sweden Archives - Runaway Brit

Julbocken: the Swedish Tradition that Usually Goes up in Flames

Europe, Featured, History, Humour, Life in Sweden, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism, Tourist Attraction, Tradition gävle, gävlebocken, goat, julbocken, sweden, yule, yulegoat

“Runway ready! How do I look?” tweets Gävlebocken, the official social media account of Sweden’s famous Christmas goat. Indeed, he's not only famous in Sweden: according to the Guinness Book of Records, Gävle's Julbocken is the world’s

Enjoying the Swedish Summer in Öregrund

Beaches, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Life in Sweden, Swedish Tourism, Tourist Attraction harbour, Öregrund, seaside, sweden, tourism

With over 3,000 kilometres of coastline, Sweden has plenty of coastal towns; and, although the most beautiful beaches are in the south, the east coast has many gems. The Stockholm Archipelago is a great place

Åre: an Autumn Visit to Sweden’s Most Famous Ski Resort

Europe, Featured, Health & Fitness, Life in Sweden, Nature, Swedish Tourism, Tourist Attraction, Travelling åre, sweden

With Covid still limiting overseas travel, I have travelled locally in Sweden over the past few months. Recently, I’ve been to Sundsvall, Västerås, Kristianstad and Stockholm. My favourite trip, however, was Åre, a lakeside ski-resort

Malmö: Sweden’s Gateway to Europe

City Break, Europe, Featured, Life in Sweden, Swedish Tourism, Tourist Attraction, Travelling, Working Overseas malmö, Öresund, Skåne, sweden, The Bridge

As the gateway to Europe, Malmö 's youthful, cosmopolitan vibe is distinctive from other Swedish cities. During the summer, tourists flood the city beach, and residents stroll through leafy parks or run along the beachfront

Stockholm ICEBAR: ‘The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway’

Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Life in Sweden, Swedish Climate, Swedish Tourism, Tourist Attraction ice bar, stockholm, sweden

What is Stockholm’s ICEBAR like? Well, as you'd expect, it’s like walking into a giant freezer. A freezer with a bar, that is. A freezer full of animals elaborately carved into huge blocks of glistening

ABBA Museum: Thank Sweden For The Music

Europe, Featured, Music, Swedish Tourism Abba museum, Eurovision, stockholm, sweden, TBEX

What do the following artists have in common: Roxette, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, Europe, Avicii, Eric Prydz (remember that raunchy work-out video) Robyn, Swedish House Mafia (the clue is in the name), Neneh Cherry,

Five Reasons Why Stockholm is Best Experienced on Foot

Europe, Featured, Life in Sweden, Swedish Climate, Swedish Tourism, Travelling stockholm, sweden, tourism, transport, walking

As a participant of TBEX Stockholm I was very kindly given a 72-hour transport pass that works on trains, buses, and some boats across the city. This was perfect for enabling quick transport to the conference,

Loginn: a Floating Hotel in Stockholm

Europe, Featured, History, Life in Sweden, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism, Travelling Loginn Hotel, Maritime history, stockholm, sweden, unusual hotels

Spread across 14 islands the city of Stockholm has arisen from the sea, so it seems rather fitting to stay on the water rather than next to it when you visit the stunning Swedish capital. This

Weekend Break: Västerås

Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, History, Life in Sweden, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism sweden, västerås

If you are researching flights to Stockholm, you may well come across an airport called ‘Stockholm Västerås’, particularly if you are flying with love-it-or-hate-it airline, Ryanair. But, what you should know in this scenario is

Aurora Borealis: 7 Things To Know Before You Go

Europe, Featured, Life in Sweden, Nature, Photography, Swedish Climate, Swedish Tourism, Travelling arctic, arctic circle, aurora, aurora borealis, iceland, lapland, northern lights, northern lights apartments, porjus, sweden

Experiencing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is on many people’s bucket list and, when seen, they offer a tantalising display of nature at her most beautiful. But, seeking the notoriously elusive aurora can be a

Summer’s Coming, and I’m Going to Europe!

Europe, Featured, Plans, Travelling berlin, copenhagen, cornwall, denmark, england, estonia, europe, germany, hamburg, prague, stockholm, summer, summer getaways, sweden, tallinn, travel, uk, united kingdom, västerås

In June, heavy monsoon rains will saturate the streets of Mumbai, so I am doing what most other foreign teachers here do—leaving India for the summer. And what better place to go than Europe? In contrast

Around the World in 26 Letters: My Travel Alphabet

Asia, Beaches, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, History, Japan, Life in India, Life in Sweden, Literature, Nature, Photography, South America, Swedish Tourism, Top Ten, Travelling army, asia, atacama desert, aurora, bolivia, bosnia, bucharest, caribbean, chile, china, colombia, dracula, edinburgh, estonia, europe, fuji, gotland, Greece, holi, iceland, iguassu, iguazu falls, india, isle of skye, istanbul, japan, Jökulsárlón, kleftiko, lapland, machu picchu, mary king close, mostar, Mumbai, new york city, northern lights, NYC, ogmore, ogmore beach, ogmore by sea, parque tayrona, peru, qatar airways, romania, rurrenabaque, san blas, scotland, skye, sri lanka, stari most, sweden, taj mahal, tallinn, terracotta warriors, udaipur, unawatuna, valparaiso, visby, wales, waterfalls, xi'an, yamuna river, zostel

I’ve been travelling the world, on-and-off, for almost 16 years—ever since an adventurous 4 week train journey took me through Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic into Romania back in the days when

Why You Should Visit Stockholm in Winter

Advice, Europe, Featured, Life in Sweden, Swedish Climate, Swedish Tourism, Travelling city break, five reasons to visit stockholm in winter, stockholm, stockholm city break, stockholm tourism, sweden, visit stockholm in winter, winter, winter break, winter tourism

Visiting Stockholm between October and May is a thought that sends shivers down the spines of many, but in my opinion it is the nicest time to visit. Although the city comes alive in the

My Top 5 Wow-Factor Destinations

Asia, Europe, Featured, Nature, South America, Travelling arctic, argentina, brazil, colombia, destinations, falls, iceland, iguazu, Jökulsárlón, lapland, parque tayrona, perito moreno, spectacular, sweden

According to the dictionary, spectacular is an adjective that means ‘beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way’; synonyms of which are striking, picturesque, breathtaking, arresting, glorious, and my two favourites, sublime, and awesome. Awesome as

So Long, Sweden! I’m Going To Miss You.

Europe, Featured, History, Nature, Swedish Climate, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism, Travelling, Working Overseas expat, nature, snow, stockholm, sunset, sweden, travel, water

Four years ago I moved to Sweden; a country often associated with long, cold, snowy winters. But, little did I know that after the harsh winter Swedes are rewarded with beautiful summers where the sun

7 Great Ways To Spend Summer in Stockholm

Europe, Featured, Life in Sweden, Swedish Climate, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism best things to do in stockholm, europe, festival, fika, food, gröna lund, midsommar, rooftop, seven things to do in stockholm, skansen, spend summer in stockholm, stockholm, stockholm archipelago, stockholm tourist attractions, sweden, sweden national day, taste of stockholm, upplev mer, vaxholm, what to do in stockholm

Stockholm is a summer city; its leafy parks, rocky beaches, and swathes of Baltic water that swirl around the city’s 14 islands all seem to have been designed for long summer days where the sky

Finding History and Nature in Gorgeous Gotland

Europe, Featured, History, Life in Sweden, Nature, Photography, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism, Travelling farö, gotland, högklint, museum, stones, sweden, viking

In my last post I write about Visby, a perfectly preserved medieval town and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Swedish island of Gotland; but the colourful labyrinthine alleys of this Baltic-blasted, cobbled town are

Visby: Sweden’s Perfectly Preserved Medieval Town

Europe, Featured, History, Life in Sweden, Swedish History, Swedish Tourism, Tradition, Travelling gotland, scandinavia, st katarina, sweden, visby

Swedes are travellers: roaming foreign lands is in their blood. It is Viking blood, after all. Stone depicting seafaring Vikings. You’ll be hard pushed to travel far without running into a Swede or two. This

My Upcoming Summer Plans

Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Life in Sweden, Nature, Plans, Swedish Tourism, Travelling eating out, göteborg, gothenburg, gotland, kayak, macedonia, plans, restaurant, rooftop hiking, skopje, stockholm, sweden, thai food, travel, Upcoming Plans, visby

Now that the light is finally shining at the end of Sweden’s long, wintry tunnel, I am feeling the urge to climb out from under the thick duvet I have hidden under for the last

Stockholm Winter Blues. Or, What Happens When the Snow Doesn’t Come.

Europe, Life in Sweden, Nature, Swedish Climate, Travelling cold, miserable, stockholm, sweden, weather, winter

Stockholm is a truly stunning city; that much has been established by pretty much any traveller to set foot on the cobbled stones of the Old Town. In the short summer months, boats chug across sparkling