A 7-Day Family History Tour of Southern Sweden

Arrive from Stockholm on a high-speed train (4.5 hrs). Take a short walk from the train station to the First Hotel Witt. Wander around the old town before dinner with a water view at Slipkajen. On your way back to the hotel, take a look at the Kalmar Castle lit up at night.

After breakfast at your hotel, walk to the stunning Kalmar Castle. Built in 1200, it is where the Kalmar Union was formed that bound the Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark together for 130 years. Next to the castle is the Kalmar Art Museum.

Pick up a rental car and drive to the island of Öland. Tour the southern half of the island, part of which is a bird sanctuary. Your afternoon destination is Långe Jan, Sweden’s oldest and tallest lighthouse. Return to Kalmar and end your day with a meal at Gröna Stugan.

In the morning, take a leisurely drive to Karlskrona, in the southeastern corner of Sweden. Take your time and drive through some of the backroads, through beautiful farmland, and by lakes. In the afternoon, walk around town and visit the well-done Blekinge Museum for a taste of local history. Check out the waterfront and the Maritime Museum if you have time.

In the morning take a boat tour of the Karlskrona Archipelago from Skärgårdstrafik. The archipelago is a natural preserve, and the rocky islands are typical of Swedish coastal geography stemming from the last Ice Age. In the afternoon, drive to Karlshamn for lunch at a fish and chips stall along the waterfront. Visit the statue of the fictional Karl Oskar and his wife Kristina from Vilhem Moberg’s series “The Emigrants”.

Take a leisurely drive to Växsjö on Lake Helgasjön. Take your time driving along backroads and exploring this area known as Småland where many Swedish families emigrated from to come to the United States. Spend your afternoon exploring the city. The Emmigrant’s Museum is a great place to begin to understand the colossal emigration from Sweden from the 1840s to 1900. The Växsjö Cathedral and Museum of Glass are worth visiting as well. But just sitting alongside the lake on a summer evening is lovely.

After breakfast, drive to Malmö. Stop in the university town of Lund for lunch. Visit the Lund Cathedral and the Lund History Museum, which has one of Sweden’s largest archeology collections of the Viking era. Walk around the old town of Malmö to get oriented. After settling into your hotel, enjoy a meal at Västergatan.

On your final day of the tour check out some of Malmö’s modern architectural delights such as the HSB Turning Torso, the tallest building in Sweden, the City Library and consider taking the train to Copenhagen crossing the magnificent Öresund Bridge. Dinner at Madklubben restaurant in the Vesterbro neighborhood close to the train station.