I visited this WHS in June 2018. I used Gallivare as my base and stayed there for 3 nights focusing mainly on the inscribed Muddus National Park and Stora Sjofallets National Park.

The Laponian Area is a mixed WHS and is inscribed for its nature and for the Saami culture. There are protected rivers, vast boreal (taiga) forests, glaciers, mountain massifs and a landscape that bears geological testimony to its formation over eons. 4 National Parks (Padjelanta, Sarek, Muddus and Stora Sjofallet) and 5 nature reserves (Stubba, Staunja, Tjuolta Valley, Sulitelma glacier and Rapa delta) are inscribed. The national parks and nature reserves are jointly managed with the Saami people which reminded me of a similar agreement in Australia at Uluru.

For thousands of years, the Saami people lived in these mountains and forests. The sun and the wind steer people's nomadic lives here. Reindeer provide humans with food and clothing. The few Saami remains which can be seen are a number of barely visible stones in a ring on the ground which form hearths which marked the Saami's temporary homes, settlements and reindeer foraging areas.

Today Laponia is where Saami people from 9 communities live and work. They follow the reindeer herds on their seasonal foraging migrations. On a wider scale, the Swedish Laponia forms part of what is known as Lappland or Sapmi, which stretches from Norway to Russia. The best way to visit this immense area (9400 sqaure km) is either by weeks of serious hiking in summer or with a snowmobile in winter. On the other hand, I tried to get a taster of 2 national parks covering a lot of kilometres of paved and unpaved roads with a rental car, stopping at various panoramic viewpoints and admiring nature along the way and fitting in short hikes over long sunny days (making full use of the midnight sun).

After driving towards Jokkmokk, just before the bridge that crosses over the dam (which leads to one of the Arctic Circle signs (Polcirkeln)), there is a road with a brown sign indicating Muddus National Park which passes beneath the bridge and leads to a two-way 11km unpaved road to the Muddusfallett 7km trail leading to a pretty waterfall and to the Moskokorso 5km trail which leads to a 100 metre deep cleft valley with water gushing to a lake. Combining both trails made a convenient 12km loop trail on board walks, rocky and soil terrain.

Before getting to the waterfall, I managed to spot the rare bearded lichen among different types of moss, humus and ferns (apparently this type of lichen also grows at higher elevations in the inscribed areas of the High Coast). Woodpeckers and small birds are a common sight along this boreal forest or taiga trail. Before reaching the Moskokorso lake (Moskokorso is a proper name apparently), I avoided some elk poo along the trail and also spotted a decomposing elk carcass in the distance. Hopefully, it died of natural causes and not because of a brown bear attack, I told myself as I hurried on! Being summer, there were several flowers and a pretty deep red moss species which caught my attention. I enjoyed my hikes but there wasn't anything which was too different from any primeaval beech forest around Europe. In Jokkmokk, after visiting the two wooden churches with completely different styles, I visited the very interactive Ajtte Swedish mountain and Saami museum which was interesting to try to further understand the Saami culture, even if it is a bit too children-oriented.

On another day, I drove further north to Ritsem (142km away from Gallivare), stopping along the way to admire different viewpoints within the Stora Sjofallets NP. The first brown sign with the UNESCO symbol of Laponia is 70 km away from Gallivare and a bit further on there is another one of the NP. The next sign after that, G Kapellplats, leads you to a small parking space on the left of the road, where there is a short path to the ruins of the Saami Nabrreluokta Chapel (1646) and some Saami hearths.

The next sign further north, Appovagen Härder, again on the left side of the road, leads you to another short path to view more hearths, some of which are still used to today as there were ashes, remains of burnt wood and reindeer or elk bones when I visited. There were also 9 hearths in a row which served as a source of heat and light in Saami laavu tents. A laavu was about 5 metres in diameter. At both these stops there are small information boards in English but it is very hard to appreciate the cultural aspect of this WHS unless you actually happen to meet some of them perhaps during reindeer migration. When I visited the North Cape in Norway a few years ago, I was lucky to meet some of the Saami communities following their reindeer herds during migration.

Next stop was the Naturum Visitor Centre, with their friendly staff who are ready to welcome you with a cup of tea or coffee (if you happen to visit on a quiet day) and give you a good overview about the Stora Sjofallet national park and the Laponian Area in general. Outside the visitor centre, there's a worthwhile boardwalk loop with gorgeous views of what's left of the Great Waterfall which gives this NP its name, the Lanas lake and the snow-capped Gierkav and Juobmatjahkka mountain massifs. Here you'll definitely be able to see a lot of crowberries and red-breasted mergansers and I was overjoyed to spot a pair of golden eagles with my binoculars and a white-tailed eagle catching its prey just a few metres away from the boardwalk. Even though I visited on a sunny summer day, the arctic breeze was freezing cold so make sure to bring a windjacket.

Stora Sjofallet was designated as a national park in 1909, one of the first in Europe. There are mountains, glaciers, green slopes of mountain birch and virgin pine forest. The NP is reindeer foraging land for the Saami communities of Sirges and Urina Tjerusj. The boulder-strewn terrain with relatively little snowfall is also home to many predators. The Great Waterfall which gives this NP its name, was almost completely lost due to a dam construction for the Vietas hydroelectric power plant even though this land was designated as a NP! In fact without the Saami cultural landscape component, I doubt that this WHS, which is nonetheless beautiful, would have been inscribed with all the electricity pylons, hydroelectric plants and logging going on.

While driving from the visitor centre towards Ritsem and back, I stopped several times to take pictures of reindeer crossing the road or grazing on the side of the road and tracked them from a distance while hiking up some unknown trails. Overall, I enjoyed my visit of the Laponian Area but if I ever revisit I'll try to invest more time to hiking at higher altitudes with the Sarek NP to try to spot brown bears and/or moose. Along the road between Jokkmokk and Gallivare there are private 'nature reserves with brown bears' as well as a 'moose farm' if you're desperate to see them. Most probably these places are only open during the summer months.