As some of you might have noticed, I spent the last 2 ½ weeks in the beautiful Sweden. I wasn’t really sure whether I should post anything about it on the blog, since it is only a very subjective travel report. I´m not an expert regarding Sweden, but I have been there a couple of times and I thought, why not tell a little bit about it and maybe give some inspiration or tips. So here we go.

I mentioned in my last post, how my teenager-self was so utterly bored every summer, when the whole family would go camping in Sweden. Apparently I couldn’t appreciate the calm, idyllic and beautiful landscape then. Ten years later, however, I couldn’t fight the urge to go there again. So we decided to pack up the tiny car and head up north, to a camping site close to the charming small town Söderköping.

Nothing has changed. The view is still absolutely spectacular, the houses tiny and adorable and the ice cream so very very delicious. One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Sweden were not only the stunning landscape and delicious cinnamon rolls, but also the ice cream restaurant in Söderköping which serves the most exquisite, mouth-watering, huge scoops of ice cream. Everybody always refers to Italy when talking about ice cream but I think the swedes do a pretty good job as well.

We spent more than a week relaxing, picking and eating our weight in blueberries and exploring area. Then we were off to Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Stockholm

I´ve been to Stockholm a couple of times but the last time I went has been a while and was part of our family vacation. Therefore, I mostly followed my parent’s lead, which is not really great if you want to get a good sense of direction. I vaguely remembered where most of the sights were but I nevertheless did some research before going. The things that helped me most were Instagram and the Stockholm guide from Green Kitchen Stories. We pretty quickly decided to book a room over Airbnb in Södermalm and explore the neighborhood. We did head to the old town as well and waved to the royal family but mostly, we wandered around Södermalm, drank lots of coffee, ate faboulous food and tried not to spend all our money in the lovely little shops there.

Since I do not claim to know every insider tip and hotspot of Stockholm, I will refer to Green Kitchen´s Guide which helped us a lot. I can confirm though, that the breakfast at Pom & Flora is amazing, that the falafel at Falafelbaren probably are the best in town and that the outdoor terasse at Mosebacke & Södra Teatern is definitely worth a visit. I would also highly recommend booking a place over Airbnb. We were lucky to stay right around the corner from Mariatorget Park, which is in the heart of the neighborhood. Staying in someones flat is just much more personal than in a hotel and most of the time, you get a closer, very different perspective of the city.

Copenhagen

I have been to Copenhagen many times and think that I know that city a little better than Stockholm. That is probably mostly due to the fact that the city is closer to where I live and also a little smaller. This was the first time I went to Copenhagen in the summer, which is so much different than during the winter. We were lucky once again to find a lovely room via Airbnb in Vesterbro, the popular hipster neighborhood. From there we explored Copenhagen by bike, which was absolutely fantastic. You get everywhere so much faster and feel almost a little Danish on your bike.

We did get some tips regarding Copenhagen from Green Kitchen Stories eating guide but most information was given by our lovely host, who circled everything important into our map. So here are some of the things we did and that I would recommend.

Rent a bike – there are probably a thousand places where you can rent a bike in Copenhagen. We rented ours here, it wasn’t too expensive and everything went very smoothly. Copenhagen is a bike city, the bike paths are very broad and sometimes even exclusively for cyclists. I very highly recommend exploring the city by bike, it´s a lot of fun.

Neighborhoods – Vesterbro is not without reason so popular and great to grab a bite to eat or browse the little shops. Nørrebro is culturally very diverse and has a lot to offer, the Jægerborgsgade for example. Christianshavn is absolutely lovely with all the little canals and Christiania is also worth a visit. The neighborhood, which technically doesn’t belong to Copenhagen is very hippy and alternative, laid back and open. It´s something completely different from the rest of the city, don´t be surprised that you are not allowed to take pictures, the reason for that is rather obvious once you get there. The Center of Copenhagen is great for shopping and Nyhavn is lovely in the evening, when everybody comes to have a drink.

The little mermaid – is very little. The first time I went, I barely saw it behind the travel group in front of us. If you don´t have so much time to spend in Copenhagen, don´t feel bad about leaving this sight out. You could visit Hans Christian Andersen’s grave in Nørrebro instead.

Food – I highly recommend Copenhagen street food. I freaked out when I went, so much delicious stuff everywhere, it was almost too hard to decide what to get. There is definitely something to find for everyone and you can enjoy your food outside with a nice view over Copenhagen. I also really liked the old Meatpacking district in Vesterbro, which now is inhabited by a lot of restaurants and bars. You can enjoy awesome pizza, burgers or a fresh salad in a very hip and fun atmosphere.

Swimming – if you go to Copenhagen during the summertime and feel like you need a refreshment, pack your swimming suite and jump in the water in the many spots alongside Brygge. The water in Copenhagen is very clean so it is allowed to go swimming in the harbour, which is widely used by the Danish.

Park – I often like to make a stop in one of the many parks when I´m visiting a city. A very beautiful side for your afternoon siesta is Frederiksberg Gardens.