Helsingborg, Sweden to Angelholm, Sweden (July 14, 2023)

July 14, 2023

So Why Are We in Sweden?

Some minor bumps on our way to Angelholm

Halla, God Morgon, Goddag (Hello, Good Morning, Good Day, in Swedish):

We’re in Sweden to do the Kattegatt-leden bike trail, which was “inaugurated” in 2015 and was the Eurovelo route of the year in 2018. It runs up the west coast of Sweden, and is named for the Kattegatt Sea (“Leden” means sea or lake in Swedish), the body of water adjacent to Sweden’s South Coast. It takes about seven or eight days to ride the 395 km between the starting point in Helsingborg to the terminus in Gothenburg. After an intense inspection of the map of Scandinavia, we determined it was a logical way to connect Copenhagen to Oslo, as once we arrive in Gothenburg, Sweden, we plan to take the ferry (two ferries actually) to reach Oslo for the Norway portion of our trip. It was a way for us to see a bit of a country that likely would not rise to the top of our bucket list otherwise (honestly, no insult to Sweden intended. We have a TON of places we want to go and we fear that our ages and health will limit our options--priorities!) In any event, now that we are here, we are really enjoying it and are surprised at how much it has to offer.

Even Dave can find his way on this trail without GPS thanks to the excellent signage all along the way.

Riding through the countryside offers lovely vistas.

Very nice campgrounds are all over the place.

Along the way we were looking for a place to stop and have our sandwich when we stumbled upon a wonderful spot hidden in the woods. Despite it's remoteness, it sported ultra clean port-a-potties, free coal briquettes for the grill grate and the grounds themselves were spotless.

Our picnic spot which we had to ourselves.

We had some immediate impressions of the differences between Denmark and Sweden. (1) The coffee cups in Sweden don’t have handles: we don’t know what that is about but so far it’s been a consistent theme. (2) Sweden is not as orderly as Denmark; there is very good cycling infrastructure but everyone isn’t as polite in terms of using only your lane, and cars are more aggressive. (3) The landscape is not quite as well-tended. (4) Swedes are more gregarious than Danes. (5) Everyone speaks English but there are rarely English translations on sites.

The similarities are substantial: (1) High level of cleanliness everywhere (super clean pit toilets on the coast and in rest areas). (2) Apparently in keeping with the Scandinavian lean and functional ethic, hotel rooms consistently do not have much or any space to hang or store your clothes. At most you might get a couple hangars on an open hook. This appears to be true even in nicer business hotels. (3) Breads are delicious and served with big globs of whipped butter, nary a butter pat in sight.

Our first night in Sweden was spent in Helsingborg, a large port city. It had a slightly rough feeling. After a good stay at the Radisson Blu, very near to the port terminal, we headed out to Angelholm the following day on the Kattegatte -Leden trail. The trail is well-marked and you can pretty much follow it without navigation. The first day much of it followed the coast but it veers inland at times which provided relief from the wind. We slept in at Helsingborg and we didn’t depart until just after noon. The landscapes were coastal with charming small towns and harbors and inland areas with small farm crops, ie: cabbage, barley and a few we can’t identify.

It's amazing how nice this trail is despite it's remoteness.

Sweden has a nascent wine industry, only a couple of decades old thanks to new, heartier grape varietals, changing viniculture techniques and a warming planet.

No shortage of wind to power the windmills in these parts.

Along the coast we saw a 1940's gun bunker. I read up on it later. Sweden was neutral in WW2 but in 1940 it wasn’t clear if it would be able to maintain that stance, so a series of fortifications were constructed along the southern coast. There were over 1000 of these bunkers and some have been preserved. Sweden more or less maintained its neutrality, but at various times it took actions for one side or the other. From the Allied point of view, the worst of this occurred when Sweden supplied iron ore to Germany throughout the war, and also notoriously, allowed the German Wehrmacht to transit through Sweden for its war against Russia. From the German standpoint, it was ticked off when Sweden allowed in thousands of Norwegian and Danish Jews and others escaping Nazi extermination policies.

The WW2 gun bunker fortified during the cold war supposedly able to withstand a nuclear blast.

We arrived in Angelholm, a larger town of about 40,000. The outskirts were pretty but the downtown was a little down and out (a bit like Helsingborg on a smaller scale). It was Friday and our Best Western was holding a barbecue night. It was a buffet on the back courtyard. We are not big on buffets, but this one was actually pretty fun and had very good food with lots of salads. It provided the opportunity for us to see Swedes out on a Friday night! Later in the evening two more cycling couples on e-bikes rolled in. We have not seen many e-bikes in Scandinavia and when we do, it’s always German cycle tourists. There are bikes aplenty here but few with motors.

Potential involuntary participants in some future BBQ night.

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 520 km (323 miles)

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