Arjeplog: Lapland's Winter Car-Testing Capital

Every winter, test teams from much of the world’s car industry move into a small Lapland village and drive on its lakes. This guide explains what that means if you visit, what else Arjeplog offers, and how to get there without a car.

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You’ve read that car makers test on frozen lakes somewhere in Swedish Lapland, and the name Arjeplog keeps coming up. Maybe you’re planning a winter trip and finding beds scarce, or you’ve booked an ice-driving course and want to know what you’re walking into. Maybe you’re driving Silvervägen, the Silver Road, between Skellefteå and Norway, or landing at Arvidsjaur without a car. This page covers the village; the storm closures on road 95 have their own guide to mountain roads in winter.

Why the car industry winters here

Arjeplog (Árjepluovve in Pite Sámi) sits in a municipality of lakes: 8,727 of them, plus three rivers, Sweden’s largest glacier and Sweden’s deepest lake. It is the fourth largest municipality in the country by area, yet SCB counted only 2,599 residents at the end of 2024, down from 4,379 in 1970.

Those frozen lakes are the reason for the testing. According to the Swedish Proving Ground Association, the industry body, winter testing began on the airstrips cleared on Lake Hornavan’s ice, and the first deal was struck in the early 1970s. Here is how it grew:

The association says a large share of the world’s vehicle makers, system suppliers and tyre makers come every winter, and that much of the business is done in secret. In a normal year the industry generates more than 100,000 guest nights, and it is moving towards testing all year round.

Visiting in the test season

The test season runs roughly from November to April; in 2011 Sveriges Radio described engineers arriving across those months and filling the village’s hotels. For you, that has three practical consequences.

• Book beds early. Visiting test teams compete with tourists for rooms, so a winter trip needs planning well ahead.
• There is nothing to watch. The tracks on the lakes are private facilities, and the work is largely secret. They are not public ice roads, and you should keep off any track you have not booked.
• You can drive on the ice yourself. The municipal tourism company lists ice driving among its bookable activities, and the regional visitors board describes an ice-driving school on Lake Uddjaur. Courses run on prepared lake tracks.

That last point matters because the ice here is managed: testing exists because the lakes freeze hard enough to drive on, but a prepared track is not a random frozen lake. Read ice safety in Sweden before you walk out on unknown ice, and winter driving in Sweden before the drive up.

The Silver Museum

Arjeplog’s older story is silver. Silvermuseet, the Silver Museum, sits on the square beside road 95 and holds the largest collection of Sámi silver of its kind: about 700 objects from the Middle Ages to the 1900s, displayed in its Silversalen (silver hall). It is one of seven permanent exhibitions.

The museum was founded in 1965 by Einar Wallquist, who came to Arjeplog as a young district doctor in the early 1920s and collected objects throughout his forty years of service. He opened it in the Kronskolan, a mid-1850s boarding school for nomadic Sámi children, and ran it until his death in 1985. His home, Doktorsgården, is now part of the museum, with guided visits in summer.

Entry is 100 kr, free under 18, with no separate senior price. The tourist information shares the building and its hours. Access is good: a ramp at the main entrance, a lift to all three floors, adapted toilets and a hearing loop in the lecture hall. You may photograph without flash, except for objects marked otherwise.

The calendar is the thing to check. Most of the year the museum opens Tuesday to Friday and Saturday mornings only, so a Sunday or Monday arrival outside summer finds it shut.

Hornavan, Galtispuoda and the mountains

Hornavan is on view from the village, and you will read everywhere that it is 221 meters deep. It isn’t. That figure came from a late-1800s map that is hard to read. SMHI, the Swedish weather and hydrology agency, sounded the lake in 1996–97 and checked again on 16 March 2023: the deepest part is a flat bottom at about 210 meters. Hornavan is still Sweden’s deepest lake.

Below Galtispuoda, the county board notes Stone Age remains up to 7,000 years old in the inland archipelago. The village itself lies just south of the Arctic Circle, which crosses the municipality further north, but the county board says the midnight sun is still visible from the reserve’s top in late June. See the midnight sun in Sweden for how that works.

Fishing is a draw in its own right: the municipality has eight fly-fishing-only stretches totaling 105 km. State waters above the cultivation limit need the county board’s Arjeplog card; our fly-fishing guide to Lapland explains the system. To walk part of the trail through Pieljekaise, see Kungsleden.

Getting there

Arjeplog has no railway, so the chain matters.

• By air: fly from Arlanda to Arvidsjaur, 100 km away, then take Länstrafiken’s airport car, line 910 Arjeplog–Kålmis–Arvidsjaur Airport, about 1 h 15 min. Book it by phone by 17:00 on the last weekday before you travel. A Sunday or Monday flight must be booked on Friday, whatever older pages say about “the day before.” See regional airports in Sweden.
• By bus: line buses run from Arvidsjaur, Luleå and Skellefteå.
• By train: in summer the Inlandsbanan stops at Slagnäs in the municipality, with a connecting bus some days that must be prebooked at least a day ahead. Year-round, the night train connects with a bus at Jörn.
• By car: road 95, Silvervägen, runs 506 km from Skellefteå through Arjeplog to Bodø. West of the village it can close in storms: the Merkenes–Junkerdal stretch was shut in both directions in March 2025.

Arjeplog by season

In winter, the snowmobile trails open: about 1,600 km of groomed trails, with a trail card from the local clubs valid across the municipality. Large areas are regulated, though. Five permanent snowmobile bans touch the municipality, Pieljekaise is closed to snowmobiles, and at the Sállajiegŋa glacier you may not ride up to the glacier front or onto the lake. Snowmobile tours and rules covers the system, and northern lights in Sweden the winter sky.

Arjeplog is in the Sámi administrative area under the minority-languages act. On roads and trails alike, it is prohibited to scare, disturb or drive away reindeer; if the herd moves off, you are too close. Our reindeer guide explains why.

Practical information

FAQ

Why do car companies test in Arjeplog?

Because the lakes freeze hard and the winters are long, dark and reliably cold. Testing started in the early 1970s on airstrips cleared on Lake Hornavan’s ice and grew into about 30 facilities across the region, with Arjeplog as the centre. Vehicle makers, system suppliers and tyre makers come every winter, and the work is largely kept secret.

Can tourists see the car testing in Arjeplog?

Not really. The test tracks on the lakes are private facilities, and much of the work is done in secret, so there is nothing to watch from a public viewpoint. What you can do is book an ice-driving course on a prepared lake track, which the regional visitors board describes near Arjeplog. Keep off any track you have not booked.

How do I get to Arjeplog without a car?

Fly from Arlanda to Arvidsjaur, 100 km away, and take Länstrafiken’s airport car, line 910, booked by 17:00 on the last weekday before. Line buses run from Arvidsjaur, Luleå and Skellefteå. In summer the Inlandsbanan stops at Slagnäs, with a prebooked connection some days; the night train connects via Jörn.

How deep is Lake Hornavan?

About 210 metres at its deepest, according to SMHI’s measurements in 1996–97 and a control measurement on 16 March 2023. Older sources say 221 or 228 metres, figures taken from a late-1800s map that is hard to read. Even at 210 metres, Hornavan remains Sweden’s deepest lake, and it lies right beside Arjeplog village.

Is Arjeplog above the Arctic Circle?

The village lies just south of it, but the circle crosses Arjeplog municipality further north. You can still see the midnight sun nearby: from Galtispuoda, the 800-metre mountain above the village with a road to the top, the sun stays up between 12 and 30 June, according to the county board.

What is there to do in Arjeplog in summer?

Start at the Silver Museum, open daily from 15 June to 7 August 2026, with the largest collection of Sámi silver of its kind. Drive up Galtispuoda for the view and the midnight sun, walk the lake trails by Hornavan, fish one of eight fly-only stretches, or head west on Silvervägen to Pieljekaise National Park and Kungsleden.

Related guides

• Mountain roads in winter — road 95’s storm closures and convoys toward Norway
• Swedish Lapland — how Arjeplog fits the wider region
• Ice safety in Sweden — before you step onto any lake that isn’t a prepared track
• Fly fishing in Lapland — the Arjeplog card and the fly-only waters
• Jokkmokk — the next inland village north, for Sámi culture and Laponia

Facts verified 2026-10-15. Sources: Silvermuseet, Arjeplog Lapland (Argentis AB), Länstrafiken Norrbotten, Swedish Proving Ground Association, Sveriges Radio, SMHI, Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten, Destination Inlandsbanan, Swedish Lapland Visitors Board, Naturvårdsverket, Sveriges riksdag, SCB — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.