Whenever I travel to a new country I try my best to visit a National Park. Sweden has A LOT of national parks, which made it difficult to choose which one I wanted to see. I knew going north would not be an option on this trip, the weather would be too finicky and the drive would have been too far, so I focused my sights on the southern region of Sweden.
After scouring over the internet a few times, I finally chose to visit Söderåsen National Park, located in the southern most county of Skåne (it took me days to pronounce this correctly.)
Derek and I planned our Air B&B stays around this adventure, and everything else we did was extra. Our first Air B&B was in the municipality of Höör, a tiny little countryside filling all my European farmland dreams. We stayed in a tiny house on the property of a sweet Swedish woman and her husband, and while I adored the little space, I lost my marbles for the onsite green house.
The drive south from Täby where we were staying with Dereks aunt and uncle was about 6.5 hours. It was a surprisingly smooth drive (I drove), but by the time we arrived at our Air B&B we were ready to stretch our legs. We chose a spot that had two bikes we could borrow, and neither of us had to think twice about taking them out for a spin.
The bikes were rusted, too small, and looked over a decade old, but they were the most magical steeds to ride 10 miles of countryside on.
We stayed at this place for two nights, and I spent both mornings sipping my coffee inside the green house with one of the cozy red blankets draped across my lap. On our first morning the host offered breakfast, but I wanted to ensure I was in top shape for a day of hiking and couldn’t risk feeling like shit. Derek partook and our host brought him a basket of perfectly wrapped bread, vegetables, an egg, a cookie, fresh yogurt, cheese and salami, and fruit. It was adorable.
Meanwhile in the greenhouse…
After finishing our morning routines, it was time to head to the park. Our Air B&B was a short 25 min drive from the park, meaning we didn’t have to leave at dawn. Upon arrival we were one of four other cars in the lot. This National Park has a few different locations to start hiking from, and it was very low key. No passes, no crazy parking, no park rangers, just a beautiful piece of land for everyone to enjoy.
Our original plan was to hike through the center of the park, and turn around halfway giving us a 10 mile introduction to the area. We ended up going to a different location first per the suggestion of our Air B&B host, and we ended up staying in this area the entire day. There were so many options to explore.
My favorite thing about this hike was that the trail markers were painted onto trees.
Often times more than one trail would intersect, and then a tree would have multiple colored circles. We followed three separate colors at separate times until we clocked 10-11 miles (our Garmin watches had slightly different readings.) The area felt like something out of Jurassic Park, and we had long stretches where we saw no other humans.
The highlight of this adventure for me was overhearing a German family as they walked past us. One of the women greeted us in German, so I said goodbye to them in German. The man at the end of their train turned around as we passed and asked me if I spoke German. I said to him (in German) that I try, but not much. He then asked if we spoke Swedish and I said we spoke English.
We then (in English) talked about where they lived in Germany, where I used to live in Germany, and how we were all enjoying our trip to Sweden. The entire interaction left a warm feeling in my heart.
After our hike we went into the tiny “visitor center” at the start of the trail and had a lovely chat with the woman working in the center. I wanted to buy a pin to add to my national park pin collection, and I was in luck. We then returned to the tiny house with souls full of joy and adventure where I made salmon and potatoes for dinner. Contentment at its finest.
The following morning we had a leisure start before checking out and heading towards our next destination. Just enough time for me to spend one more morning in the adorable green house of my dreams. Next up: Kullaberg Nature Reserve.
Q: What was your most magical Air B&B (or hotel) stay?
Blissfulbritt 
18 thoughts on “Söderåsen National Park”
Melissa Widmaier
Thank you for sharing your explorations. This looks like my idea of heaven!
Brittany
Mine too. 🙂
Rootchopper
Rusty bikes. It me. I once rented a bike in Vermont at the end of the summer. It was a heap. I took it to a gas station and pumped up it’s deteriorating tires. I went all over the place, some of which was marked off limits, and had a ball.
Brittany
Hahaha! I love that. One of Derek’s tires was definitely too low, but we didn’t have the option to pump it up. We clearly made do though!
Rootchopper
Hmm, magical places? One comes to mind. A motel at the northern end of Lake Champlain. (Same trip as the bike rental.) No phones. No TVs. Walk out of your room and take a seat looking out over the silent lake. Next to the motel rooms was an lovely old New England inn building. It had a gourmet restaurant. Yum.
Brittany
That DOES sound magical. I think mine would be a French countryside Air B&B with a woman who spoke no English, but served the BEST breakfast I’ve had in a quaint little sun room.
Amy
With each of your blog posts about Sweden, I keep thinking “What a magical trip!!” It feels like your vacation just keeps getting better and better… At least, from where I sit behind my computer screen! 😉
Ummmmm yes PLEASE!! Sitting in a cozy greenhouse, sipping coffee under a blanket, having a leisurely morning?? That sounds so perfect — and I’m SO happy for you that you’re able to drink coffee more often again!!! Those little things that seem rather ordinary and maybe even a bit mundane can bring so much joy when we’ve had to go without them for a long time. ♡
What a fun time in the National Park too!! And the fact that it was easy to access with no passes or crazy parking situations… Even better. After postcards, a little pin is the PERFECT souvenir too! So awesome that you were able to find one to add to your collection!!
…and I’m now on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear about your next Swedish adventure!! 😉
Brittany
I am so thankful I can drink coffee, I have to water it down and at certain phases of my cycle I can feel it affecting me more, but overall we are back in the coffee business and I am so thankful. It also has to be specific coffee…like dark, dark, dark.
This trip was a whirlwind. I wasn’t sure how it would go. Derek and I are friends, but we are also like two sibling who can butt heads at times. I was nervous we wouldn’t mesh, but thankfully overall it went well.
Pree
So cool you got to get a pin to commemorate your trek 😉!
Brittany
I knooowww. I love the little pin.
marietoday
My favorite Air B&B stay was a small cabin in rural Wisconsin. Joe and I went there for our anniversary a couple years ago – it was in the woods and had a lovely porch that overlooked a bit of a drop. I sat on the porch to read with a mug of tea and loved feeling surrounded by the woods. We had to share the cabin with a little mouse, though!
Brittany
Oh my! This cabin sounds like a dream, even with the mouse. I remember when I was living in Yellowstone, my cabin was also home to a mouse for a few days. We couldn’t find where he was coming in from, but it turned out there was an opening somewhere between our room and our neighbors room. My roommate accidentally squished him in the door one night and it was very sad.
marietoday
Oh that is sad! I’ve never been to Yellowstone, but I would love to some day
Brittany
Some of my fondest memories!
Bradley on the Run
Love this! One of our best Airbnb stays was in nearby Squamish – it’s an old shipping container converted into a wee one-room living space. It has a deck built out over the water with a view of nearby mountains and it’s magical. The night we stayed, we just sat on the deck as the sun set, drinking wine and chatting for hours.
Brittany
Ohh my, that sounds like such a beautiful evening. I love old shipping containers. Sometimes I daydream of living in one.
Robert F. Mullen, Ph.D.
A beautiful site, Brittany. Kudos! – ReChanneling.org
Brittany
It really was!