Hiking on the Höga Kusten Leden in Sweden - Part 1

In summer 2026 we hiked the Höga Kusten Leden in Sweden. It is a ~130km hiking trail on the beautiful Swedish High Coast.

This will be a series of three posts - this is day one and two.

The tour started on the High Coast bridge, Swedens’ longest suspended road bridge, on 2026-Jul-08 and ended on 2026-Jul-13 near the city of Örnsköldsvik.

Actually, we started two days earlier by taking a train to Berlin and then used the SJ EuroNight to get to Stockholm. This was a surprisingliy pleasant experience. The journey led us, despite it being overnight, via Hamburg, across the Rendsburg High Bridge, Little- and Great Belt Bridge, via Copenhagen and the Øresund Bridge to Malmö, Linköping, Norrköping and finally to Stockholm. 17 hours later we left the train in Stockholm Centralstation, picked up two Kardemummabullar and grabbed the next Snabbtåg (High Speed Train) towards Umeå which we left at Härnösand Centralstation. In under 23 hours we made it from Berlin to Härnösand. Quite impressive given the fact that it felt way shorter.

All this is made possible and affordable by Interrail.

The rest of the evening we spent with checking into a hotel, getting some dinner and shopping for groceries we had to take with us onto our journey.

Day 1

GPX for day 1.

We took a bus from Härnösand to the High Coast bridge, it stopped right at the E4 highway which was also the start of the Höga Kusten Leden.

After a short breakfast consisting of an apple we started our adventure and walked the first kilometers with the yet-unfamiliar heavy backpack. The first large climb was up to Kulberget (110m above sea) with the occasional rain in between.

After the descent down to the small village of Lövvik and enjoying some coffee and cookies in the local cafe we then took our next climb up to mountain Valkallen (240m).

In the far distance you may still see the bridge. Another descent later we hiked along the coast line - across stones and rocks of differing size and loseness, sometimes possibly incurring cursing and swearing.

This section of trail would be much more enjoyable for hikers with less heavy backpacks, however with 20kg resting on your shoulders it is no fun to cross a kilometers-long Klapperfält.

Luckily the remaining kilometers were more enjoyable and with the start of the evening we reached our first destination at Fjärdbotten.

At Fjärdbotten were open shelters, huts and outhouses. There was a water source which you could use with a simple water filter and also a fire place. This kind of place is very common and everyone is open to use it. We chose to stay in one of the huts.

Day 2

Day two started at Fjärdbotten with coffee and müsli and took us all the way to Lappuden near the town of Nordingrå.

GPX for day 2.

Our first ascent was mountain Lidnipan (220m) where once again there was a public hut and a wonderful view across the landscape.

The descent from here was quite steep and included a newly inaugurated part of the Höga Kusten Leden. This new trail led us directly over soft moss and large lichen between trees and bushes. Of course we were greeted by blueberries and wild strawberry plants everywhere.

The rest of the day consisted mostly of gravel roads. We decided to stay at Lappuden camping site near Nordingrå overnight because the day was already long enough and we were quite exhausted by that time. Gifted with a nice shower we could enjoy the evening.

This was also the first time we put up our tent to sleep in. The sun set at ~11:00 PM and rose again at ~03:00 AM but it was never dark outside.

To be continued.