Hi! Hoping for advice on a good place to spend Midsommer 2024 in SW Sweden. Traveling in Northern Europe the last 2 weeks of June with my husband and our kids, 12 and 14 years old. Current working itinerary has us in Copenhagen June 20th and moving on to Norway after. That gives us the opportunity to hit Midsommer in Sweden on Friday night or Saturday (June 21/22). Anyone have experience with attending these celebrations? Is it worth making it work? Are tourists welcome? Recommend Midsommer Eve or Day? We'd be using public transportation at this point in the trip. Ok with day trips from Copenhagen or towns on the western coast on the way to Norway. Thanks!
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6970 posts
Please define best. And please define what you consider SW Sweden (Southwest?).
Anyone have experience with attending these celebrations?
A lot of experience.
Recommend Midsommer Eve or Day?
The main celebrations take place on midsummer eve.
Posted by
OP
Ohio
8 posts
Badger, edited to "good" from "best". Which celebrations have you enjoyed the most and why?
Looking for interesting, at least semi-authentic, and worth making it fit into our schedule. Food available to purchase, some dancing and/or music, maypole, etc? I have a daughter who fell in love with Sweden on a visit to Stockholm last year. Hoping to show her more of the culture either historical or modern.
Southwest Sweden could be anywhere from Malmo and surrounding towns to up the west coast to the border with Norway. (We are either traveling to Oslo by train or by ferry from Copenhagen) Also open to midsommer/St John's night celebrations in Denmark or Norway.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6970 posts
Which celebrations have you enjoyed the most and why?
Hard question to answer, but I've enjoyed many of them.
Looking for interesting, at least semi-authentic, and worth making it
fit into our schedule. Food available to purchase, some dancing and/or
music, maypole, etc?
All midsummer celebrations you find in Sweden are by definition authentic. But if you want food available to purchase that will limit your selection, it's more common to bring your own food. The easiest is probably to ask again in a couple of months, then there will be more information available. At moment people haven't even begun to think about midsummer.
Southwest Sweden could be anywhere from Malmo and surrounding towns to
up the west coast to the border with Norway.
So basically along the west coast?
Posted by
Malmö, Sweden
161 posts
Midsummer is mostly a private party, but many visits a bigger public celebration too (those are often in the afternoon between lunch and dinner). I think you need to split it. Find a restaurant that is open and serves midsummer food and visit a public celebration close by.
I found a hotel in Varberg that had a midsummer deal with midsummer food this year: https://www.varbergsstadshotell.com/erbjudanden/midsommarpaket/
For a daytrip Kajuteriet outside Malmö was open this year with a midsummer buffet.