We didn’t have long left ’til our flight home but we wanted to tick off just one more country on our Skandi road trip so made the decision to add Sweden to the list.
Okay, so we only got to see two cities (Malmö and Lund) but it was a short and sweet introduction to the Swedish way of life. Stylish, chic, family-friendly and full of local delights. It was a shame we didn’t get longer to explore. Oh well, three countries in two weeks with a one-year-old is still a pretty good feat!
After separating Everleigh from her new found Japanese fans during the ferry crossing from Oslo to Copenhagen we hit the road once more. It was a 45-minute drive from the Port of Copenhagen to Malmo - featuring a trip over The Bridge (yep, that bridge). Turns out the bridge isn’t just enormous in size it also comes with a hefty price tag, which we didn’t realise until we got to the toll. From memory it was over £45 one way. ONE WAY. TO CROSS A BRIDGE! If we did this trip again I think we would look at getting the train as a return ticket is half the price.
After such a costly welcome to Sweden, let’s just say Malmö had some making up to do.
Luckily Malmö oozes laid back cool and accessible charm so it didn’t take us long to stop being bothered about counting the pennies and instead enjoy this place. A lot of the town seems to be centred around the cobbled bustling square of restaurants, ye olde worlde shops and quirky cafes. The food at the Folk & Rock record shop/cafe is worth a grabbing a terrace table for as well as having a rummage for some classic vinyl upstairs. I loved the pavement style restaurants with snuggly blankets for chilly evenings thrown on the back of chairs.
We had to restrain ourselves from getting carried away with the adorable Scandinavian baby clothes in the shops. I’ve never wanted to dress Everleigh as a typical girly pink girl (which is what all the UK stores appear to only sell for baby girls), when she gets older and decides she wants to dress herself in unicorn pink vomit then she can go ahead. But for now I’d just like her to have the option of gender neutral, comfy, soft and durable clothes. If you know of any good UK shops that tick these boxes please let me know, anyway - I’m going off on a tangent…
Back to Malmö which is also home to the Turning Torso. Neither John or I knew what to expect as we trekked across the city to this iconic site, only that it was ‘worth a look’*.
*according to my mum.
The not knowing was actually part of the adventure as it could have been a work of art, a sculpture, a funky monument, we just followed the brown signs around the city. Turns out it’s not a buff Swedish God doing ab exercises but a bizarre designed building that really does look like it’s twisted. It’s a neo-futurist skyscraper, the tallest in Scanindavia.
During this walk we stumbled upon some blooming beautiful gardens and play parks. Not far from Malmö Castle is a slice of green-fingered heaven. The Castle Garden, or Slottsträdgården, is a collection of plant and vegetable gardens with a trendy café, nestled between the impressive trees and parkland of both Slottsparken and the city’s oldest park, Kungsparken. We grabbed a coffee and sat outside to soak up the atmosphere.
Based on a recommendation we treated ourselves and booked a family room at the Hotel Tunneln. This place is seeped in 700 year history with many famous faces (hello The Beatles, Zlatan and, erm, Ian Rush) sleeping here. Because it was built in the 14th century it’s not exactly on the accessible side (our pushchair was left near the front door as there are many, many steps) but staff were more than ready to help where they could. The location was also perfect for exploring the city as well as catching a train for a day trip to Copenhagen.
Can we just look at the breakfast room that’s in the cellar vaults? That ceiling! I also loved the polished emerald green tiles above the more than satisfactory breakfast offering. This place also has a library with free hot drinks and biscuits. Sold.
We had a day out in the medieval city of Lund, the second oldest city in Sweden and popular university town. We ate our picnic lunch looking at the striking cathedral in the town centre and mooched around the quaint, cobbled streets.
Not just a town steeped in history, there was also plenty of second-hand shops and vintage stores that I couldn’t resist going and having a rummage in. In the home of IKEA it felt wrong somehow to be rifling through others’ unwanted belongings but what’s one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. Right?
We soon had to pack up and head back to Copenhagen to drop the hire car off and catch a flight home. Our jam-packed Scandi road trip was coming to an end.
Sad face.
Getting to experience a taste of life in Denmark, Sweden and Norway in just two weeks with a one year old baby was a lot of fun but I could probably do with a holiday to get over this holiday!
