An unlikely combination of industrial and adorable, Falun is home to one of Sweden’s oldest and most important copper mines, now retired from service and a protected World Heritage Site. As a consequence, the town was, for hundreds of years, the primary source of the ruddy red tint that renders Swedish country houses so uniformly cute.
Falun is the main city of Dalarnas län (Dalarna county), a region known for its year-round outdoor activities, from lowland hiking to biking, swimming, and sailing, and in the colder months, cross-country and downhill skiing and even ski-jumping. It is positioned between lakes Runn (25km south) and Siljan (50km north), and there’s a selection of worthwhile sights within striking distance of the city, including one of Sweden’s best-loved historic home museums in the village of Sundborn.