Where to stay in Malung
Most visitors stay in the town centre, the compact stretch of streets near the church and the river that keeps shops, cafes, and the bus stop within an easy walk. It suits travellers who arrive without a car. Rooms here lean toward plain commercial hotels and small guesthouses rather than anything grand.
The other clear choice lies along the road toward Sälen, north-west of the centre, where lodging spreads out among riverside plots and forest edges. This stretch works well for anyone driving on to the ski resorts in winter or fishing the Västerdalälven in summer, because it puts the open country at the door while keeping the town reachable in minutes. Skiers stop here.
For the lowest rates and a quieter night, the residential streets fanning out from the centre stay practical and calm, with quick access to the main road for drivers. Pick the centre first. The Sälen road rewards anyone heading upcountry.
About Malung
What is Malung known for?
Leather made the name. Malung built its reputation on tanning and the skinnare trade, the leatherworkers whose workshops once turned this river town into a centre of the craft, and that handed-down skill still threads through how locals talk about the place. Malungs kyrka anchors the older centre.
The Västerdalälven runs past it. Yet most travellers treat the town as the doorway to Sälen and its mountain slopes upriver.
What are the main landmarks in Malung?
Malungs kyrka is the town's chief landmark, a stone church standing above the river at the heart of the older centre. Around it the leather heritage survives in the old workshops and the local museum that records the skinnare trade, the tanners and leatherworkers who once defined the town's working life. The Västerdalälven itself counts as a sight, broad and quick where it passes the centre.
The river draws anglers. Together these places tie the town to both its craft and the water that powered it.
What is the history of Malung?
Malung is old farming country. Settlement here grew along the Västerdalälven, where the river valley offered meadows and a route through the western forests of Dalarna, and for generations the people worked the land and the woods much as their neighbours across the province did. The parish church marks that long continuity.
What set Malung apart came later, with leather. The town became a centre of tanning and leatherwork, and the skinnare trade gave it both a livelihood and a name that carried far beyond the valley. Workshops dressed hides and stitched garments that travelled to markets across Sweden, and the craft pulled the town into a wider commercial world while the surrounding farms kept their older rhythm.
Tourism arrived in the modern era, as the road upriver opened the slopes of Sälen to winter visitors. The town now balances its leather past against a role as a staging post for the mountains, and that mix of old craft and new traffic still shapes how the place earns its keep.
Where is Malung?
Malung lies in the western part of Dalarna County, in central Sweden. The town sits on the Västerdalälven, the river that drains the western mountains and threads south-east through forest and farmland toward the heart of the province. Hills and pine forest press close on every side.
Upriver the land climbs toward Sälen and the fells along the Norwegian border, while downstream the valley broadens into gentler farming country around the lower river.
What is the climate of Malung?
Malung has a cold inland climate. Winters run long and snowy, with hard frosts settling over the river valley and snow cover that lasts for months, which is exactly what feeds the ski season on the slopes upriver. Summers stay short but mild.
Days then turn warm and long under the high northern light, drawing anglers and walkers to the Västerdalälven before the cold returns. Spring and autumn pass quickly between the two.
How do you get to Malung?
Malung is reached mainly by road. Route 66 runs through the town along the Västerdalälven, linking it south toward Borlänge and the main lines and north-west toward Sälen and the mountains, so most visitors arrive by car or bus. The nearest large airport sits at Sälen-Mora for seasonal flights.
Trains do not serve the town directly. Drivers from Stockholm follow the roads north-west into Dalarna and then up the river valley to reach it.