Kyra: Weekend Escapes and Travels from Örebro

Stockholm

I’ve been to Stockholm a few times now since living in Sweden, most often to show friends and family the capital city when they came to visit. I’ve mainly been to the city centre, with Stockholm Old Town being my favourite. It really feels like walking through an old city, with all the small streets, beautiful older buildings and a bunch of cute shops and cafés. Stockholm is also great if you love going to museums or going to a concert. What I also really like about Stockholm (and many Swedish cities in general) is how close nature feels. The city is built on islands, so you are almost always near water. Stockholm also feels very different depending on the season, with long days and outdoor cafés in the summer, and a much cozier atmosphere in winter with all the Christmas lights.

Göteborg

If you travel three hours in the opposite direction from Örebro, you get to Göteborg! Göteborg is also filled with beautiful buildings and all popular shops. It also has great places to get fika (in Haga they have a café with giant cinnamon buns), and you could easily spend a few days exploring the entire city. My favourite place in Göteborg is called Slottskogen. It is a big park in the city where they also have all sorts of animals. While walking through the park you come across among others penguins, seals, deer, and moose. It is a lovely way to escape the busy city while not having to travel far. 

Swedish Lapland

Speaking of escaping from the busy city, last year in January I took a trip to Swedish Lapland with my partner and a friend. We travelled up north to Kiruna and did a three-day tour where we slept in cabins, had to get our own water from the river below the camp, and had to cut wood to keep the cabins warm. To get to the camp, we travelled on snowmobiles through a beautiful winter landscape and on frozen Rivers. At and around the camp we would do all sorts of activities, such as ice fishing, snowshoeing, air rifle shooting and relaxing in the sauna. We unfortunately did not see the Northern Lights, but we did see polar clouds! It was a really cool experience, a little more survival than we initially thought it would be, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it.

There are many more places to visit in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. Oslo is very easily accessible from Örebro and with a short flight from Arlanda you can get to Helsinki. Exploring smaller towns in Sweden is also very fun and if you have access to a car, I can also highly recommend checking out some of Sweden’s natural parks.

Where are you traveling to next?