Sightseeing in Sweden

For the foreign visitors who would like to experience a little bit of what the region has to offer before the wedding we use this post to recommend a few places in Sweden/Denmark.

Skåne

The Swedish side of the region presents you with a great variety of sightseeing activities. The southern region of Sweden - Skåne (pronounced [Scawnai] - is a lowland area with a strong farming culture.

If you want to stay in Lund, the town - although fairly small - has a lot to offer. The Lund Cathedral is the major landmark. It was constructed in the 11th century and is Scandinavia's foremost example of Romanesque architecture. The cathedral is almost perfectly preserved. One of its many admired objects is the 14th-century astronomical clock that plays daily at 12 and 3 PM. We also recommend a visit to the Heritage Park - Kulturen, in the middle of the town.

On the Skåne countryside you will find plenty of castles (Widtsköfle castle to the right), viking settlements and rune stones (top picture: Ale stones).

One hour north west of Lund you will find beautiful coastal communities on the peninsulas (Arild, Mölle, Torekov and Båstad). A truly magnificent scenery awaits the visitor and we can only hope that you find the time to visit at least one of these little villages.

The best way to enjoy these sights is to rent a car. (Avis, Hertz and Europcar have car rental agencies in the Lund area.) Be sure to choose a fuel efficient car, since gas is expensive in Sweden = $7 per gallon. (Please observe that it might be hard to find a car with an automatic transmission – stick shifts are still standard in Europe.)

Even without a car it is easy to get around. At least if you want to stay in the urban areas. Skåne has a lot of commuter trains running between all the cities and most of the villages. A nice day to Helsingborg (about 45 minutes to the north of Lund) gives you the ability to both visit The Keep of Helsingborg, and take the 20 minute ferry ride over to Danish Helsingør where you can visit the Kronborg's castle - mostly famous for being the backdrop of Hamlet.

For the nature freak we recommend a hiking experience in Sweden. Although there are no grand mountains in Skåne there are still lots of beautiful paths and hiking trails. A day trip on one of the Skåneleden trails along Söderåsen (pdf file map in English at homepage) (just north of Lund) or Skrylleskogen (to the east of Lund) is sure to give you a wonderful experience of the Swedish forests.

More tourist information about the above mentioned sights along with useful maps can be found at the Skåne tourist information site (with a complete English translation).

Copenhagen

Like any big European city, Copenhagen has a lot to offer in every possible area of shopping, culture and so on.

More tourist information about Copenhagen can be found here. For a virtual guided tour of the central parts of Copenhagen - click here.

From the airport it only takes a five minute train ride to the Copenhagen central station.

Most of the things to see in Copenhagen can be reached by walking. Within a few miles you will find Nyhavn (the old harbor), Amalienborg (the Royal Palace), Tivoli (entertainment park with many quaint restaurants) and Strøget (shopping street).

Nyhavn is the perfect place to look for restaurants with great dishes of seafood (their lobster is very cheap and delicious).

For lunch we recommend the National dish of Denmark - smørrebrød - at the Royal Family's own lunch chef Ida Davidsen's restaurant (Store Kongensgade 70).

The writer H.C. Andersen (The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling etc.) is synonymous with Copenhagen and you will find that his children stories have left lots of imprints on the city today. A trip along the shoreline will get you to the Mermaid-statue overlooking the harbor. A bronze statue of H.C. Anderson himself sits on the main square right next to the Tivoli garden.

Other famous citizens of Copenhagen are Søren Kierkegaard (for the pious and philosophy interested visitor) and the Carlsberg family (for the beer interested visitor).

If you want to spend an evening in the city we recommend that you get tickets to the newly built opera house or the old Renaissance opera house (where we have enjoyed both chamber concerts and ballet).

Copenhagen, for the younger visitors only:

For the more daring young ones we recommend this museum.
(NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE – DO NOT CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH LIBERAL EUROPEANS)

The bar/restaurant Kruts Karport (on Øster Farimagsgade 12 - every cab driver in town knows where it is...) is famous for their own production of Absinth (which is legal in Denmark). It's a great waterhole if you want to enjoy Copenhagen by night.

Another sight of interest is the freetown of Christiania where the autonomous collective has ruled the day since the late 1960ies. Please observe - If you are approached by people who want to offer you brown cakes wrapped in tin foil, please note that it is not a Betty Crocker brownie they are trying to sell you.