The Longest Day of the Year
Emrik Jansson
Midsummer’s day the longest day of the year in 2025, and it will be properly celebrated in Åre. The lifts are open until 9 PM so you can enjoy the splendid summer brilliance while cycling, hiking and taking in the views from Åreskutan’s peak, well into the summer evening.
Midsummer’s Eve is followed by Midsummer’s Day which in 2025 co-incides with the Summer Solstice. This is one of this summer’s highlights, not least as the lifts are open from 10 in the morning to 9 PM, when the sun still hasn’t sunk below the horizon.
Max out on this opportunity! By taking the lift, you can reach any of the many downhill cycling trails available as well as many of the hiking and running trails. If you feel for something less strenuous, take the lift, walk the last few hundred metres to Åreskutan’s peak to take in the view from 1420 metres above sea level, and take the lift back down.
If you wish to linger after the last ride with Kabinbanan (the cable car) at 9 PM, you can walk or bike down as dusk is still a couple of hours away.
Opening Hours Åreskutan
LIFTS Kabinbanan (the Cable Car) and Stjärnliften are open from 10 AM to 9 PM. For other opening hours and changes, please check SkiStar’s website >>
TOPPSTUGAN This café is not just old but the highest elevated in Sweden. Open from 10 AM to 3.30 PM and offers, among other things Swedish Skagen Waffles.
BASECAMP A full menu and a special picnic-kebab are on offer so you can bring your food to your place of choice. Opening hours are the same as the lifts’.
Tips in Åre village
ÅRE TORG (square) Åre Kafferosteri (11 AM to 4 PM) and Max Hamburger Restaurant offer provisions. While you’re here, challenge each other to the Tourist Office’s games that are available for anyone.
ÅRE CRÊPERI Offers lunch and dinner. Open from 11 AM to 22 PM.
GRANEN RESTAURANT Offers dinner and, if you wish, a bar, from 3 PM to 10 PM.
BROKEN is open from 12 o’clock. Offers food, drinks and a midsummer’s day party until 1AM.
Tips for the Whole Weekend in Åre
Midsummer’s Eve can be a rather quiet day in Åre but, of course, there’s still plenty to do and places to see the whole weekend, from traditional Swedish Midsummer’s celebrations to being on your own on top of a mountain. Max-out on the Midsummer Weekend!
This text is subject to change.
Cycle! From June 20th, Kabinbanan, Stjärnliften and VM:an are open daily but if gravel and trail cycling is your thing, the trails are always open. Make those calves work, go up, down and traverse through forests, atop a mountain and along beautiful streams, alone or with friends and family. Find your best trail via Åre Trails and SkiStar’s Trail Map.
Find some new perspectives. Being water-born gives you the chance to explore hidden gems and beautiful inlets you wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. You can book and rent a water vessel of your choice online, pick it up and return it yourself at the kayakomats along Åre strand (at the Marina and at Holiday Club’s seaside). Find the right links here>>
Let the frogs quack, flowers be bound and the dance go round. Fröå Gruva offers traditional Swedish Midsummer celebrations on the 20th. Decorated wagons depart from Björnen at 11 AM and the dancing starts at 12.00. At Fröå Gruva, Bergstugan offers a midsummer buffet (pre-booking only) on Midsummer’s Eve and are open from 11.00 to 16.00 on Midsummer’s Day.
Use your feet. The hiking and running trails are prepared and open by Midsummer so find your best and favourite trail and head out with your backpack filled with tasty food and drink. If you don’t feel like hiking, taking a stroll to a nice place for a picnic is not a bad idea. Enjoy the tastes accompanied by the summer light. For higher altitudes, take the Cable Car up and take a stroll on top of the world.
Take a water outing. Tegeforsen and Ullån are perfect destinations within walking distance from Åre village, where you can eat your picnic to the sound of the sonorous waters. Ristafallet and Tännforsen are large waterfalls in the vicinity and well worth a visit, as is Vålåforsen in the Vålådalen Nature Reserve.
Jump, climb and fly – let out your inner child. JumpYard and the Climbing Centre, that offers both bouldering and rope climbing, in Duved are great tips for spending some energy while acquiring new skills. You’ll have the most fun by challenging each other to who makes the best, highest or most gorgeous performance.
It’s downhill from here! Not literally, of course, but on June 22th, Duveds IF and Hector Haines, Team Captain for the Swedish Ski Mountaneering National Team, invites anyone who feels like running up or down, or both, to Hamrebacken in Duved. The running event is called It’s downhill from here (Det går utför härifrån) and offers running as well as after run. Go to the event >>
Take a break at Åre torg or the park. Have a really good cup of coffee or tea at Åre Kafferosteri or grab a burger at Max, both open over the Midsummer weekend. Or combine the two while you challenge each other to a game (available at the Tourist Office on Åre torg). A bit further away, Åre Chokladfabrik is open except on Midsummer’s Eve and well worth a tasty visit.
Take a tour of Southern Årefjällen and explore Vålådalen, Trillevallen and Edsåsdalen. Lunch, dinner or cups of coffee/tea/other can be found at Vålådalen’s Mountain Station that serves food with a touch of traditional Swedish midsummer’s food, as well as in Edsåsdalen where Köjagården and Renfjällsgården are open for overnight guests and day visitors.
As mentioned, Midsummer’s Eve is a rather quiet day in Åre and many restaurants are closed. Load up on good local food produce beforehand and make your own special breakfast, lunch and dinner. For a full Swedish experience, at least one dish should consist out of pickled herring and potatoes with schnapps on the side. Open air grills are also available at Åre strand and in Björnen.
Prepare for todays’ or future outdoor adventures at Lundhag’s Factory Outlet in Järpen. Combine your shopping stop with an outdoor adventure! Open from 10 AM to 1 PM on Midsummer’s Eve and Midsummer’s Day and from 10 AM to 5 PM on the 22nd.
Midsummer’s Eve deserves some extra sweetness. Take the lift, or hike or run, up to the cable car mountain station and enjoy cake at Basecamp (10.00 to 16.00) and a Skagen Waffle at Sweden’s highest café Toppstugan (10.00 to 15.30). Yum!
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Last updated 9 May 2025
