Dalarna means the valleys and the province’s varied, unspoiled landscape is stretching from mighty mountains in the north to rolling farmland in the south. Dalarna is like Sweden in miniature. Culturally, Dalarna is the most Swedish of Swedish provinces too. The iconic Dala horse originates here, just like the red-painted cottages.
The Dala horse became world-famous at the 1939 New York World’s Fair and has been a Swedish icon ever since. The wooden horse can be bought everywhere in Sweden, but it has its roots in the village of Nusnäs outside of Mora in Dalarna. The Dala horse is hand-carved and then hand-painted in the traditional folk art style Dalarna is known for, called ‘kurbits’.
The Dalarna Culture Route is a truly special and unique journey. The cultural passport will help visitors to experience the essence of Dalarna’s cultural heritage by collecting the stamps, take part of special offers and carry out a cultural journey. When the visitor has collected all the stamps they will also have seen the largest cultural heritage sites Dalarna has to offer.