1936 On the Continent

is a delightful stretch on the Dalsland Canal, starting from Köpmannabro and ending at Bengtsfors.
    (6) Also a beautiful combined boat and motor-coach trip can be made along the River Indalsälven, starting from the town of Sundsvall on the Baltic.
    (7) And another, even more beautiful boat trip can be made up the River Ångermanälven from Härnösand to Sollefteå.
    (8) A tour to the winter sport centres and fishing places in Jämtland or Härjedalen.
    (9) Right in the wilds of Lapland you can make a grand trip up the Lule Träsk, a long narrow lake, which will take you to a tourist centre called Saltoluokta, by motorboat and road. The centrally-heated tourist station with its electric light and hot and cold water, which is miles within the Arctic Circle, provides a case in point of the mingling of the primitive with the up to date that is so characteristic of Sweden.
    Even the most northern parts of Sweden are traversed by numerous comfortable trains, while mail motor-coaches will take you to any out-of-the-way spot not connected by train. The hiker can walk by a really grand road from Kvickjokk to Abisko, with halting places in between.
Sweden in a Nutshell
    A well-known Englishman once said to me “A grand part of the world, that country of yours—it seems to hold attractions for every taste.” He was right. Only look at the scenery. The South of Sweden is a happy blending of fertile fields and wooded hills. There are large shady beech woods down in Scania, relieved by other varieties—ash, elm, oak, etc.—with pine and fir predominating more and more as you go further north.
    There are stately manor-houses, approached by long avenues of venerable linden trees or ash, and little red cottages peeping out from among groves of smiling silver birch. Meadows aglow with flowers, and wherever you go, water. Lake Vänern is the second largest lake in Europe, and Lake Vättern, too, is of considerable size, while Lake Mälaren, another large lake, close to Stockholm, has 1,100 islands.
    The whole country is criss-crossed by streams and rivers that grow more imposing the further north you go, culminating in turbulent rapids and waterfalls which provide electric power, the “White Coals of Sweden.”
    In the North there are pine forests from which millions of logs are floated down the rivers and rapids to the saw mills on the coast. And still further north there are the long snow-capped mountain ranges of Lapland, a province spreading far beyond the Arctic Circle, yet boasting a flora of tropical hues, due to the violet rays of the sun in those parts, the strength of which renders the climate even more vitalising than that of Switzerland.
    Then there is the coast of Sweden, extending for the best part of a thousand miles. Thousands of islands and “skerries” are characteristic of the archipelagos of Gothenburg and Stockholm.
    This is Swedish nature in a nutshell, so to speak, but let us now turn to the map and take a more detailed interest in the country.
Southern Sweden
    Gothenburg is Sweden’s chief gateway to the West, the leading commercial port of the country, and its second largest city, with a famous shipbuilding industry. Gothenburg is, however, by no means only a commercial and industrial town. Its social and cultural institutions are well worth seeing, and the whole place abounds with parks and gardens. When you have finished your tour of this beautiful town you will enjoy a good dinner at a verandah restaurant like Liseberg or Trädgårdsföreningen (The Garden Society), a delightful restaurant with palm gardens that are among the largest in Europe. From Gothenburg you may take a trip to the grim old fortress of Bohus or to Marstrand, an island resort with a good restaurant. In spite of the rather primitive conditions in this place, it is a favourite holiday resort of the “smart set.” The main attraction, to my mind, are those jolly parties you can join for a few hours cruising in a sturdy coaster among the “skerries,” landing on some island, and bathing from the rocks, with a most welcome picnic meal to follow.
    If you travel south from Gothenburg, you come to Särö, another little seaside place, which is quite exclusive and honoured by his presence for a short stay every summer by the King of Sweden, who is often to be seen on the tennis courts.
    Tylösand, a popular seaside resort, though quite different in character, is only about an hour’s journey further south. Here you find six miles