We are wondering what the most interesting small and medium size towns are to visit in southern Sweden. We like towns with a lot of old character, and with interesting outdoor sites and museums to see. We will have 10 days between our time in Copenhagen and Stockholm to see this area where our ancestors are from.
Posted by
Cape Ann, Massachusetts
3334 posts
I stayed in Eksjö for several days. Their old town is lovely. The area around it offers some tiny towns and classic Swedish farms. They did have a fire in 2015, but I suspect it has been repaired. I stayed right in the old town, which is what I would recommend. It is between Stockholm and Copenhagen, in Småland. You don't say what part of Sweden your family is from as South is rather generic.
If you know where your ancestors lived if in Småland, about, there is a historical/genealogy office there that can help pinpoint exactly where they lived and sometimes people will bring you to the locations. They also have a map of all the farms in the area at the time of emigration.
Posted by
Copenhagen, Denmark
971 posts
Malmø, Lund, Kristianstad and Kalmar are all interesting historic towns. Eksjø is also nice, I haven't been there after the fire, but I have heard they have repaired it nicely.
Posted by
Ohio
1601 posts
I spent 2 nights in Ystad. Loved it. Definitely plenty of old character. Ales Stenar is nearby. The Abbey and garden is nice.
Posted by
Seattle
119 posts
We enjoyed Helsingborg, especially this castle and garden: https://sofiero.se/en/.
We took a train from Malmo to Helsingborg and then it was a short bus trip to the castle.
You can also take a ferry from Helsingborg back over to Helsingor on the Danish side of the sound where there is a castle that was the inspiration for the setting of Hamlet There are two ferry lines. We crossed on a smaller boat where people went upstairs and had a beer with their picnic lunch. We came back on a super ferry where the minute we left the dock in Denmark, everyone made a mad dash for the duty free shop- adults for alcohol, kids for candy. Since we live in an area where there are a lot of ferry routes, we find it interesting to see how different ferries are in other places.
North of Lund, there is an area an area with about a dozen or so castles. I was there in the winter, but some are open in the summer. Even if you can't go in the castles, the area would be a lovely drive or bike ride.
Before you leave Copenhagen, consider the Louisianna Museum. It is about a 30-40 minute pleasant train ride and 10 minute, flat walk from Copenhagen and is well worth it. The setting is beautiful!
Posted by
America's Vancouver and the First
111 posts
My ancestors come from the greater Ulricehamn area. We spent a week around there this past summer visiting lots of small sights. We also visited the small emigrant museum (good explanation of Swedish emigration) in Vaxjo and the Kosta glass outlet mall. I understand that Kalmar is a nice town and wish we could have seen it. If you are driving north to Stockholm, along Lake Vattern on the E4, there is the cute "peppermint producing" town of Granna. The town of Vadstena has an abbey to tour, cute town, and beautiful waterfront with a castle.