  Before leaving town one should take a walk along the beach/harbour. I took the photo of the big Dala-Horse at the top of this post at the beach walk. The surrounding nature is amazing for all kind of outdoor activties.

Sollerön 1 hour 30 min from Falun, right outside of Mora. Sollerön, a large island located in Lake Siljan. It is know to have its own microclimate, very suitable for gardening. There are some famous strawberry farms here. There’s several historical sites to explore and just driving around the island is a very nice experience. There’s several great beaches as well. It is allowed to explore the small backroads, taking one to the center of the island offers a great view.

Gesunda 1 hour 30 min from Falun, driving on the left or right side of Lake Siljan (it’s half -way around). Gesunda is right next to Sollerön. It is a small village, beautiful old houses and hundreds of historical sites and vistas.

Naturrum Dalarna 1 hour 14 min from Falun, or 27 min from Gesunda (if you are driving around the lake.) https://www.naturumdalarna.se/english/ Amazing panorma views from the top of a small mountain, where you can see most of Lake Siljan and the surrounding landscape. This is a nice destination to visit itself, but it could also be a great first place to visit, to get inspiration for the rest of your visit, since you can learn more about many places in Dalarna here.

Leksand (https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/leksand )  49 min from Falun, or 22 min from Naturrum Dalarna (if you are driving around Lake Siljan), located at the South shore of Lake Siljan. It is a very beautiful old town with classical red houses, lots of history, and an amazing countryside. The biggest midsummer celebration in Sweden takes place here (usually about 25000 visitors for this famous celebration).

Tällberg (https://www.visitdalarna.se/tallberg )  50 min from Falun, or 16 min from Leksand (if you are driving around Lake Siljan). This is perhaps the most beautiful town out of all the little towns around Lake Siljan. You can choose to stop at one of the restaurants, but just driving through is very special. I stayed at this hotel https://www.dalecarlia.se/ for a conference once and it was extraordinary. If you continue driving around Lake Siljan you are soon back in Rättvik at my daughter’s favourite beach.

The mountain region of Dalarna:

2-4 hours away

Fryksås fäbod ( https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/do/attractions/fryksas-summer-farm ) 1 hour 50 min from Falun. (Or 35 min from Mora, if you want to take a detour while driving around Lake Siljan). Take walks with amazing lake view vistas, and enjoy summer cafe’s in a classic Dala landscape.

Fulufjället National Park (https://www.sverigesnationalparker.se/en/choose-park—list/fulufjallet-national-park/)  3 hours 11min from Falun. Beautiful drive. Drive all the way to the visitor center and enjoy fabulous, reasonably priced food like elk burgers and other specialties. Easy walking trail to Swedens largest waterfall. Exciting landscape all around with a diverse fauna. It is possible to see some large birds and other wild life.

Grövelsjön, (https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/grovelsjon  ) 3hours 52 min from Falun. Beautiful drive. Possibly seeing rein deers. Mountain paradise at the Norweigan border. Great hiking and biking, wonderful vistas all around. In Idre close to Grövelsjön you can experience more of the Sami culture https://www.visitdalarna.se/en/Sami-culture.

That was all the destinations that I planned on sharing today, but if you like this post I may do a follow up with more destinations in my beautiful region. The destinations in this post are easily accessible by car, or bus, some includes some walking but nothing too strenuous. However, all these locations offer hiking and biking on endless trails, and on different levels of difficulty, if you are a little more adventurous!

Are you ready for a refill on your coffee? Tell me about your week!

Maria