Weekend Getaway to Gavle and Furuvik (Sweden): 21-22 June 2013

Sunny days are always at a premium in Stockholm .... and staying indoors on a warm sunny summer day is akin to blasphemy... So, when the weatherman predicted temperatures upwards of 20 deg, and when one of our friends suggested Furuvik, an amusement park cum zoo, some two hours drive away.. the plan was almost instant.... Another friend couple (Tanu/Sakal) was roped in and hotel bookings were made (just a day before travel).

Drive to Gavle

Gävle, a quiet little Swedish city, best known for its Yule Goat figure, is located around 180 kms north of Stockholm. Leaving home at around 10 am on 21st June, the plan was to spend the day sightseeing in Gavle, and enjoy the adventure park Furuvik the day after ... (later did we realize that the choice of date was terrible!!). Our friends were running late, so we decided to travel separately and meet later in Gavle itself. The route was simple, with a straight drive of 170 kms on highway E4, and the uncharacteristically warm summer year had made the journey quite picturesque with the surroundings in full bloom. Our 1.5 year old son was particularly fascinated with the numerous horse/sheep farms on the way.

Midsummer plays spoil sport

We reached Gavle at around noon, and the first planned stop for us was the famous Swedish Railway Museum. But before that, did I tell you, that it was the most important Swedish day of the year, the Midsummer day (yes, more important than the Easter, National Day or even Christmas).  I don't remember what we were thinking (or weren't thinking), but when we reached the Museum, it stuck us... EVERYTHING shuts down on midsummer... And so, the planned itinerary for the day was in the trash.... Half expecting even that to be closed, we headed towards the biggest attraction of the city, The Boulognerskogen City Park.

Boulognerskogen City Park and The Old town

Thankfully, the Boulognerskogen City Park was open (and buzzing with activity, as it was the spot for city's Midsummer celebrations). The park, a huge green area in the middle of the city, has a beautiful lake at the entrance, a big children's play area, and a 6 km running track. Forgetting the initial dissappointment, we spent a good 3 hours there, with Vivaan enjoing all the rides and midsummer celebrations.

As the evening started to set, we headed towards another top attraction of the city, the Old Town. But as expected, it too was completely closed, and we had a hard time to even find an open restaurant to have dinner.

Finally, after a day with mixed success, we checked into our hotel, the Scandic Gävle Väst , just on the outskirts of the city. Our friends were so late reaching, that we met them almost half asleep.

Furuvik amusement park and zoo

  

  

The next morning, after an early breakfast at the hotel, we headed towards the Furuvik, one of the most famous amusement park and zoo in Sweden, and the reason we had planned this trip. The park has a big and quite a decent zoo, with a variety of animals, the star attraction among them being Chimpanzees and small Kangaroos. Both Vivaan and our friends' daughter enjoyed a lot, and so did we. The amusement park was average with few rides but nothing compared to the Gronalund amusement park in Stockholm, to which we had been to a numerous times before.

After spending the whole day in the park, we left for Stockholm at around 6 in the evening. A weekend well spent indeed.