Swedish culture & lifestyle

Fika

if the concept of ‘fika’ doesn’t sit at the heart of Swedish culture, it certainly lives in its soul. Fika is a moment of the day where one can enjoy a coffee and a sweet treat such as a ‘kanelbulle’ (cinnamon bun) with friends, colleagues or family. It’s a time to get together, to chat, to get on the same page, to gossip or even to make important decisions, all over something delicious. The beauty of fika is that one can do it anytime, anywhere. Swedes will head to museums, galleries, restaurants, cafes, parks, hotels, even some shops for a fika with friends. It’s the ultimate live like a local experience for your clients to try.

The absolute capital of fika is the town of Alingsås, close to Gothenburg on west coast. Here you can even book a guided fika walks to learn about the history of fika with pit stops at some of the best cafés in town. In Gothenburg city, small chain Da Matteo can be found at six locations. They also offer a Barista 101 course for coffee lovers wanting to get a glimpse into the artistry behind the brews.

Fern and Fika in Stockholm cater to all tastes and constitutions, offering raw-food, gluten and dairy free cinnamon buns, Semlor and jam cookies to accompany coffee with oat, almond or coconut milk. Whilst Atrium in Malmö has an extensive menu of healthy, organic dishes (including many vegan options)

Nilssons Konditori is a bit of an institution in Oskarshamn, Småland, over a century old, it has retained its fine traditional patisserie craft ever since. In 2018, it was crowned patisserie of the year in the prestigious White Guide.

For something on a ‘grand’ scale, afternoon tea at Stockholm’s Grand Hotel is on its own level and tables should be booked weeks in advance.

For a more in depth look at Swedish food culture, visit the Food and Drink section of our site.

Enjoy the outdoors

Nature is and has always been a very important part of the Swedish lifestyle and culture. Nowadays you can still feel this in the closeness to nature with parks and green areas in all cities. There is for example Slottsskogen in Gothenburg, with everything from classic natural parkland to a zoo. In Stockholm you have the royal national city park Djurgården with its mix of parkland and forest. Both beautiful and easily accessed. A good way to get to know a city is to join one or two of all the organised walks offered by local suppliers. These are sometimes in a group or as self-guided tours. Leaving the city behind, visitors could take a hike around Nacka Nature Reserve, enjoying its lush forests, lakes and fresh air. It’s a perfect day trip at any time of year.

Aside from walking, biking is very popular in Sweden and there are lots of nice and well-kept cycle paths both in the cities and across the country. It’s easy to rent a bike for a couple of hours or perhaps a week, particularly in the case of the Kattegattleden between Gothenburg and Helsingborg, where active visitors can enjoy the breath-taking scenery of Halland whilst cycling on a designated bike path. Cycling around the island of Gotland is also popular for travellers looking for a holiday on two wheels and has been since the 1980s!

Sweden’s beautiful and untouched nature has nourished a strong interest in many Swedes to be outdoors. This has also generated brands such as Fjällräven famous for their backpacks and Peak performance with top class ski wear. There’s also a generous right of public access (‘allemansrätten’) in Sweden which grants everyone the right to roam free in nature under the motto “don’t disturb – don’t destroy”.

For a more in depth look at outdoor experiences, visit the Nature pages of our site.

Send your guests shopping…

After enjoying the outdoors and plenty of fika, your guests may be up for a bit of shopping. Making sure there is free time for shopping in the itinerary is something your guests will definitely thank you for. No matter where they go in Sweden, they will find an eclectic mix of well-known global brands, Swedish chains, independent boutiques and numerous designer stores to choose from. This is most evident in Gothenburg’s Haga District and ‘Sofo’ a neighbourhood in Sodermalm in Stockholm. It’s possible to spend hours perusing the gorgeous items on display in between stops for fika. And yes, maybe we lied a little when we said all of the activities in this article are trade friendly. However, design is of huge importance to Swedish lifestyle and culture and one especially fun way to experience the best of Swedish design is to go shopping, particularly when visitors decide to go on a city break.

A little Nordic noir – Literary, TV and Film Tourism

Sweden is home to a number of famous crime fiction novels, tv shows and movies. The genre is known as Nordic noir. Some of the most famous authors are Stieg Larsson, Camilla Läckberg and Henning Mankell. In Stockholm, visitors can take the popular Millennium tour, once nominated as Lonely Planet’s no. 1 literary walking tour in the world. It follows in the footsteps of the characters Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander from Larsson’s famous Millennium trilogy, and also gives you knowledge about historical and contemporary Stockholm. In the town of Ystad you can walk in the footsteps of Wallander, Mankell’s famous police inspector. The same goes for Läckberg’s books that take place in the small town of Fjällbacka on Sweden’s west coast. A pilgrimage to The Oresund Bridge, just outside of Malmö, central to the world-famous TV drama The Bridge is also very popular.