I artikeln som heter ”The 45 places to Go in 2012” har Dalarna hamnat på plats nummer 44, i konkurrens med bland annat Italienska fiskestäder och hela Sydkorea som land. Om Dalarna, Mora och Vasaloppet står följande att läsa:

Most travelers know Sweden only for the urban cool of Stockholm and Gothenburg. But when the sun approaches its summer apex, city dwellers often leave town for one of the country’s central provinces, Dalarna. Its deep forests and glimmering lakes host traditional midsummer parties, and every brick-red farmhouse deserves its own postcard. With Dalarna’s southern edge only about 125 miles from the capital, getting there — by car, bus or rail — is easy enough, though the rustic landscape of “the Dales,” as Dalarna translates, can feel worlds apart.

That’s made it a natural respite for Swedish painters like Anders Zorn, whose home in the town of Mora is now a museum. Artisans still produce traditional handicrafts like the Dala Horse, a national mascot. But Dalarna is not just for summer journeys: every March, the region hosts the Vasaloppet, one of the world’s biggest cross-country ski races, and autumn brings incredible foliage and rich game dishes at restaurants of surprising sophistication like the Dala-Husby Hotell. EVAN RAIL