Program

Southern Swedish Pearls

22 July – Departure from Stockholm (Cityterminalen /City Bus Terminal)

We depart from Stockholm City Bus Terminal at 08:00 heading south. As we reach the town of Motala we stop at Göta Canal for a walk alongit and pass some of the water locks.

The canal is an impressive engineering masterpiece, the biggest in Sweden, dug by hand for 22 years. When the work was complited Sweden had a water way from the Baltic Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west and a dream for over 300 years had come true.

Today the canal is a popular way for boat owners to spend the holiday or is it ... ?

Sweden has about 96 000 fresh water lakes and next to the second biggest one, Lake Vättern, the small town of Vadstena is located. Since the introduction of Christianity in Sweden, Vadstena has had a leading position within the Swedish Church not least because it was here Saint Bridget/Birgitta of Sweden founded her Monastery in the 1100-hundreds. We pass by the stunning medieval castle. The construction work starteded after a decision by the parliament in 1544 that the defense must be improved from attacks from the South. Today Vadstena Castle is the best-preserved Renaissance castle in the Nordic countries.  When we reach Vadstena we do a guided walk through the town.

Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 6 km / 3 mi

The difficulty of the hike: green

Distance in bus: 260 km / 165 mi

Overnight in Vadstena 

23 July – Omberg Nature Reserve and Eksjö wooden town

South of Vadstena next to Lake Vättern is Omberg Nature Reserve located. We start the day by enjoying the varied nature, passin through beech forest, along shores of crystal clear Lake Vättern overlooking the open agricultural landscape of Östergötland. As we are in the area we must give the most famous candy a try in Gränna ... We stay overnigt in picturesque Eksjö, one of the Swedish towns that still can be counted as a wooden town. For centuries the town has been a military town and the hotel, Eksjö Stadshotell, was built mainly to house the many officers living and visiting the city.

Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 6 km / 3 mi

The difficulty of the hike: blue

Distance in bus: 150 km / 95 mi

Overnight in Eksjö 

24 July – Orrefors famous crystal and medieval Kalmar

We do a guided morning walk in Eksjö before we go deeper into the big forests of Småland. Many Americans have ansestors from Sweden and many of them emigrated from the province of Småland. Miles of untouched forest and milions of stones in the ground and serveral of years o malnutrition in the mid 1800-hundreds made about 1,5 million Swedes search for a better life in the New World. The majority settled in Minnisota that had just been open for new settlers.

Where we are right now is called the Glass Kingdom. The glass cabins in Småland are known all around the world for their high quality crystal and glass art. We continue and reach the Baltic Sea and the old city of Kalmar. The city gave name to Kalmarunionen, the Kalmar Union as a result from the Scandinavian kings on the powerful Hanseatic trading organisation The Hansa. Before dinner we walk through the old and historical city with its magnificent medieval castle and cathedral.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 5 km / 3 mi

The difficulty of the hike: green

Distance in bus: 180 km / 110 mi

Overnight in Kalmar

25 July – The island of Öland

We cross the long bridge over to the big island of Öland with its limestone landscape. Both the flora and fauna is unique for the island, the beaches are long and all over the island archaeological findings remain and date back as far as the Stone Age. During the Summer The Swedish Royal couple stay at the island as well do thousands of holiday-celebrating Swedes. Most of them go North at the longstretched island - we go South. Hopefully we will be able to try some of the famous strawberries that grove at Öland. The peak time for Swedes to eat strawberries are around Midsummer.

The hike cross over an almost completely flat landscape and the contrast is huge comparing with the main land. Many plants and flowers are endemic to Öland and can't be seen elsewhere in Sweden. The sun might be hot so the shadow cools nicely as we walk through the famous oak forests further south on the island.

At the most southern cape with the lighthouse Långe Jan is the leading area in the country to ring birds and if we are lucky some seals can be seen from the beach resting at the small cobs.

We have dinner on an old Öland farm before heading back to the main land.

UNESCO World Heritage – Stora Alvaret (Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland)

Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 10 km / 6 mi

The difficulty of the hike: green

Distance in bus: 150 km / 95 mi

Overnight in Kalmar

26 July – Karlskrona

Leaving Småland for the province of Blekinge also called the garden of Sweden. We enjoy a morning hike following Lyckebyån's flowing water through the dense greenery. This is probably as close to a rainforest experience as you can get in Sweden. In the surrounding landscape there are plenty of traces of early historical settlements.

19^th November 1679 King Karl XI points to where the new city and marine base shall be built. Close to the Continent and the former main enemy Denmark, not far away. The city grew fast and was soon the third biggest in the country. Still today the Marine Base is very important. The 27^th October 1981 the eyes of the world stared at the archipelago of Karlskrona. A Soviet submarine had run aground on an island in the middle of a Swedish military area. Never had the Cold War been colder between Sweden and the Soviet Union. For a few days everyone held their breath what would happen next? We enjoy a guided tour in this interesting city to learn more.

UNESCO World Heritage – Naval Port of Karlskrona

Breakfast, Free Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 8 km / 4 mi

The difficulty of the hike: yellow

Distance in bus: 90 km / 55 mi

Overnight in Karlskrona

27 July – Kivik's famous apple grove

Most Swedes that emigrated to America went by ship from the small city of Karlshamn and for many of them Karlshamn harbour was the last they saw of their homeland. We stop at this historic site. All Swedish families have some ansestes that left for a new and hopefully better life in the United States of America.

Today we reach the most Southern province - Skåne. Fertile agricultural landscape spreads out between the characteristic Scanian farms and the beaches are among Europe's finest. In this part of the landscape, Österlen, many artists have settled down and galleries are common between the lush and famous apple orchards.

We do a short hike crossing Stenshuvud National Park and enjoy the view over the Baltic Sea. If the weather conditions are good the Danish island of Bornholm can be seen in a distance. As we leave the National Park behind we enter one of Sweden's most famous apple orchards, Kivik, we learn more about this important fruit during a tour and tast some of the high quality apple drinks that are produced here.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 3 km / 2 mi

The difficulty of the hike: yellow

Distance in bus: 210 km / 130 mi

Overnight in Ystad

28 July – Ystad, Ale Stones and long beaches

Many have read Henning Mankell's bookes about Commissioner Kurt Wallander in Ystad. Large parts of the detective novels take place in the neighborhood around the hotel and we start the day with a guided walk in picturesque Ystad.

Beautifully situated overlooking the Baltic Sea are Ale stones located. These huge granite boulders date as far back as the Early Iron Age and constitute some of the the country's oldest ancient monuments and is a must see attraction at the South coast. The accuracy of the sun's passage across the firmaments and the stones is impressive.

After some eventful days, there is time to spend the afternoon on the beautiful sandy beach. The sea is never too cold for a native Swede only refreshing!

Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: 5 km / 3 mi

The difficulty of the hike: blue

Distance in bus: 50 km / 30 mi

Overnight in Ystad 

29 July – Smygehuk - the most Southern Cape in Sweden

Spend the last day close to the sea relaxing, stroll along the beach, or maybe post the last postcard back home. In the afternoon we follow the South coast to reach our final goal of the trip, Smygehuk, Sweden's southernmost cape. You can't go any further.

We enjoy a farewell dinner and add some last memories to a fantastic trip.

Breakfast, Packed Lunch, Dinner

Walking distance: Own choice

Distance in bus: 80 km / 50 mi

Overnight in Ystad 

30 July – Departure

After breakfast, departure transfer to Kastrup Airport (CPH) in Copenhagen or by noon back to Stockholm

Breakfast, Free Lunch, Free Dinner (stop along the way to Stockholm)

Distance in bus to Kastrup Copenhagen airport: 90 km / 55 mi

Distance in bus to Stockholm City Bus Terminal : 620 km / 385 mi

End of tour