Why this ride
A natural corridor of river bends, cliffs and historic settlements. It also links naturally to Ume River valley.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Blue Highway Sweden
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 146 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 16
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check gravel share, wildlife risk and seasonal road works. Specific flag: seasonal; wildlife.
Seasonal context
May-Sep
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Holmsund
Ferries to Finland leave from Holmsund, crossing the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia, the Kvarken, to Vaasa on the other side. This small town of about six thousand people at the mouth of the Ume River serves as the port of Umeå, the biggest city in northern Sweden, about twenty kilometres upstream. For riders, it is the start of the Blue Highway, the route that runs west from the Baltic across Sweden and over the mountains to Mo i Rana in Norway, following rivers and lakes for much of the way, which gives it its name.
Read the complete Holmsund write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Holmsund sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Umeå.
2. Umeå
Umeå is the kind of city you do not expect at sixty-four degrees north: young, bookish and full of bicycles. About eighty thousand people live here on the Ume river, a number swelled by a big university and a hospital, and the average age is low enough that cafés and bars stay busy long after you think a northern town should have gone to bed. In summer the sun barely drops and the evenings feel endless; in midwinter it is the reverse, and the whole place leans on candles, saunas and coffee.
Read the complete Umea write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Umeå comes up 65 km in. Next is Lycksele.
3. Lycksele
Lycksele is the kind of place where a reindeer standing in the middle of the road is not unusual. This small town of about eight thousand five hundred people in southern Lapland sits on the banks of the Ume River, surrounded by endless forest, and it serves as a centre for the vast, thinly populated interior of Västerbotten. The Blue Highway, the E12, passes through on its way from the Baltic coast to the mountains, and the town is a natural stop, about halfway between Umeå and the high country around Storuman.
Read the complete Lycksele write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
146 km in you reach Lycksele.