Kristofers and Erik Anders

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kristofers

   In Hälsingland, the farmers got rich on flax, and then they spent the money on wallpaper. From the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth, prosperous families in the forested valleys of this part of central Sweden built huge timber farmhouses, each with a festive room reserved for weddings, funerals and holidays, and decorated it with painted murals, stencilled borders and trompe-l'oeil panels in extravagant colours. They are still standing, red-painted outside, ornate inside, and seven of them were listed by UNESCO in 2012 as the decorated farmhouses of Hälsingland.

   Read the complete Kristofers write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kristofers is where the day begins. Next is Bommars.

2. 2. Bommars

   In the forests of Hälsingland, in central Sweden, you find farms that look as though they belong in a fairy tale. Prosperous farmers of the nineteenth century, who made their money from flax and timber, built large, many-roomed farmhouses and decorated their best rooms with paintings, wallpaper and carved details, often in rich reds, blues and golds. Several of these farms, the Hälsingegårdar, were listed by UNESCO in 2012, and others are still in private hands and used as homes. The place named on our list lies in the countryside near Ljusdal, in this farming country.

   Read the complete Bommars write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bommars comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pallars.

3. 3. Pallars

   Hälsingland, a province in central Sweden, is a country of long forested ridges and deep river valleys, and its farms are far from ordinary. Pallars, near the village of Alfta, is one of seven Hälsingland farmhouses inscribed by UNESCO in 2012 as the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland, and it stands in open farmland about six kilometres from the village, with Edsbyn twelve kilometres away and Bollnäs, the main town, about nineteen.

   Read the complete Pallars write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 122 km into the recorded legs you reach Pallars. Next is Erik Anders.

4. 4. Erik Anders

   The farms of Hälsingland are one of the odder success stories of Swedish history. In the nineteenth century, farmers in this part of the country grew rich on flax and linen, and they spent their wealth not on grand manor houses but on enormous wooden farmhouses with elaborate painted interiors. Rooms were reserved for celebrations, and decorated with biblical scenes, flowers and ornamental borders by travelling artists. Seven of these farms are on the UNESCO list, among them the Erik-Anders farm, near Söderhamn, whose neat red buildings stand in a clearing among fields and forest.

   Read the complete Erik Anders write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Erik Anders, about halfway. Next is back through Pallars.

5. 5. back through Pallars

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pallars write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Pallars sits at 256 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bommars.

6. 6. back through Bommars

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bommars write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Bommars comes up about 336 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kristofers.

7. 7. Kristofers

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kristofers write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kristofers closes the day.