Sustainable through Sweden: 20 stops in Småland & Öland

A few months ago, our founding team, Madeleine and Benjamin, received a request: Would you like to travel through southern Sweden and discover many sustainable experiences in Småland and Öland?

Ahoy, we are Madeleine, Benjamin and our little son. Come and join us on our sustainable trip to southern Sweden! Perhaps our report will inspire you to plan your next vacation in Småland and Öland? We hope you have fun!

1. Arrival & Preparation

“For the travel report, you should know that we were only on the road for a week and we would recommend that you plan at least 2 weeks if you want to see everything. And that leads to our first tip for sustainable travel: the principle of slow travel. Slow travel allows you, for example, to plan your purchases in advance, always use up food and get to know the local nature and culture much better.”

On June 31, 2023, the time has finally come, the journey begins! But we still have a lot to do:

• Our preparation for long car journeys always starts with an inspection of our VW T6 in the workshop. Safety first!
• Then we work through our shopping list. This includes, for example, cartridges for the gas cooker, fresh fruit and vegetables, lots of snacks and food that will keep for a long time even in warm temperatures in the car.
• We pack as little luggage as possible. This has two advantages: we don't have to move things around so much and we use less fuel. All of our bathroom products fit into a travel tin in the felt holder on the back seat. We use a "shower bar" for shampoo and shower gel, and we also replace toothpaste, sunscreen, conditioner and washing-up liquid with solid products.
• We all have our own water bottle, which we refill whenever we have the opportunity. I can also highly recommend a travel kettle and a mug that you always have with you so that you don't have to use coffee-to-go cups. Another tip for at home: I bought myself a favorite mug with a carabiner and have gotten into the habit of never leaving the house without it.
• This time we filled a casserole dish with vegan lasagna and whatever vegetables we had left over and just took it with us. We wrapped our bread in wax paper, which we reused during the trip when we needed to take opened food with us.

And then we were off. We decided to travel by ferry because we didn't want to travel long distances in one go with our little son. We spent the first night in Malmö and this is where the adventure in Sweden towards Småland and Öland began.

2. Ikea Museum in Älmhult

https://ikeamuseum.com/en/

When looking for sustainable trends and developments in Sweden, one topic was immediately obvious: the furniture business. Because somehow the Swedes manage to make everything look pretty and tasteful, while at the same time being sustainably minimalist and long-lasting! So we made our first stop at the IKEA Museum in Älmhult.

“We still have some of the furniture from our youth rooms in our apartment and have also furnished our children's room with the Trofast shelf. It always looks tidy. We painted it white and stuck little wooden signs on it so that you know what's in the toy boxes.”

 

Since we were interested in the detailed history of IKEA's founding, we brought an employee to our side who patiently answered our questions. This IKEA store is the first that ever existed and shows the development of furniture over the years. What is particularly exciting is that you can also see the original designs here. Our son was able to discover things on every corner, scan barcodes, touch and get to know materials.

We spent a lot of time in the “Democratic Design” part of the main exhibition. This is about IKEA’s philosophy, including: How do we reconcile sustainability and affordability?

Together with form, function and quality, these are the five guiding principles of product development. This exhibition deals, among other things, with the use of recycled plastic and other materials that can reduce the ecological footprint of furniture. Since we are very interested in this aspect, we spoke to a museum employee about it in detail.

The exhibitions in the museum change regularly, so you can come back every year and see the developments. There are always recycling collections - be sure to keep your eyes open!

My personal highlight was visiting the museum shop, which offers many unique gift ideas that you will hardly find in any other IKEA worldwide. Here we took a pleasant break from the car journey and learned a lot. Our latest travel acquisition is a rainbow-colored IKEA bag, which we will use from now on to transport our BRACENET nets. We also plan to use it to collect waste should we come across any.

You can then enjoy a meal with your family in the in-house restaurant. By the way, in addition to the well-known dishes, there are now also vegan versions - have you heard of the Plantbullar?

For anyone who loves vegan and gluten-free treats and can't get enough of Swedish design at IKEA, we recommend the lovingly decorated Muff Café. The owner prepares many of the delicacies on offer personally at the counter. We love discovering the countries we travel to through their flavors and in this café you can get a first impression of Sweden with regional ingredients and herbs. We ate our way through the menu and can really recommend all of the dishes on the small menu. We were able to romp around in the garden with our son and felt very welcome here. The 207 positive Google reviews were right - be sure to make a little detour here.

With our little car fan on board, we of course had to visit the Bilkyrkogården Kyrkö Mosse car cemetery. This was once a scrapyard that Åke Danielsson operated from 1940 to 1991 and then left. But the vehicles remained.

Today, nature is literally reclaiming everything here. Lots of plants, even trees, are growing out of old, moss-covered vehicles. We took a break, transported ourselves to another time and imagined what the vehicles once looked like. During a walk in the forest, with rays of sunlight shining through the trees, we captured some wonderful images and thoroughly enjoyed our time. Our little man could get into almost every vehicle and didn't want to leave.

It's a shame that there is so much junk in nature - but it's also fascinating to see how nature reclaims its habitat.

3. Muff Café

https://www.instagram.com/muffalmhult/

For anyone who loves vegan and gluten-free treats and can't get enough of Swedish design at IKEA, we recommend the lovingly decorated Muff Café.

 

The owner personally prepares many of the delicacies on offer at the counter. We love discovering the countries we travel to through their flavors and in this café you can get a first taste of Sweden with local ingredients and herbs. We ate our way through the menu and can really recommend all of the dishes on the small menu. We were able to romp around in the garden with our son and felt very welcome here. The 207 positive Google reviews were right - be sure to make a little detour here.

4. Bilkyrkogården Kyrkö Mosse – the car cemetery

With our little car fan on board, we of course had to visit the Bilkyrkogården Kyrkö Mosse car cemetery. This was once a scrapyard that Åke Danielsson operated from 1940 to 1991 and then left. But the vehicles remained.

Today, nature is literally reclaiming everything here. Plants, even trees, are growing out of old, moss-covered vehicles. We took a break, transported ourselves to another time and imagined what the vehicles once looked like.

During a walk in the forest, with the sun shining through the trees, we captured some wonderful images and thoroughly enjoyed our time. Our little man was able to get into almost any vehicle and didn't want to leave.

It's a shame that there is so much junk in nature - but it's also fascinating to see how nature reclaims its habitat.

5. Getnö - Lake Åsnen Resort

https://www.getnogard.se/en/

One of our highlights was the Lake Åsnen Resort in Åsnen National Park. Although we have been to northern Småland several times, this was the first time we discovered this beautiful place.

The owner Ingrid, who is the second generation to run the park, loves and knows every stone here. She sees at least one moose every week on her daily forays through the national park. We learned that there is a female moose on almost every island and that the bull moose swim to the islands to mate. Maybe you'll be lucky and spot a swimming moose?

Here we felt like we were experiencing a piece of Canada in the middle of Sweden. It felt so far away from home, but it was only a day's journey away!

All around us there were lakes, small red romantic houses and unique nature. If you imagine Sweden by the lake, then that's exactly what it is. You can find such places all over Sweden, but here you drive around a corner every minute and have to exclaim out loud: "Oh, how beautiful!"

We stayed in this wonderfully equipped house:

https://www.getnogard.se/en/houses/haren

The house is equipped with everything you need for a pleasant camping experience, including a microwave, stove, grill and shower. If you fancy something warm, you can book meal packages that you can prepare yourself or simply sit down in the farm's own restaurant.

It was so cozy here that we are thinking about holding our next BRACENET team outing here. The location is well equipped for this and even has its own dance bar that you can rent.

We had a barbecue package with charcoal, which we immediately put to use. And here, too, there are vegan and vegetarian options.

 

You are in the middle of the most recent nature reserve inaugurated by the royal family. And you can feel it: a place as peaceful as we only know it from fairy tales.

Have you seen the "Big 5" of Åsnen? Here you can see ospreys, moose, black-throated divers, cranes and sea eagles up close. We even discovered a nest with young birds.

Here you can rent canoes or a boat and explore the lakes from the water. We discovered a huge black-throated diver egg and even saw one of these massive birds in the water.

Although we are not usually the biggest fans of camping sites, we recommend this place because of its secluded cabins and close proximity to nature. We only knew about a floating bathing island for sunbathing from summer stories - we would have loved to stay here longer.

Next time we will rent one of the houses that you can only get to by boat and stay a little longer.

https://www.getnogard.se/en/houses/vikingaborgen/

 

6. Åsnen Full Experience

From the resort you can go on numerous excursions and explore the surrounding area. We loved swimming in the lakes of Åsnen all day and returning to camp in the evening.

We were particularly impressed by the extensive recycling options both in the area and in the accommodations. At every starting point for hikes there were opportunities for correct waste separation and sufficient containers. There were even special buckets for dog and child waste.

Something that particularly struck us – there wasn't a single piece of garbage on the ground, in the bushes or in the lake. Not one. It touched us deeply that there are still places where both locals and visitors show so much respect for the environment.

As parents of a small child, it was very nice not to have to constantly remind them to pick something up. This meant we could concentrate on observing caterpillars and dragonflies. We looked at several routes, all of which we can recommend.

Here you can find a small overview:
https://www.vastervikoutdoor.com/vandring/

7. Kingdom of Crystal

Småland is famous for its glass art, which we now bring directly to your home and to your wrist. On our journey through Glasriket, the “Kingdom of Crystal”, we met Lioba, a glass artist who works both on commission and from her own creations. We had the opportunity to see the art of many guest artists in The Glass Factory and watch Lioba at work. We were particularly impressed by the fact that they reuse their surplus glass - this is real, elaborate and sustainable handwork.

Did you know that glass is mainly made of sand? For more information, listen to our podcast episode from Ocean Crime: https://ocean-crime.podigee.io/29-sandraub-wenn-der-welt-der-sand-ausgeht

In our shop there were two Bracenets inspired by our trip. One of them contained a glass bead made from Lioba's production surplus. With your purchase you not only support BRACENET and Healthy Seas, but also artists from the Kingdom of Crystal. Be sure to stop by again, maybe we'll have them in the shop again.

8. Öland

We expected a lot of great views from Öland, but this unique, partly barren landscape, with high peaks and endemic plants and animals, still surprised us. The roads that meander along the coast, the beautiful fine beaches and the scent of lilacs as far as the eye and nose can see. You will find the rugged coastline and the excellent food here without having to look far.

Öland is very different from the rest of Sweden and is definitely worth a visit. Even the north and south of the island are very different. Whether on foot, by bike or in a camper, you can have a very varied holiday here. We particularly liked the combination of our trip with the mainland and the island.

Throughout our entire journey, we were accompanied by entrepreneurs who had managed their accommodations, farms and restaurants with a lot of dedication and love over the last few years. They put their heart and soul into every nook and cranny and were able to tell us a story about every single corner.

This warmth will stay with us for a long time. What we appreciate about the Swedes is their reserve. However, if you ask questions and show interest, they will tell you their stories with shining eyes. It is no surprise that the royal family has a residence here and can maintain their anonymity despite the diverse culture.

9th Arontorp Kroppkakor

Arontorps Kroppkakor, Torslunda 102, 386 96 Färjestaden.

Delicacies that locals queue for an hour at Arontorps Kroppkakor? Definitely worth a try. If you're going to Öland, stop by and grab a portion to take home or try it on the spot. Here you'll find local dishes, either buffet style or to take away.

The Kroppkator consists of a potato dough filled with pork and onions, served with cream, butter and lingonberries. A tasty dish that surprised our palate. Particularly noteworthy is the strong emphasis on regional ingredients in Sweden, which keeps the carbon footprint of all meals low. Regional here means that the flour comes from the village mill, the milk from the neighboring farm and the cheese from a nearby dairy.

10. Hiking in the World Heritage Site: Agricultural Landscape in the South of Öland

Hiking through the south of Öland really amazed us. There are species of orchids that can only be found here and many herbs that now characterize the island's cuisine and taste. I recommend that you discover the island's treasures with a guide and learn something along the way. Over 140 km of hiking trails lead through this extraordinary southern Swedish landscape.

Although the landscape appears flat at first glance, you will continually discover new ground structures and numerous monuments that tell of another time. Our tour lasted about an hour and we enjoyed every second of it.

11. Eksgården Krog & Rum – Hotel and Restaurant