55 minutes by train from Copenhagen, you will find Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city. In the previous article, I told you that we were in Copenhague, so since we were so close by, we decided to take advantage to get to know it, only this time it was the City of Malmö itself that suggested we explore it and enjoy it in a more fun way, in addition to the classic walking tour.
By the way, giving a little historical context, Malmö originally belonged to Denmark and became part of Sweden in 1658. Both are divided by the Øresund Strait.
By bike
Now back to the touristy part, the first thing they recommended us was that, as it is a small city where most of its inhabitants travel by bicycle, we had to experience it in the same way. As we arrived late on our first day and were very tired from our touristing in Copenhagen, we decided to have a nice dinner, rest and leave all the experiences for the next day.
Early in the morning, we went to pick up our rental bikes at Travelshop Malmö, which is at the train station, and from there set off on our bikes to the most remote area (in fact, everything is close by, flat and very easy because there are cycle paths all over the city), to see the most iconic building in Malmö, the Turning Torso. Obviously, on our ride, we passed by docks and very nice residential areas. It looks like people live well in this city.
The Turning Torso, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, is a residential building, the tallest in Scandinavia (in fact, you can see it from the tower of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen), 190 meters high and consisting of 54 floors, nine cubes and a 90° rotation.
From there, we continued cycling through Västra Hamnen, a beautiful residential area. It has “beaches” or public spaces facing the Øresund Strait, designed for people to lie in the sun and, if they wish, to take a dip in the water. There are also parks, squares and a promenade facing the water. And so we arrived at our next stop, the Malmö Titanic Lovelock Point viewing platform.
As it was a beautiful sunny day, there were lots of local people sunbathing and even diving from the viewing platform. There were hardly any tourists in that area, so we really enjoyed being able to take photos without the crowds. Afterwards, we went to Ribersborgs Beach, where the Scandinavian bath Ribersborgs Kallbadhus is located, where you can enjoy the natural pools and get treatments.
On the way to Slottsparken (the castle park), we passed through a very picturesque street where the Fiskehoddorna, the fish market, is located, which is very close to the Malmöhus Slott castle. The castle now houses a museum, but we decided to sacrifice it in order to continue discovering the city. Returning to the park, I found it very cute, it even has a mill, the Slottsmöllan, from the 19th century and other attractions. If you have more time, I recommend spending more hours walking around the park.
Once in the city centre, it became a bit more difficult to ride the bike, because there were more people, more traffic and we had already been cycling for hours. It was time to move on to the second way of seeing Malmö and we would do it from the water.
By boat through the canals
The city of Malmö also has canals, so before returning the bikes, we went to a supermarket to buy some beers, chips and snacks. From there, we went to the company BookaBoat Malmö, located next to the Birgit Nilsson Bro bridge, to rent an electric boat that is super easy to steer.
We spent two delightful hours like this, seeing the city in a more relaxed way, while we drank our beers (well deserved) and ate something. I was struck by the fact that most of the people that rented a boat, were locals celebrating a birthday or simply had left work and were meeting up with colleagues. I loved the experience, I think I will repeat it in other cities where you can rent this type of boat, which is also not expensive, nor complicated, nor is it the typical shared tour.
Walking through Gamla Staden
We left the historic centre, Gamla Staden, to the end, to explore it by foot, which is the best option, to enjoy its pretty squares and little streets, where you can do some shopping, visit the churches or sit down on a terrace to relax. We started with the colorful houses on Jakob Nilsgatan street, one of the favorites of travelers.
Right in the centre, you should also see the 14th century Gothic St. Peter’s Church with its 105-meter high tower (I was fascinated by the frescoes in the photo). And Stortorget, the main square, where the beautiful town hall is located, but we only got to see part of it, as there was a music festival and the main stage was setup there. On one side of the square is the Lejonpassagen, a beautiful passageway between courtyards of buildings, which connects Kalendegatan street with the main square.
You will also pass through Södergatan, the first pedestrian street in the city, very pretty, but for me the cherry on the cake was Lilla Torg square, surrounded by buildings that once belonged to merchants between the 16th and 18th centuries and where today you can find lively restaurants. It reminded me of the squares in Disney stories – wonderful!
That night, we had a delicious dinner at a small place called Spoonery, where I had the best köttbullar (a type of meatball) that I can remember. Small, simple, but highly recommended.
We were almost done for the day and we still hadn’t seen The Knotted Gun/Non Violence sculpture, even though it was very close to the hotel. Of course, it turns out to be very small and I had imagined something huge, so we passed by it several times without noticing it. This sculpture is the work of artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd and his inspiration came after the murder of John Lennon. Today, it is also the image of the non-profit organization Non-Violence Project.
If I didn’t mention Malmö Inre fyr (the old lighthouse) and the pier in front of Posthusplatsen on the tour, it is because we stayed right there. In fact, we had incredible views from our hotel. When you tour the city, you will discover this and other very beautiful squares and sculptures all over Malmö.
In general, I found Malmö to be beautiful, quiet, and easy to get around in, but I would recommend visiting in the summer, to enjoy it outdoors. If you have the chance and sufficient time, I suggest you to combine it with Copenhagen, because of its proximity.
If you want us to design and organize your trip to Europe through our travel agency Tripdreaming, contact me at silvia.lucero@tripdreaming.com. For editorial questions, write to silvia.lucero@latrotamundos.com.
