{"id":49108,"date":"2026-08-17T13:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=49108"},"modified":"2026-08-17T13:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:18:07","slug":"the-wrong-way-to-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/08\/the-wrong-way-to-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"The wrong way to Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scandinavia isn\u2019t that far from the UK as far as overseas holidays are concerned, but Anna had decided she\u2019d quite like to have an overnight train experience on a sleeper train. Quite why she wanted this hadn\u2019t been confirmed until we met a German guy towards the end of our holiday who said, \u201cI guess it\u2019s nice to experience the changing landscapes and appreciate the distances involved, which you don\u2019t get on a plane.\u201d Anna decided that this was her way of justifying it and went with it as her motivation for the sleeper train. I didn\u2019t want to point out to her that she wouldn\u2019t experience any of that whilst asleep!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, it wasn\u2019t to be as the overnight train from Berlin to Stockholm was moved forward by two hours. We were told of this change about a week before we travelled. Our flight from Birmingham wouldn\u2019t get in on time, so plans were changed. The overnight train would have to be replaced by a second flight and we now had a convoluted itinerary to get to Mon, where our holiday would start properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Car from home to Borth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Train from Borth to Birmingham<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shuttle monorail from Birmingham station to the airport<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flight from Birmingham to Berlin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flight from Berlin to Stockholm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shuttle bus from Stockholm airport to a hotel for a short overnight stay<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shuttle bus back to the airport in the morning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bus from the airport to the train station in M\u00e4rsta<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Train from M\u00e4rsta to N\u00f6rrk\u00f6ping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bus from N\u00f6rrk\u00f6ping to S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Taxi from S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping to Mon<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mon was where we finally collected our kayak and camping kit ready for five days of peace and solitude in the Saint Anna Archipelago. More about that in another blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We did have a pleasant afternoon in S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping, which apparently used to be an important medieval town. We got off the bus on the main road and trundled our suitcases towards the canal and a nice hostel\/guesthouse right on the canal side. As always seems to be the case for us in Scandinavia, it was a warm, sunny day and we were earlier than expected. We decided to sample the enormous ice creams from the renowned ice cream parlour next to our hotel. They were indeed huge!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"has-rounded-corners-10\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:47.00474%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=900&#038;ssl=1 900w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1000&#038;ssl=1 1000w\" alt=\"Usie in S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping\" data-height=\"750\" data-id=\"49110\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49110\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg\" data-width=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Usie-in-Soderkoping.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:26.49763%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ice-Cream.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ice-Cream.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ice-Cream.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"Ice Cream\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49111\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49111\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ice-Cream.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ice-Cream.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:26.49763%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/My-Calories-for-the-day.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/My-Calories-for-the-day.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/My-Calories-for-the-day.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"My Calories for the day!\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49109\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49109\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/My-Calories-for-the-day.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/My-Calories-for-the-day.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We then checked in, wandered along the canal, popped into a supermarket to buy some supplies for our kayaking expedition and visited a few of the sights. This part of S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping was very touristy, but pleasant enough. The old town was interesting and the canal side was a nice place to while away some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"has-rounded-corners-10\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33333%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Quirky-Art-Installations.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Quirky-Art-Installations.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Quirky-Art-Installations.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"Quirky art installations\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49116\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49116\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Quirky-Art-Installations.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Quirky-Art-Installations.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33333%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Anna-in-a-hammock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Anna-in-a-hammock.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Anna-in-a-hammock.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"Anna in a hammock\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49117\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49117\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Anna-in-a-hammock.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Anna-in-a-hammock.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33333%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Church-in-Soderkoping.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Church-in-Soderkoping.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Church-in-Soderkoping.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"Church in S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49115\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49115\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Church-in-Soderkoping.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Church-in-Soderkoping.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:37.00027%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=900&#038;ssl=1 900w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1000&#038;ssl=1 1000w\" alt=\"Rabbit Crossing Sculpture\" data-height=\"750\" data-id=\"49114\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49114\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg\" data-width=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rabbit-Crossing-Sculpture.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=900&#038;ssl=1 900w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1000&#038;ssl=1 1000w\" alt=\"S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping Canalside\" data-height=\"750\" data-id=\"49112\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49112\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg\" data-width=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-Canalside.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=900&#038;ssl=1 900w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1000&#038;ssl=1 1000w\" alt=\"Flags\" data-height=\"750\" data-id=\"49113\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49113\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg\" data-width=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flags.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:62.99973%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-River.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-River.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-River.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=750&#038;ssl=1 750w\" alt=\"S\u00f6derk\u00f6ping River\" data-height=\"1000\" data-id=\"49118\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=49118\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-River.jpg\" data-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Soderkoping-River.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We ate at one of the restaurants lining the canal and then headed to the outdoor bar associated with our hotel before retiring to bed after a busy couple of days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following morning we noisily trundled our suitcases across town once again and waited for a pre-arranged taxi in the sunshine. It didn\u2019t arrive, so phone calls were made and we finally made it to Mon in a substitute taxi, 45 minutes later than planned. The sun was shining, the bay looked inviting, sheltered as it was from a strengthening southerly wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At last, we\u2019d made it to Kajak Paradise, where we could get the kit we\u2019d hired, have a briefing and head off into the wilderness of the Saint Anna Archipelago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scandinavia isn\u2019t that far from the UK as far as overseas holidays are concerned, but Anna had decided she\u2019d quite like to have an overnight train experience on a sleeper train. Quite why she wanted this hadn\u2019t been confirmed until we met a German guy towards the end of our holiday who said, \u201cI guess&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1312,"featured_media":49110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1154],"tags":[415,1521],"class_list":["post-49108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-holiday","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The wrong way to Sweden - A Simple Life of Luxury<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/08\/the-wrong-way-to-sweden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The wrong way to Sweden - A Simple Life of Luxury\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scandinavia isn\u2019t that far from the UK as far as overseas holidays are concerned, but Anna had decided she\u2019d quite like to have an overnight train experience on a sleeper train. 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