SWEDISHthe destinations of LAPLAND YOUR ARCTIC DESTINATION Cycling routes in Luleå Photo: Fredrik Broman CYCLING ROUTES IN LULEÅ E4 BRNDN SVARTN AVAN RUTVIK N. SUNDERBYN BODENS KOMMUN GRANN 97 BJÖRKÖ- LULEÄLVEN LULEÅ KOMMUN FJÄRDEN S. SUNDERBYN BENSBYN BRN SELETS BRSBYN BRUK GAMMELSTAD 2 MULN BÄLINGE 3 RISN BÄLINGE- Bathing BERGET Café/restaurant BÄLINGETRÄSKET 1 KARLSVIK Cottages/ accommodation LULEÅ4 ALE Campsite CENTRUM HERTSN Sauna Boat tour ALVIK KVARN- 6 5 Tourist attraction 94 TRÄSKET Nature reserve ANTNÄS map key, route descriptions E4 MÅTTSUND Cycling road 7, 8 KALLAX Cycling on ERSNÄS main roads 9 SANDN GRANN KALLAXN ASN 10 km RN GERMANDÖ- BERN FJÄRDEN This is your guide to cycling routes in Luleå. Here roads of winter make things more difficult, we saddle up, because you will find everything from simple routes to in Luleå there are many fatbike cyclists. Our love of this odd bicycle has a lot to do with the freedom it gives us – neither sea ice interesting destinations and day trips that require nor marshlands can stop a fatbike. We cycle to work, we cycle for more time and experience. We are sure, however, fun, we cycle for exercise and we cycle to discover. It’s part of our that whatever your preferences, you will find a everyday life here in Luleå. In order to let you participate in this fine culture, we want to share some of our best tips for those of suitable route in this guide. you who wish to go cycling but might not know where to go. The In Luleå, we cycle everywhere and all year round. In summer we aim of this guide is to let visitors and locals alike find joy in cycling take our bicycles no matter where we’re going, no matter what time around our city. Choose the type of bicycle that suits you best and of day it is. The midnight light allows us to enjoy one of Sweden’s go explore Luleå. For that purpose, exploration, a bicycle really is best cycling cities 24 hours a day. the best mode of transportation. It will take you anywhere in this As we leave the city, cycling roads turn into trails and we love city. If you don’t have your own bike, there are several companies navigating our beautiful surroundings on a mountain bike. Whether offering rental of various types of bikes. If you would like company it is for exercise or for leisure matters less to us, we have plenty of and guidance, you can also hire a guide. both. Even when the terrain gets rough or the snow and slippery We welcome you to cycle in Luleå! CYCLING ETIQUETTE TIPS TOUR BOATS When cycling, you almost always have to adhere to the same rules as when driving GOOD TO HAVE: In summer and autumn, tour boats will a car. As a cyclist, you should cycle on cycle paths and if there is no cycle path you • Extra bicycle tyre inner tube take you to the largest and most pop- should keep to the side of the road. At pedestrian crossings, hop off and walk your and tyre lever ular islands in the Luleå archipelago: bike across. If you cycle across a pedestrian crossing you have a duty to give way to • Pump or CO2 cartridge Sandön, Hindersön, Junkön, Kluntarna both pedestrians and vehicles. Look carefully when crossing a busy main road, gener- and Brändöskär. This way you will also ally you have a duty to give way. Follow the routes in this guide at your own risk. • Repair kit reach the Luleå Council cottages, • Multi-tool with hex key Jopikgården on Hindersön and Klubb- LAWS: viken on Sandön. The tour boats depart BEFORE YOU LEAVE: from Luleå’s South Harbour. Schedule • Bicycle helmets are compulsory for • Check the brakes and more information available online: everyone under the age of 15. You • Check tyre pressure www.lulea.se are recommended to always wear • Check saddle height a helmet whilst cycling, regardless of age. Lindholm Susanne Photo: • Check that your handlebar is secured • Your bicycle must have a bell. A CYCLING MAP with all cycle paths in Luleå is available to collect from the • Front and rear lights and reflec- Luleå Tourist Centre. PDF version: Broman Fredrik Photo: tors must be mounted on your www.lulea.se bicycle. A white front light and a red rear light (applies in darkness). A BICYCLE PUMP can be found by the • Cycling on the pavement is bus station at the Storgatan-Hermelins- Stella Marina will take you prohibited. Wear a helmet! gatan intersection. to Klubbviken. 1. TOUR OF THE BRIDGES • 15 km Storheden there is an abundance of history. Luleå’s first iron mill 3 was located here in the early 20th century. TIPS: On a nice day, it’s Today, not much is still left, but the remnants of great to round off your cycling the mill, the blast furnace and quays can be seen trip at an outdoor restaurant along the culture trail that starts next to First by the North Harbour. Camp. Managers’ houses, rows of workers’ homes Notviken and the old school, today form part of a beautiful INFO: The Gäddvik Bridge residential area. There are a multitude of options was finished in 1941. Before for swimming: either at the Arcusbadet water park then, the Bergnäset-Luleå Notviken Mjölk- 4 ferry was the only connection udden or on a sandy beach – such as Niporna’s impres- sive, steep sandy hills, or the beach adjacent to across the river, when it was E4 First Camp. You can also find your very own beach ice free. The Bergnäs Bridge Karlsvik on the northern side of the cape. Snacks and food opened in 1945. At the time, are available both at Arcusbadet and at Kolarens the bridge, spanning 896.5 Norra fjrden café5 – a charming summer café housed in an old metres, was the longest in Norrbotten farm with a view of the river. In Karlsvik, Sweden. It has a headroom Niporna start Malmbanans vänner operate a railroad museum 6. of 7.3 metres when closed. N. Gäddvik Arcushallen 7 hosts exhibitions, sports and other The road is only seven metres LULEÅ events. Here you will also find basic mountain bike wide but separate walking bron Lule lv CENTRUM 8 and cycling paths, three G:a Gäddviks- tracks (read more under the mountain biking section). Fresh out of the water, with a belly full metres wide, are found on S. Gäddvik Bergnäs- bron of food, you continue through Karlsvik towards both sides. In 1978, the New the Storheden commercial district, turning right Gäddvik Bridge was built, as 1 km Bergnäset Gråsjälfjärden around Notviken and following the cycle path via part of Route E4. More about Mjölkudden. Here you will also find a number of Karlsvik: www.karlsvik.se small beaches where you can take a break. The last The Railroad Museum: This is a popular route that crosses the river twice, goes through Karlsvik leg of the route follows the road over Norra fjärden, www.nbjvm.se where there’s lots to see and finishes with cycling along Norra fjärden taking you back into central Luleå. back to the city. You will be cycling on both cycle roads and main roads and there are cosy summer cafés for stops whenever you get tired. Start by cycling across the Bergnäs Bridge, where you can follow cycle and forest paths until you reach Gäddvik and EFS Sundet 1 about 5 km from central Luleå. This is a suitable place for a first stop, maybe to enjoy fika at the summer café, beautifully located by the Lule River with a view of Niporna on the other side. The café serves Broman Fredrik Photo: ice cream, homemade pastries, crispy waffles, hot sandwiches as well as hot and cold beverages. From EFS Sundet you must follow the road for a short distance before you reach the next bridge, the Gamla Gäddvik Bridge. If you’ve brought your own packed lunch you can stop and enjoy it by the small Salmon Fishing Museum 2 found in a lovely location by the river. Once you reach the bridge you can cross it on a cycle path, we do recommend stopping to enjoy the view. Look downstream and you will see Gäddvik and Sundet to the right, a little to the left you can spot Gäddviksström- men and the sandy beach at Niporna. Upstream, on the other side of the new bridge, lies Norra Gäddvik. Cycle across the bridge and follow the road for a while until you Niporna, one of several nice beaches in Karlsvik. reach a sign for “First Camp/Karlsvik” – follow the sign. In the old mill town of Karlsvik 2. THE GAMMELSTAD CHURCH TOWN WORLD HERITAGE • 25 km next exit to the right. Cycle through the Tuvåkra industrial area until you reach the bridge over the railroad tracks. Turn right, cycle across the bridge and you will soon Rutviks- reach the church town. In the church town square you will locate the Visitor Centre sund where you can find all the information you need about the world heritage site. In the same building, if you are feeling a bit peckish, you might like to drop into Ulla’s Café. Where the harbour was once located is now the Hägnan outdoor museum1. There, you can get a glimpse of what life was like in the coastal villages of Norrbotten in the 19th century. The museum has buildings ranging in age from the 18th to the 20th Gammelstads century. Throughout the year, the museum offers an array of activities for all ages.