The world’s largest underground mine
The largest underground mine in the world is located under Kiruna. You can travel with a guide 540 metres below the earth to see the exhibition mine, with its authentic mining setting, slideshow and exhibits. The mining museum tells the 100-year history of the mine.
A town on the move
In order to continue iron ore extraction in Kiruna, large parts of the town must be moved. The transformation of the town is a large-scale project that has attracted the interest of architects and town planners from around the world. You can visit the municipal information centre in the town hall, which has a computer model and exhibits about the move.
Experience the brilliant colours of the northern lights
Thanks to its northerly location, Kiruna offers magical shows of light with the brilliant colours of the northern lights. You have by far the greatest chance of experiencing this performance of nature when you get a way a bit from the town’s lights, so why not join a tour of the northern lights with a snowmobile, dog sled or a horse-drawn sleigh.
Wilderness life and adventure activities
Pristine mountain ranges, swampland rich in cloudberries and teeming rivers – in Kiruna you have wilderness just around the bend. Explore the area’s magnificent nature on a hiking trip or skiing tour, or perhaps on the back of an Icelandic horse. If you’re out for the thrill of speed, you can take a helicopter tour over Mount Kebnekaise, try whitewater rafting or do snowmobile motocross – a guaranteed adrenaline kick. You can find peace and quiet or hit the steep slopes in Abisko, Björkliden and Riksgränsen.
Stay at the Icehotel
In Jukkasjärvi along the Torne River, 17 kilometres from Kiruna, you’ll find the world-famous Icehotel, which is made out of ice from the river each year. Take the opportunity to spend the night in a warm sleeping bag atop a reindeer skin. After a night at the Icehotel, it may be nice to continue your tour with a visit to a Sami camp, where you can learn more about Sami history and culture, see the reindeer up close and purchase Sami handcrafts in the shop there.
Space capital of Sweden
Kiruna can with good reason be called the space capital of Sweden. The Swedish Institute of Space Physics, whose activities include collecting data about the northern lights, is located here, and the EISCAT Scientific Organisation has its main office as well as a number of radar facilities in the town. At the Esrange space research station, forty kilometres from Kiruna, spacecraft are tested and high altitude balloons and unmanned rockets are launched.