Lake Mälaren travel tips

Jul 11, 2024 • 7 min read

Sweden’s attractions are endless. Get ready for unspoiled nature, world-class museums, fascinating history, beautiful cities and towns, vibrant traditions and a creative spirit that makes itself known in everything from science, technology and the arts to the country’s ever-evolving culinary scene. 

The history of Stockholm is one of ebbs and flows, freezes and thaws, sunken ships and shifting locks. History, though, isn’t exactly at the forefront of my mind 20 minutes into a morning kayak tour, when I’m frantically paddling against the frothy, destabilising wake dispatched by a passing city ferry. 

Some sights are touristy for a good reason. They’re the ones you go to Europe to check off: a wobbly gondola on the canals of Venice, or a mandatory Eiffel Tower selfie. Europe has countless sights all worth a visit in their own right, but there's so much more to the continent than cathedrals and beaches – and some of it's pretty bizarre. So from plastic hammer fights in Portugal, to a night behind bars in an ex-Soviet prison, here are a few things to do in Europe you probably never considered.

Many who watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy doubtless had a hankering to experience the cosiness of a hobbit’s home. The authorities at Woodlyn Park in New Zealand decided there was a market there, and built two replica hobbit homes for visitors (with slightly higher ceilings though, so those as tall as Gandalf won’t be inconvenienced).