Holiday? Celebrate? Some Tips for Travelling to Sweden

My god, what a year! Nothing was ‘kind of normal’. But as the vaccination wave is rolling over Europe, we can finally start thinking of holidays again. So why not consider a trip up North. Sweden is often associated with bad weather, but to be honest it sounds colder than it is. The advantage is that- if you avoid our big three cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö- population density is quite low, so you can enjoy some culture and nature in a safe way. At Garantell, we have been acting - on the side- as a travel agency, giving some holiday tips to our Sweden-loving- customers. So to make my life easier, I decided to write a blog about it.

 

Pippi Longstocking

Sweden is definitely in love with Astrid Lindgren’s heritage. So completely in style with Pippi Longstocking, it is a very child friendly country. To give you an example. My kids only went to Swedish museums, so in their dictionary, a museum is ‘an extremely fun place to experiment and learn cool stuff’. Nothing to do with ‘boring’, how I used to define my visits as a kid. In almost every place, you will find something to do for children, and often they are in in the spotlight. From a practical point of view, finding a child chair, a place to change a nappy or to heat up a bottle will not be a source of stress, which definitely simplifies holiday life (and makes your bags lighter).

Vi på Saltkråkan

For those fond of ’Pelle, vet du vad?’ sceneries from the Seacrow Island are easy to find. There is endless nature in Sweden, and you even do not have to drive to much North to find it. Wherever you go you will find little signs with Naturreservat on them, just follow them along. The good thing is that having a BBQ is a national way to pick nick. So take those marshmallow and sausages with you. Along the way you will find public BBQ places when hiking, often there is even wood present. So especially if you are walking with kids, whining after 5 minutes that walking is the most stupid invention ever, the perspective of grilling marshmallows will be the excellent incentive to keep those legs moving.

Always look on the bright side of life

To be honest this year is an exceptional year for insects. They are really having a great time irritating us. First, there are of course the midges, let’s call them aggressive fruit flies, their favorite hobby is to bite you at the hair line. For one reason or the other, it starts itching in waves. As they love to move in clouds, you are never bitten once. Then we have our friends the mosquitoes, also omnipresent this year. Last but not least there are the ticks. So a trip to the local pharmacy is needed in order to protect yourself against those marvelous friends. Of course, this does not sound very motivating. But see it as a challenge. Your Swedish holiday will make you Lord of the Insects! And in the mean time you can do other cool stuff!

Garantell area, around Värnamo

The museum of modern art in Värnamo, Vandalorum, I can only recommend. Always some nice exhibitions. If you are not the cultural type, do not worry. It has an excellent kitchen, where you can eat lovely lunches. Mmm, you even can meet some of our employees eating there. And it has a fabulous shop. So yeah, different type of people can find their taste here and you can pretend you actually have visited a museum if you want to impress your-higher-culture friends. One more good thing, insects are stopped at the door.

 

The local nature reserve nearby Värnamo, Store Mosse, is also a place to be. It has a lovely kids adventurous walk. Some longer and shorter walks, depending on how sporty you are. And if thirsty, you can drink a glass of water in Naturum, a nature education center, which also has some binoculars where it is lovely to sit and watch some birds passing.

 

Borås

When voted the most boring city in Sweden, the people of Borås started panicking. To be honest years later, it is hard to imagine they were once pictured like that. Because they are quite fashionable. Literally as they have the museum of textile. Further popular places are their zoo, which is more a big garden where they dropped some animals. Navet a small but lovely science museum for kids. Borås is also an excellent place just to stroll around, the lovely street arts and sculptures in the city makes you discover it completely.

Visingsö

It is an island in Vättern, Sweden’s biggest lake. It is that big that it actually looks more like a sea. The wonderful thing about this destination is that you have to pass first Gränna, known for the invention of the Polkagris, which is a Swedish stick candy (originally in red and white). So the place is known as ‘the candy village’. I recommend the following action plan, first you stop in Gränna and on this sugar high you can then take the ferry to Visingsö, which has lovely nature, beaches and is excellent to bike. The latter is of course necessary to get the calories back off.

So do no longer doubt, just pack that suitcase. Of course, you are always welcome at Garantell for more tips. Yes it easy to combine it with some other visits. Because there are some competitors living close by.

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