Spotters’ hill at Stockholm Arlanda Airport

Updated: October 2026 – In Scandinavia it is a rarity, at Arlanda it is reality: an officially established spotting site. On Navigatörsvägen in the north of the airport lies a hill with a parking lot, information boards and a small covered shed that spotters affectionately call the “Spotters Shed.” From here you look at the eastern parallel runway 01R/19L – and when it is active, the landings on 19L float in right in front of you.

This page shows you when the spotting hill works, how to get there by bus 806 or car, and where to go when Arlanda switches runways yet again.

A spotting site at the newest runway

Stockholm Arlanda Airport lies about 40 kilometers north of the capital in the municipality of Sigtuna, in the middle of forest, fields and small lakes. It is Sweden’s largest airport and has three runways: the western main runway 01L/19R at 3,301 meters, the crosswind runway 08/26 at 2,500 meters and the eastern parallel runway 01R/19L, also 2,500 meters long. 01R/19L is the newest of the three. Construction began in 1998, it was inaugurated in 2002, and flight operations started in April 2003.

The spotting hill lies right at this runway. It is not one of the wild spots at the fence but is laid out as a viewing site: with a parking area, information boards and the shed with a picnic table. For visitors used to observation decks like at Munich Airport, it is plain – by Scandinavian standards it is a real offering.

Runway configuration: when the spotting hill shines

Arlanda is not an airport with a clear main direction. As a rule, two of the three runways are active at the same time, one for takeoffs and one for landings, and which ones depends mainly on the wind. Spotter guides describe the crosswind runway 08/26 as the preferred choice when the wind allows – then landings are often on 26 and takeoffs from 08. In strong north or south wind, the two parallel runways are in use.

01R/19L is used in both directions, but more often for landings than for takeoffs. The reason is the long taxiways between the terminals and the runway. According to Swedish Wikipedia, only a smaller share of all landings falls to it, but at peak times it is used more heavily for them. For you that means: the spotting hill is not a sure thing but a spot for certain days and hours.

Configuration	What you see at the spotting hill	Recommendation
Landings 19L	Approaches and landings right in front of you, taxiing traffic on taxiway W	hill is the first choice, best in the afternoon
Takeoffs 01R	Departures lifting off at the north end of the runway	rewarding, check the light beforehand
Operations on 08/26	little to nothing on 01R/19L	switch to the hill at Patria Helicopters at 26
Operations only on 01L/19R	isolated movements, mostly quiet	go to the west side at the fire station or the stone hill

Because the configuration is hard to predict and can also change over the course of a day, a look at the flight tracker is part of the routine. If approaches come in from the north and touch down heading south, 19L is in use. If they come from the east, 26 is active. The basics on wind and runway choice are explained in the guide Understanding runway direction in use at airports.

Light and photography

At the spotting hill you get the best light for landings on 19L from early afternoon. Then the approach and touchdown point are positioned toward the sun so that the fuselages are lit. In the morning the trip up the hill is less worthwhile – then Halmsjön and the Lindskrog parking lot on the same runway are better lit.

For focal length, a lot depends on the angle. For aircraft on short final and on the taxiway, medium telephoto lengths are enough; for details on the runway you should have up to about 300 millimeters with you. A classic 100–400 mm zoom is generally a safe choice at Arlanda because the distances vary greatly between the different spots.

The north brings its own lighting conditions. In summer the sun rises and sets far to the north, the evenings are long, and the hill works well into the late hours. In winter the sun hardly climbs above the forest, the photo day is short and the light is soft and warm in return. How to calculate the sun position for your date is explained in the article Planning the sun position at your photo spot.

What you get to see at Arlanda

Alongside Copenhagen and Oslo, Arlanda is one of SAS’s three hubs. Accordingly, the Scandinavian airline shapes the picture, complemented by low-cost carriers, domestic traffic and a modest but colorful long-haul offering.

• SAS: SAS flies mainly with jets of the A320 family such as the Airbus A320neo and the A321neo. Add regional jets and turboprops that SAS has partly flown by partners, such as the ATR 72-600 and CRJ900. Since September 1, 2024, SAS has belonged to SkyTeam.
• Based low-cost carriers: Norwegian, Ryanair and Eurowings have aircraft stationed at Arlanda. That way you see many Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s.
• Network airlines: Lufthansa, KLM, Finnair and Turkish Airlines connect Arlanda with their hubs.
• Long-haul: Emirates to Dubai, Qatar Airways to Doha, plus connections to Bangkok, Beijing or Addis Ababa. On its long-haul routes SAS uses the Airbus A350-900, among others – whether and which widebody aircraft are currently flying from Arlanda is best checked shortly before your visit.

Typical for Arlanda is the domestic traffic to the north. Luleå and Umeå are among the most heavily used domestic routes from Arlanda. In winter these flights depart and land through snow and darkness, and at the spotting hill you see freshly de-iced aircraft and swirling snow. Tips for the cold season are in the article Plane spotting in winter.

The registrations are exciting for collectors: besides Swedish SE- registrations, SAS also flies Danish OY- and Norwegian LN- aircraft. What lies behind the prefixes is explained in the article Aircraft country codes.

Getting there: bus 806 or car

By car the spotting hill is easy to reach. You drive on road 273 toward Almunge/Norrtälje, turn left onto Navigatörsvägen after the tunnel, and the hill is on the right. Parking is free right there. Because the other spots at Arlanda are far apart, the car is the most convenient solution anyway if you want to switch runways over the course of the day.

Without a car you take bus 806. It stops at the Arlanda Styrmansvägen stop, from which you’re at the hill in a few minutes. The same line also serves Arlanda Lindskrog, the stop for Halmsjön and the Lindskrog parking lot. That way you can combine the two most important spots on 01R/19L entirely without a car. Check the route and frequency in advance in the journey planner of the regional transport authority.

To get to the airport itself from Stockholm, the fastest is the Arlanda Express, which connects Stockholm Central in about 20 minutes with the stations Arlanda Södra and Arlanda Norra. Cheaper but slower are the commuter trains from Arlanda Central beneath Sky City. From the terminals you then change to bus 806.

How a good day at 01R/19L goes

What else belongs in your camera bag is in the Gear checklist for plane spotting. If you are brand new to this, the guide Plane spotting for beginners helps you get started.

Backup spots around Arlanda

Because the spotting hill lies on only one runway, at Arlanda you almost always need a plan B. On 01R/19L itself, Halmsjön is an option for landings on 19L in the morning (the view from the former hill at the lake is now restricted by trees), and the Lindskrog parking lot for all movements on the runway until midday. A gravel hill near the long-term parking lots Alfa and Beta, on the other hand, gets afternoon light like the spotting hill.

If traffic runs on the crosswind runway 26, the hill at Patria Helicopters is the best-known spot for landings on 26 and takeoffs from 08. On the western main runway 01L/19R, spotters stand at the stone hill at 01L and at the fire station, which has good light from the afternoon. Some formerly popular spots have since become overgrown, are blocked by construction or lie on private land – so take information from spotter guides as a starting point and check on site what is allowed.

If you’re on a spotting tour in the north, you can combine Arlanda well with Copenhagen. There the Flyvergrillen at Copenhagen Airport is the classic – with a grill and restroom right at the fence. Organized similarly to Arlanda is the spotting area at the Polderbaan in Amsterdam. And if you’re interested in Swedish military aviation, plan a detour to the Swedish Air Force Museum near Linköping.

Rules at the fence

The spotting hill is officially set up for spotters, but the airport fence remains a boundary all the same. Since 2025 the community has reported more frequent checks by security around Arlanda, in which people were also asked for their name and place of residence.

Sweden’s right of public access lets you move freely in nature – it changes nothing about airport areas, barriers and operational grounds. If security approaches you, calmly explain what you’re doing and, if in doubt, show your pictures. Take your trash with you: there is no infrastructure at the hill, and that is exactly why it stays nice only as long as everyone shows consideration.

Verdict

The spotting hill on Navigatörsvägen is the easiest entry point at Arlanda. It is legal, free and covered, you park right at the top or come by bus 806, and with landings on 19L you get clean pictures in the afternoon of SAS, low-cost carriers and long-haul against a Scandinavian forest.

Its limit is the runway: it lives solely off 01R/19L, and that isn’t always active at Arlanda. With a look at the configuration in the morning and a fallback spot at Halmsjön, in Lindskrog or at the crosswind runway, you still make a full spotting day of it.