Fryksdalen - region around Lake Fryken in Värmland, Sweden

Fryksdalen, or Fryk Valley is a region in Värmland, surrounding the three lakes known as Fryken. Administratively, it is constituted by the three municipalities Kil, Sunne, and Torsby. It most known as the childhood home of the Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf, who used the area as the setting for several of her novels.

Understand

Fryken is not really one lake, but rather a chain of three lakes individually known as Upper, Middle and Lower Fryken. They are separated by the two sounds Sunnesundet and Nilsbysundet. The valley is very elongated, measuring about 80 km north to south, but only 3 km east to west at its widest part. The deepest depth of the lakes is about . Around the lakes there are three localities; Torsby, with a population of about 4,000 people, at the northern edge of Upper Fryken, Sunne, with some 5,000 inhabitants, at Sunnesundet between the Upper and Middle Fryken, and Kil, the largest town in the area with some 7,700 inhabitants, at the southernmost edge of Lower Fryken.

The areas' greatest claim to fame is the author Selma Lagerlöf, who was born in the manor Mårbacka in 1858. She received the 1909 Nobel Prize in literature, the first ever awarded to a woman. Several of her novels, like Gösta Berlings saga, The Emperor of Portugallia, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, and her autobiography Memories of My Childhood - Further Years at Mårbacka are set in the area. She is buried in the small village Östra Ämtervik.

Get in

By plane

The two closest airports are Karlstad flygplats (IATA: KSD) and Torsby flygplats, with daily connections with Stockholm Arlanda.

• Torsby Airport (IATA: TYF), 60.154722°, 12.994444°. Direktflyg from Stockholm–Arlanda and Hagfors 2019-11-27

By bus

Värmlandstrafik is the regional public transport operator.

By train

Kil is a rail hub between Oslo, Gothenburg, Stockholm and other cities, with several trains arriving from these destinations daily.

By car

The European highway E16 connects Oslo with Gävle, and passes through Torsby. Oslo is also connected to Örebro, Västerås and Stockholm via highway E18, which passes through Karlstad 20 km south of Kil.

Get around

Värmlandstrafik is the regional public transport company. Their train route Fryksdalsbanan, with several trains each day, connects Torsby with Kil, via Sunne.

European route E45 follows the western shore of Fryksdalen, passing just west of Kil and through Sunne and Torsby.

See

• Freja av Fryken, +46 554-415 90. A steamship on Fryken. 2019-05-17
• Mårbacka minnesgård, 59.781267°, 13.233208°, +46 565-310 27. Selma Lagerlöf's childhood home. 2019-05-17
• Rottneros Park, 59.801753°, 13.122089°, +46 565- 602 95. 2019-05-17
• Stamfrändemonumentet. A monument to the Finnish immigration to Värmland, and the Värmland emigration to USA. 2019-05-17
• Sundsbergs Gård, 59.828517°, 13.136567°, +46 565-103 63. 2019-05-17
• Sunne Sommarland, +46 565-142 80. 2019-05-17
• Tossebergsklätten, 59.978611°, 13.089722°, +46 565-921 25. 2019-05-17

Do

• Skiing
  • Ski Sunne +46 565-602 80
  • Branäs, Torsby
  • Hovfjället, Torsby
  • Långberget, Torsby
  • Mattila, Torsby
  • In Torsby you can also find a ski tunnel, open all year around.

Buy

• There are two supermarkets near Kil train station (less than 100 m). One opens every day 08:00-21:00, while the other (Pekås) is open M-F 09:00-20:00, Sa 09:00-18:00, and Su 10:00-18:00.

Eat

Drink

• Night club at Quality Hotel Selma Lagerlöf, Sunne, +46 565-68 88 00
• Bowling and night club at Play Palace, Sunne, +46 565-122 15
• Pub nights and disco at Akropolis, Sunne, +46 565-120 05
• Pub nights at Pizzeria City, Sunne, +46 565-105 62
• There is a small café in the Kil train station, serving tea and coffee (20 kr) and breakfast (50-70 kr).
• There is a bar near the Kil train station, opening at 16:00.

Sleep

Budget

• Sillegården. summer guest house. 2019-05-16
• STF Sunne Vandrarhem. 2019-05-16

Mid range

• Broby Gästgivaregård. 2019-05-16
• Hotel FrykenStrand. 2019-05-16
• Länsmansgården. 2019-05-16
• Solbacka Gästgifveri. 2019-05-16

Splurge

• Ominne - Hide a Way Exclusive. 2019-05-16
• Quality Hotel Selma Lagerlöf. 2019-05-16
• Selma Spa +. 2019-05-16

Camping

• Sunne SweCamp Kolsnäs. 2019-05-16

Connect

Go next

To see more of Selma Lagerlöf's heritage, you can continue on Nils Holgersson's Journey Across Sweden, or go to Falun, where Selma moved in 1897 and lived out most of her life.

• Bergslagen, eastern Värmland is part of this traditional heartland of Swedish metallurgy.
• Karlstad, on the shores of lake Vänern, is the largest city in Värmland.
• Mora, and Siljansbygden in general, is often considered an epitome of Swedishness.
• Oslo, the Norwegian capital is 170 km west of Torsby.