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Is there any place in Kiruna where they rent clothes for the cold? I'm planning to travel there in March 2024.

Michael Seifert
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BBH Born Barcelona Hostel
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  • It may depend what you are after exactly. For instance, when going on a dog sledding tour or other guided outdoor activity, you can sometimes borrow warm clothes from the organizing company. https://kirunalapland.se/en/plan-your-trip/clothing-arctic-adventure – Berend Jan 10 '24 at 15:49
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    IME sports equipment rental companies will rent waterproof pants and bibs and suchlike for outdoor sports, but the presumption is that if you're in Sweden in the cold season you already own a warm coat (after all, if not, how did you get to the rental shop in the first place). – Sneftel Jan 10 '24 at 17:01
  • It'd be great if you could... but I remember having trouble even buying cold-weather clothes in Kiruna (many Kiruna clothes shops close all weekend, some even close on Fridays). https://kirunalapland.se/en/outdoors-equipment/ suggests some places to rent ski boots and similar. I wrote up a guide on cold-weather clothing for Kiruna a while back: probably the most important thing is thermal undergarments, and you probably don't want to rent those – user56reinstatemonica8 Jan 10 '24 at 17:13
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    You don't like rental underware, @user56reinstatemonica8? Why not??? ;) – FreeMan Jan 10 '24 at 19:46
  • Buying second hand clothes might be an option? I'm not sure at what extent such shops exist in Kiruna, but if you transit through Stockholm there are lots, although in the city center and not at the airport. Do you go by plane, train or car? Stockholm is a lot warmer though (right now 0°C while Kiruna has -21°) so you can go shopping in regular "southern Europe winter clothing". – Lundin Jan 25 '24 at 10:04

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My guess is that the answer is no.

Remember that Kiruna is a provincial town servicing a large iron ore mine. It is not a typical tourist destination as such. It has a city center with a number of stores tending mainly to the local population, a smallish university, hospital and so on. In the city center you could probably buy stuff, but check opening hours first. It is not typical to rent cold weather clothes as everyone has to have them for the full winter so not much of a market.

Remember to dress for cold weather already on arrival, winter temperatures are often -20 degrees Celsius, and can go as low as -40 degrees Celsius. If you haven´t experienced this kind of weather before it will come as a bit of a shock. Depending on how you travel from the airport you might need to walk a bit from the terminal and a bit to your hotel - it quickly gets very cold. But do check the weather reports, winter weather changes day to day and hour to hour.

If on the other hand you are travelling to a ski area or some kind,say "Riksgränsen" or a larger travel lodge, a good bet is to contact them well in advance and check the situation there. You will probably be able to rent ski equipment and some outerwear stuff.

Rental underwear? Never heard of it in Sweden.

My suggestion is to visit a largish sports outlet in your home country and get a full set of clothes there. This will allow you to do a bit of shopping around to reach better deals.

ghellquist
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  • Virtually nobody walks from the Kiruna airport to their hotel, but if arriving by train one might walk from the train station or the bus station (if shuttle buses are running). – gerrit Jan 11 '24 at 16:57