In Summer 2021 we did a awesome trip to Sweden with a rental motorhome. This is part of a series of blog posts of this amazing trip, where I want to share some of our memories and photos, and give you some travel suggestions and some planning tips for the ones who want to do the same.
It’s the 22 July 2021 and this was the 6th day of our trip. After Karlstad we needed to head west towards Stockholm, so this day was mostly driving. To avoid getting bored however we took some de-tours to visit some interesting places on the way. This post is about two of them.
# Stora Sundby castle
The Stora Sundby castle is a landmark roughly 30 km southwest of Eskilstunda and only reachable by car. We found this place via the Lonely planet book, which by the way was a very nice travel companion for figuring out which places and locations to visit.
The castle itself was build in Renaissance style, before being transformed into a Gothic fortress (it has character with some bite!) and now serves as a hunting lodge. I don’t want to imagine the costs, because given how nice and beautiful it is located, a night probably costs more than our whole trip.
The area around the castle is open for the public and worth a trip and a short walk to collect some of the local spirit. If you are into castles, this is a nice place to visit.
# Sigurdsristningen
The Sigurdsristningen (or Sigurd stones) are runestones on natural rocks that picture the heroic legend of the legendary Sigurd, the dragon slayer as described in Beowulf. Made during the Viking age and still being present they mark a testimony of history and culture of the Norse settlements. The Sö 101 stone laid nicely on the road between Karlstad and Stockholm and for us it marked a nice lunch break stop. We even collected a nearby geocache after a small walk, which was welcome to move your legs after a good part of driving.
The cravings are marked in red, so that they are more visible, however the color is misleading and was originally not there.
We found this a nice spot to visit during a day of driving. The spot was again suggested by the Lonely Planet for Sweden, so I guess that book is also worth to recommend, as it gives you ideas on which places can be visited during long driving days on the way.
# BredÀng camping site
For the rest of the day we did the last kilometers towards Stockholm. As you approach the city, the motorway gets more and more crowded, and the density of German (and other non-Swedish) number plates starts to increase. We arrived in the late afternoon at a camping site in BredĂ€ng, a suburb of Stockholm filled with Germans and Dutchies. The camping spot felt luxurious and was also costing accordingly, but in the vicinity of Stockholm that’s what you get. Camping is done in nature and not next to a big city.
The next day we will take the metro to visit Stockholm itself but that’s part of another post. For now, cheers and we’re off for fika âđ°