The thread discussing life in... erm... Sweden has prompted me to plan a trip to see the real thing. So a question for those of you who know the country well:

This will be a short trip, 4-5 days, a week at most. I think I'd like to see Trollhättan and Malmö - family roots - are these worth visiting, or do you have other recommendations or 'must sees' for a first-time tourist? And, what would you say is the easiest way to travel around southern Sweden - car, train?

Many thanks.

I would highly recommend Lund. It's a student town and very beautiful in my opinion. It's a quick train ride from Malmö. If you've not been to Copenhagen (called Köpenhamn in Swedish), it's definitely worth taking the train across the strip of water called the Öresund to it.

Skåne, which is the 'landskap' (the Swedish cantonal equivalent) that Malmö is in is known for being flat and has lovely countryside with fields of rapeseed so cycling could also be an option.

I would personally not bother with a car as the public transport is more than adequate for the above-mentioned places.

God resa! (bon voyage!)

If you're going to Malmö (where I did my student exchange) there are some neat Viking relics south of there towards Trelleborg. And of course you may as well go spend a day in København sightseeing and realizing that the Little Mermaid is really just a "meh..."

+1 for Lund!

When In Malmö also definietly do Lund. The cathedral alone is worth the trip, but the town is also pretty.

Looks like Lund is on the agenda then. Thanks for the tip - off to do a bit of research...

Thanks one and all!

Another vote for Lund and Skane in general. If you go to Lund, make sure you go to the cathedral and go into the crypt and look at the pillars, see if you can find Samson.

Also in Skane, go to Ales Stene (spelling), an arrangement of standing stones in the shape of a ship on a cliff top, fantastic place. I lived in Malmo for a while, loved Sweden :-)

Sweden is lovely, I used to spend a lot of time in Gästrikland.

I'd recommend to not pack your short trip with many destinations. You feel the country best if you're having time on your hand. Leisurely walks at a lake side, looking for trolls (not the forum kind) in the forests and having coffee and kanelbullar at a local cafe were my favourite things-to-do.

Even though there all modern utilities available in Sweden I always felt as if I had entered "the analog world".

+1 for Ales Stene. I was in Ystad for a conference a few weeks ago. It's close by, but impossible to visit the stones without a taxi. Ystad has a beautiful forest by the coast, but the "Inspector Wallander lived here" aspect was a bit of a letdown. Not much to see.

Escape from Sweden as quickly as possible, and cross over to Norway. Better food, more interesting landscape, hotter women, the list goes on!

Tom

Just make sure you go in the summer or you'll be disapointed. And dont expect good weather :-)

Malmo is really nice, totally underrated in my view. The new seafront with Turning Torso is worth a visit. Bring a bathing suit, there is a nice deck to swim from.

Bastad, Torekov, Molle - all nice little villages along the coast.

With 4-5 days, I would stay in Skane and not bother with Trollhattan.

Just make sure you take more money with you.

So for a 4-5 day trip, sounds like I should concentrate on the Malmö/Skåne region. (Big thanks for the Ales Stene tip!)

If I wanted to see a bit of Trollhättan as well, how much time would you suggest? 7-8 days enough? A quick google mentions the Ekopark Halle-Hunneberg in the region - worth a visit?

(I'm just curious about the areas the grandparents hailed from, hence these two cities.)



Sunday mornings at grandma's house... waking up to the smell of fresh-baked kanelbullar... Those little cinnamon rolls are my tea-soaked madeleines.

(Why o why are there no decent cinnamon rolls in Switzerland? )


How I wish we had the 'thanks' button in Off Topic... but as we don't, I'll just say: Thank you, everyone!