Eco chefs and bike hotels: 5 tips for a green holiday in southern Sweden

Sustainable vacations, that sounds like waiver and restriction to many. So exactly what you don’t want to experience in the most beautiful time of the year. But soft tourism looks very different nowadays: creative and forward-looking ideas, implemented by passionate people who act flexibly and conserve resources.

1. Star chef saves food from being thrown away

A shining example of this is the “Spill” restaurant in Skåne’s capital Malmö. Eric Andersson and his wife Ellinor Lindblom worked for years in leading positions in the star restaurant “Daniel Berlin”, which was considered one of the best in Scandinavia. The two in their mid-thirties learned how much good and high-quality food is rejected every day because of optical defects and therefore ends up in the trash.

This food waste bothered them so much that they developed a new business idea: a restaurant that only serves food made from leftover food. From waste, so to speak.

In the morning and in the evening, wholesalers deliver their unsold goods to the two of them, from which they choose the best. Creativity is now required, because top chef Eric never knows what he will get – and what he will cook. “That’s why we only offer lunch, a vegetarian option and one with meat or fish,” explains the casual guy who wears the baseball cap upside down.

Cooking in this way takes a lot more time and effort, but it also makes you much happier. The around 250 guests per day also see it that way, who love the creative dishes at “Spill” and have made it into a kind of scene get-together in a short time.

2. Architect creates green bicycle hotel

In Malmö, which likes to present itself as a model city in terms of sustainability, there is also the “Ohboy Hotel”. A bicycle hotel with which the German architect Cord Siegel realized his vision of a green city. Instead of parking spaces for the car, there is a foldable bicycle for each guest, which is in the green mini front garden of the room.

Zimmer is actually the wrong expression: the 24 square meter, two-story apartments, all facing the street, look more like stylish lofts. Sustainable and well thought out, with a gallery, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, desk, hammock and comfortable beds for up to four people.

“Everything comes from the region, was designed and manufactured on site,” explains architect Cord. Residential houses are directly adjacent to the “Ohboy”, which are also based on a strictly ecological lifestyle. The entrance area impresses with a large bicycle garage, a digital bus display and a freight elevator, in which every tenant can take his bike to the front door of the apartment. “We are consciously trying to bring tourists and locals together here in our urban oasis,” says Cord Siegel.

3. Slow Travel, three cycle paths and the long-distance path

Drivers of electric cars also find heavenly conditions in Malmö. In contrast to German underground car parks, for example, there are dozens of loading spaces next to each other. The entire province of Skåne is covered by a dense network of e-charging points, which should please discerning eco-tourists. It is of course even more environmentally friendly to travel the roughly 160 kilometers long and equally wide province by bike. The conditions are ideal: bicycles and saddlebags can be rented in many places and taken on board in local public transport.

There are a number of car-free cycle paths and three designated cycle paths. South Sweden Trails is the name of the long-distance cycle routes that stretch a total of 900 kilometers through the most beautiful landscapes of Skåne. The Kattegattleden leads on the west coast from Helsingborg to Gothenburg – 390 kilometers along beaches and the sea. If you choose the Sydkustleden with its 260 kilometers and six stages from Simrishamn to Helsingborg, you will encounter gray seals, historic Viking castles and white sandy beaches on the Skanör peninsula. Another highlight for cyclists is the Sydostleden, a 274-kilometer tour through lake landscapes and archipelago gardens from Växjö to Simrishamn.

Accommodation, farm shops and restaurants that are committed to sustainability are located along all three routes. Slow traveling naturally also includes the outdoor activities of hiking and paddling with canoes or kayaks. The many rivers and lakes of Skåne are perfect for this, as is the Skåneleden, a 1,300-kilometer network of long-distance hiking trails that is divided into six routes.

4. The keeper of traditional craftsmanship

What does culture have to do with sustainability? Åsa Ormell embodies all of this. 30 years ago, the Swede was already thinking about sustainable development and bought an old coal and earthenware factory north of Landskrona. The artist breathed life into the more than 150-year-old brick buildings by reviving the old stoneware factory and carefully expanding it into a cultural center with a restaurant.

Wallåkra is the name of the magical place in the small valley in the nature reserve, where Asa developed into one of the best ceramicists in the country. With world champion ceramics champion Lisbeth and two apprentices, she makes pottery in the traditional way – only with local materials: clay from the local soil, water from the river, local wood to heat the gigantic kiln and salt from the sea for glazing.

The historic brick kiln is heated to 1300 degrees three times a year to burn the handmade earthenware. What comes out of it after weeks of cooling down and breaking open the bricked-up kiln entrance is unique and authentic: stoneware in noble shapes with the typical salt-glazed brown color. That you can only buy here. Asa offers pottery workshops for visitors. A day in Wallåkra goes by quickly: with a tour of the living industrial museum, a visit to the factory shop, the restaurant with beer garden or a stroll through the nature reserve.

5. Self-sufficiency from nature

Picking berries, herbs and mushrooms, picking wild fruit, picking cabbage and red algae on the beach and catching fish: going out into nature and looking for food there is quite normal in Sweden. Something that everyone does with joy who has time. Swedish public rights supports this.

Allemansrätten means the right to public access. Everyone is then allowed to move freely throughout the country, even if the area is privately owned. Picking wildflowers, mushrooms and berries is also allowed – respectfully, of course. So ideal conditions for an outdoor vacation!

The philosopher and star chef Kathrin Baake shows on the island of Ven what ingenious things can be cooked from the treasures along the way. The small island is located off Landskrona between Skåne’s west coast and Denmark. As part of the Swedish “Edible Country” initiative, the 37-year-old wandered around the island with her guests in the afternoons in search of food and then cooked a 6-course surprise menu from it in the evening. Purely with local ingredients in organic quality.

On a charcoal grill, Kathrin then prepares a dinner from the berries, herbs, mushrooms, roots and algae collected in nature. This also includes pheasant and deer meat as well as cod from the small island. An inspiring gourmet experience – sustainable, ecological, authentic and incredibly delicious!