The Best Little Swedish Village You Never Heard Of

In Lapland, the Torne River divides (or in the winter, unites) Finland and Sweden. The villages of Kukkola lay on both sides of the Tome River: Kukkola, Finland and Kukkolaforsen, Sweden. Our travel schedules are often so hectic, that we were more than thrilled to spend a relaxing day getting to know the quiet little village of Kukkolaforsen and the people that live there.

We wandered among the little wooden red houses of the village, some of which once-upon-a-time were home to families with up to 12 children. The locals told us stories of their ancestors that built the village of Kukkolaforsen over a fire while we baked bread over the hot coals. Buttering the hot and semi-sweet anise bread with homemade churned butter, I listened as we heard tales of the local fishing culture, the families that lived there, and how the frozen Torne River unites Finland and Sweden in the wintertime when you can literally walk from one side to the other.

Kukkolaforsen has a small fishing museum, where we learned a bit more about the fishing style using long-handled nets from the 17th century and how that fishing style is still used today. Just a little further down river from the village, rushing rapids are a perfect place to fish for salmon as they make their annual migration.

While the history of Kukkolaforsen is certainly fascinating and the village picturesque, perhaps the best part of our visit was the relaxing evening riverside that we spent feasting on a buffet of local fish prepared in the Swedish style and alternating eating and drinking wine with sauna.

Our time in Finland and Sweden was hosted by LappOne, who offers a variety of holidays to Lapland. As always, all opinions are entirely our own.