We headed north from Stockholm towards Uppsala. Our first stop after 50km was at Sigtuna – Sweden’s first ever town with the country’s oldest pedestrian street. It sits in a beautiful spot on Lake Malaren and was founded by Erik the Victorious (great name) in AD 980. We parked Lo11y up on the edges of town and cycled in on our Bromptons on a lakeside path to the centre. It is a beautiful little place. The main street has well preserved traditional wooden houses and there was even a bike shop. Colin had mentally bought a house, a boat, an electric Volvo and a sports car by the time we left. Sigtuna’s other claim to fame is it is the most runestone rich destination anywhere in the world – these are raised stones with inscriptions on them – usually to commemorate the dead or as self-promotion and religious beliefs.
We continued on to Uppsala, Sweden’s 4th largest city. With a lot of historical architecture, it is today selling itself as a hub for sustainability and is driving towards a net zero future. It is described as the Cambridge of Sweden, being a vibrant university town and during term time students account for 20% of the population. It is also a commutable distance into Stockholm.
It was Sunday afternoon when we arrived, so we were glad to find the shops and eateries in the town centre were still open. Our first site to visit was the botanical gardens in the city – the oldest in Sweden. The gardens are linked with Carl Linnaeus, an 18th century botanist. There was a museum within the gardens dedicated to him. One of the most interesting facts was that he was responsible for the modern system of naming organisms known as binomial nomenclature. So all living organisms are given names in two parts – the first part being the generic name that identifies the genus to which the species belongs, then the second word is the specific name that distinguishes that species e.g. homo sapiens.
He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and became the Professor of Botany at Uppsala University after having spent time studying plants in Holland, Sweden, France and England. The gardens were very nice to walk around.
We continued on a walking route around the main sites in the city. This took us past the impressive library building (nothing like Aston University’s or Preston Poly), the cathedral which we had a walk around, then the Slott (castle) that stood above the city. The weather forecast hadn’t been great, and as we sat having an ice cream, the clouds filled the sky and then the heavens opened. We were absolutely soaked through by the time we got back to Lo11y. We were in a car park on the edge of town, and while it wasn’t the most scenic place to spend the night, there seemed no point in moving on elsewhere in the torrential rain.
Thankfully the rain had stopped by the morning. We even saw a hare in the urban car park in front of us. We were heading to a town called Granna that had read as being very nice next to a lake, but en-route we stopped at another beautiful little town called Vadstena which had a magnificent renaissance castle and cathedral. Vadstena is another pilgrimage destination.
Granna is situated on the south east shore of Lake Vattern (the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden). The town was full of motorhomes and caravans but has charming colourful wooden houses and cobbled streets and a lively harbour area. We headed to a big campsite by the harbour and were lucky to get a pitch on a grassy area at the far end of the site that was much quieter than the main electric pitches nearer the facilities. It was a lovely sunny evening and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
The following day we caught the ferry across to Visingo island in the middle of the huge lake with our bikes. The island is a perfect place to cycle around with quiet roads and beautiful countryside. It is only about 25km to cycle round the whole island, but we had a lovely day in the sunshine ambling around the lanes admiring the views. We were amused that one of the places on the island guide listed a defibrillator as a tourist attraction – we were glad we didn’t need it. There was even a small runway on the island in the middle of the golf course.
We got back to the campsite in time to use their washing machines at our booked time, then headed to the harbour for dinner and had a surprisingly good meal.
After a leisurely breakfast we continued on to the southern tip of the lake to the town of Jonkoping. It didn’t look too exciting on first sight, and a walk through the central area didn’t change our minds. We walked back along the lake promenade which had a long beach area. There were some rose gardens out the other side of town to where we had parked, so we jumped on the Bromptons to get there. The gardens were very pleasant.
From here we continued to the small town of Eksjo, which has more than 50 listed wooden buildings, making it one of Europe’s best preserved wooden towns.
After a walk around the town, we continued on to a Park-4-the-night spot by a lake in a beautiful setting. The area was full of perfectly maintained houses and gardens, and the spot by the lake had only one other vehicle there (a German converted fire truck) so we enjoyed a wonderful peaceful evening watching the sun set.
In the morning Colin went for a quick dip in the lake which he claimed wasn’t too cold– he’s getting quite into wild swimming on this trip. We had tickets to go into an old copper mine that morning which was only about 7km from where we were parked.
Kleva Gruva is an old copper and nickel mine which is set in the middle of a forest and is now accessible to visit during the summer months. The rock seam was discovered in 1691 by a poor local who literally thought he’d struck gold, but analysis of it showed although there was a small trace of gold, it wasn’t enough to mine. However, there was enough copper and nickel to make it viable. The mine operated until the 1920s when it was fully closed down, and I believe the tourist site opened in 1995. We were given hard hats and torches and were allowed to guide ourselves around. The first thing that struck us was how cold it was in the shafts – even walking past the entrance we could feel the outside air temperature drop. It was absolutely fascinating to walk around the mine shafts which were low even for a short person like me. We could see the blue/green of the copper leaching through the walls and the rocks glistening with the minerals. There were various side tunnels we could partially explore, and we were joined by bats in certain sections. We exited the mine further up the hill and a path outside took us up to the top of the hill past the small houses where the miners used to live. Back down at the reception centre we purchased some elk sausages to take with us.
It was raining quite hard by the time we were back on the road, and we headed to Öland, connected to the mainland by a bridge. The island is 137km long and just16km wide and is apparently where the Swedish royal family like to spend their summer. The island is also a popular destination for bird watchers and nature lovers, and with good roads for cycling and trails for walking there seems to be something for everyone.
Expecting it to be chocka with tourists, we had prebooked a campsite on the southern part of the island to use as a base for a cycle ride. The weather still wasn’t great as we pulled up, but we got a nice spot overlooking the sea. There was a bit of an eggy whiff to the sea though (not Colin’s fault this time) which we’d read was due to some algae. It was too cool and breezy to sit out, so we ate our elk sausages in Lo11y – they were very tasty.
The forecast looked pretty dodgy the following day with strong winds all day and heavy rain from the afternoon, so we got out on the bikes early. The first 20 miles of the ride was straight into the wind, and the scenery wasn’t very exciting. We reached the Ottenby Nature Reserve at the most southerly spot of the island where there were lots of twitchers. We’re happy to say the wind was behind us all the way back to the campsite which made it a lot more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was right, and it tipped it down all afternoon and into the evening. Colin did his Delia Dyson impressions and cooked up a hearty casserole for dinner.
With the fine weather returning the following day, we headed to the north of the island to visit Borgholm Castle, Europe’s largest ruined castle. It sits in a dominating spot above the town of Borgholm and the ruins were of a structure originally built in the 17th Century, but this was on top of foundations of a castle dating back to the 12th Century. It was really enjoyable to walk around what is left of the walls and the keep, which have terrific views out to sea and across to the town. There were also some really interesting exhibitions there, one with stunning pictures of protected ocean species, and another of winter skyscapes in the area. After visiting the castle we drove into the town to have a look around which had a street buzzing with holiday makers.
We headed back across the bridge to continue our journey south in Sweden. Our destination was Karlskrona, a city founded in 1680 when the King decided to make it Sweden’s military base. The reason it was selected is that the sea ice thaws here much earlier in the year than Stockholm, which put the Swedish navy on a more even footing with the Danes who were always invading. As well as the naval base, the city has some impressive architecture all of which gained it UNESCO World Heritage status in the 1990s. The archipelago of islands around the city have also been designated by UNESCO as one of seven biosphere reserves in Sweden.
We parked Lo11y up in a designated motorhome area on the port with great views and a short walk into the city centre. It was a cool breezy evening so we headed into the centre for a bite to eat and called in for a drink at a pop-up bar down on the waterfront.
The following morning the wind had dropped a little and we took our bikes on a free 20 minute ferry to the small island of Aspö (not Asbo as Colin insisted on calling it which was very confusing for the locals). It was a lovely tranquil island, and we’d cycled around the whole island loop in just half an hour. We visited the Drottningskar Fortress, a well preserved fortress that was built to add another line of defence to Karlskrona, but has never in it’s history been attacked. We had more than enough time to do another loop of the island in reverse before catching the ferry back. In the afternoon we cycled around some of the other archipelago islands that were joined by bridges – there are some lovely properties there.
We had a walk down to the naval area which was close to our parking spot. There is a Maritime museum here with old ships moored outside and a submarine that visitors can go inside. We’d left it too late to go in, so decided we’d come back in the morning. We ended up having a glass of wine in the late afternoon sunshine, then succumbed to having great pizzas for dinner in the local Italian restaurant on the port.
Before we visited the museum the following morning, Colin as usual got talking to a guy who was gazing at Lo11y. He lived nearby but was waiting for an old minesweeper ship to be towed to the port by the navy. He worked for a company that scraps these old vessels and was waiting for a tug to take the ship on to the scrap heap in the sky.
The Maritime museum was well worth a visit. It was a really well put together exhibition covering the naval history of Sweden and Karlskrona, and we got to go in a real submarine that gave us an insight into how cramped and smelly they are to live and work in for weeks at a time.
We continued on along the south coast to a small town called Järnavik where we checked into a nice campsite. We were given a good pitch next to a very friendly German guy called Robert who was holidaying in a small rental campervan with his three teenage kids. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we rented a sea kayak online, and after the challenge of opening the padlocks on the actual kayak and the locker that contained the paddles and life vests, then the slog of having to carry it quite a distance to the water, we finally made it out onto the water. We had a nice paddle around the local bays and islands. It was a lovely place to sit outside in the early evening, but we were surprised how quickly it cooled down. We decided we’d spend a second night here to explore the local area and chill a bit.
The following morning we got talking to a Swedish lady who was admiring Lo11y. She was camping here with her teenage kids and they had made friends with our neighbours. It was amazing to hear them all conversing in perfect English. She was a scout leader and said she often had to deal with English scouts coming over for camping trips. We had read about the Northern Lights and meteor shower happening in the UK, so were a bit horrified when she said we’d missed the best display of Northern Lights she’d seen this far south in Sweden the night before. She said it should be happening again that evening, although maybe not quite so strong.
We decided to visit another small island called Tjäro near Järnavik. A boat service ran hourly from a harbour just 10 minutes’ walk away. We got ourselves down there in good time, and were sat by a jetty commenting on how quiet it was. It was then as we saw the boat come in that we realised we were sat at the wrong jetty, and there was in fact a long snaking queue for the small boat. We got ourselves over to join the back of the queue, realising that we had no chance of getting on. The boat driver said he’d be back in half and hour. When he returned we didn’t make it onto this trip either – he seemed to have a very small maximum number for the boat. We finally got on a boat over an hour later than planned.
It is a very pretty little island, with smooth boulders and shady trails leading to coves and swimming points. We had a short walk around, then had a late lunch in the café at the harbour before heading back to Järnavik. We had planned to do a bike ride, but it was a bit late when we got back to make it worthwhile. We were determined to stay up to sky watch that evening, and got ourselves well wrapped up before we headed to the jetty just before 11pm. We found Robert and the Swedish lady and their kids already in position. Robert kindly provided a mug of Aquavit to keep us warm. The sky was stunningly clear, and the stars were out in force. We all saw lots of shooting stars, but the Northern lights were being elusive. Gradually the others drifted off, but I persuaded Colin to stay on for another 10 minutes. Just as we were about to leave, I felt sure the sky had changed colour very slightly to mauvy green - not easy to see with the naked eye, but the photos do just about show it.
The following morning Colin braved a swim in the sea before we set off. He was only in the water for about a minute before he felt he was losing feeling in his limbs, so made a hasty exit. Robert came back from doing the same and we liked his description of his legs 'having been kicked away by the cold'.
We had planned to stop at a town called Ähus the following night, but the campsite we were aiming at had shut for the season, and the other attraction of an Absolut Vodka museum was closed too. Ähus is the home of Absolut vodka. We decided to do a slight detour to visit the town anyway. It has a very pretty historic town centre and the Absolut distillery is based right in the centre. It was all strangely quiet though, so we can only assume they were on factory holiday.
We continued on into Malmö, connected to Denmark by the 10 mile long Øresund Bridge. We had reserved parking at a quirky campsite on the edge of the city, called the Grand Circus Hotel. The site on a disused railway yard consists of old circus wagons, each one decorated in different themes, e.g the Clown’s Wagon, The Magicians Wagon etc. There is even a Big Top tent (well not that big actually). They have space for ten motorhomes, and with just a 15 minute cycle into the centre it’s a perfect location. The guys running it told us it was the week of the Malmö festival and there were stages and events on all over town. Initially we thought ‘great’ but when we cycled into the centre it was absolutely mobbed with crowds of people, and there were street food stalls and stages obscuring the views of the beautiful old buildings. It was a bit overwhelming after the peaceful places we’d stopped recently in Sweden. We had a bite to eat and a drink in a pop up bar before heading back to the Circus.
The following morning we got ourselves back into the centre on the Bromptons early enough to miss the build up of festival visitors. Colin had plotted a route that took us around all the central town areas, and into the main squares of the Gamla Staden. It felt much nicer than our first impressions the previous evening. We had lunch in the city’s foodhall – our last Swedish meatballs in Sweden this trip.
After lunch we headed to the coastal area where there are trendy apartments springing up, and beaches and promenades where the locals hang out. We could see the bridge from here though the haze too.
We cycled back into the central old town for a cold drink before heading back to the Circus. We had booked three nights here, which on reflection was probably a day too much, but with rain forecast the following day, it gave us a chance to catch up on admin jobs and get this update written.
On our final day there were intermittent showers through the day, but we managed a cycle to the local shopping centre. The cycle network around Malmo is incredible - with over 420km of cycle paths and 1/4 of all journeys in the city are made by bike, Malmo counts itself as one of the worlds leading cycle cities.
So we had something to look forward to on our final day we booked an early dinner at a unique restaurant in central Malmo called Kolletivkrogen. It was started and funded in 2022 by a group of 50 people from all walks of life. They employ a chef and pay for the business premises, but they also commit to working on service there twice a month and help with the upkeep of the premises. We chatted to our waitress about it and she said she’d seen an advert in the local paper & had always liked they idea of running a restaurant so this was a way of getting a taster without the full on risk. She had worked in website design and photo art. Colín couldn’t see how 50 people could make unanimous business decisions to make it successful. All I know is it has been the best dining out experience we’ve had in all our time in Scandinavia and was very reasonably priced.
We had a final walk through the central squares in the city - there was a popular female singer in the main square with an enthusiast young group of fans - she just wasn’t Abba enough for us though…..
As we get ready for our return to Denmark here are Colin’s top facts/observations on Sweden:
Sweden is 1,000 miles long, has over 95,000 lakes with 30 National Parks and nearly two thirds of the landscape is covered in forest
The national animal is the elk which is capable of running at 35 mph - it didn’t outrun Kate & Karl though …..
The tradition of fika is a big part of life here - this involves taking a break to enjoy a hot drink & a snack with others. It gives you a chance to relax, open up conversations & enjoy time with friends, family & co-workers. Colin & I were early adopters of this in the UK
Sweden is at the forefront of recycling with an impressive 99% of household waste being recycled.
The worlds largest IKEA is no longer based in Sweden - it’s now in the Philippines
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