An expression that still applies. Värmland's unique culture constantly being renewed, debated and questioned, and new layers are added to the core that has been built up over many centuries. It has created a landscape of contrasts: rally and opera, hearty local food in local heritage centres and gourmet dishes served on starched linen tablecloths, specialist handicraft shops and large shopping centres, art trails and ice hockey tournaments, dance band festivals and research conferences. Rocky islands in the archipelago - where both young and old can be pirates for a day - and deep forests where wolves howl and trolls can take you for a walk. Manors with ghosts and timber rafts on which you sleep under the stars; city life and countryside cabins. You can find all this and much more in Värmland.

What’s your best Värmland contrast? We’d love to know!