Kindly sponsored by Vår Gård Saltsjöbaden
You might recall that Per and I stayed at back in February, and we loved our stay so much, we decided to go back with the girls last week! It’s such a beautiful part of the world with so much to do. Here are a few snapshots from our four-day trip – I hope it might inspire you to visit this part of Sweden and enjoy day trips to Stockholm, kayaking, bike rides, the serenity of the islands and generally splashing about in the Baltic!
Vår Gård
Second time round and its starting to feel like a true home from home! The 128-room hotel is centred around a beautiful old manor house, overlooking the Baltic Sea. Located in beautiful Saltsjöbaden, it’s an easy 40-minute train ride from Stockholm making it a perfect base to explore the excitement of Sweden’s capital city as well as the tranquillity of the archipelago. A perfect balance!
The rooms are located in u-shaped modern blocks around a central square with an outdoor gym (which the girls loved!). Our family of four stayed in a which had two connecting rooms. The hotel has a design focus (which of course, I love!) and every room is kitted out with beautiful wallpaper, designer lamps, soft linen covers, beautiful coffee table books and board games.
Day 1 Stockholm
At the start of the summer, the girls had one wish – to visit – a theme park by the water in central Stockholm. So, we headed into the capital for the day.
I’ve been to Stockholm many times over the years. It’s such a great city with so much to see and do. If you haven’t been, leave plenty of time to enjoy the museums, galleries, historical sites and waterside restaurants and bars! This time, we kept it simple and wandered the picturesque cobbled lanes of Gamla Stan (old town) before heading along the waterfront to .
Per and I quickly found ourselves screaming our lungs out on Monster, Jetline and Twister – the theme-parks biggest and craziest rollercoasters before somehow being duped into going on the free-fall (did I tell you I’m afraid of heights?). We all had so much fun, but admittedly I was grateful to be back on safe ground and making our way back to Vår Gård at the end of the day…
…for a refreshing evening dip!
In the evening we tucked into fresh seafood (you can’t visit the archipelagos and not enjoy the catch of the day / prawns / oysters etc) at the in-house restaurant! I also had the most delicious green tomato gazpacho (I have since found a in case you’d like to try it this summer!).
Day 2 Cycle ride and SUP
I started each day with a coffee and breakfast overlooking the water. It was a perfect moment of calm before all the adventure!
We borrowed the hotel e-bikes (they also have pretty classic bikes but since it was a hot day with plenty of hills we decided to go for the speedy variety!) and followed the coastal path around the bay (passing many incredible villas in Solsidan along the way – not to be missed for some ‘life goals’ dreaming!).
We made our way to Tattby nature reserve (even spotting a couple of snakes along the way- in Sweden they have adders and grass snakes which are a rare sighting so it’s quite incredible to see one, let alone two!) and a picnic and swim at Erstaviksbadet.
We then peddled back to Vår Gård to enjoy some Stand Up Paddle boarding.
It’s hard to imagine the sea was partly frozen when we (the sauna offered a wonderful respite from the cold and we even caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights!) – on this trip the Baltic Sea sparkling in the sun and a lovely 20 degrees!
Even so, Per went out on one of the hotel SUP boards in all his clothes – so confident that he wouldn’t fall in. As you can imagine we were all watching from the bank hoping he might just lose his balance (what are families for otherwise?).
Day 3 Kayaking around the islands
Action packed holidays are perfect for families with tweens and teenagers (Liv is nearly 14 and Allie is 11) and there was so much to choose from. On day 3 we bought freshly made rolls from the in-house bakery, rented kayaks and paddled off to explore the surrounding islands.
We even found our very own island for a picnic and swimming!
The rest of the day was spent hanging out by the water’s edge… some more active than others!
Spot the different tempo?
There was ice cream involved too!
The girls were excited to discover a cupboard full of lawn games, and every evening we rounded off with ‘Kubb’ – a classic Swedish game allegedly deriving from the Viking times involving wooden pegs you have to knock down. I’m pretty sure every Swedish family has their own rules, in ours, Per insists that you can only win if you throw the final pins between your legs. As you can imagine, it can take a while!
Do you have a similar game on your country?
All in all, such a lovely, relaxing few days simply being together as a family – I wish I could do it all over again.
Could you imagine spending time here? If so, exciting news, I’m offering the chance to win a stay at Vår Gård this August! It’s super quick to enter the prize draw over on (going live in the next few hours) and open to all.
***
Now that I’m back at my desk, I’m looking forward to sharing some beautiful Scandi interior inspiration with you on Wednesday. And then on Friday – I can finally share our new cabin bathroom! I hope you’ll like it as much as we do! See you then!
Niki
Kindly sponsored by Vår Gård Saltsjöbaden
You might recall that Per and I stayed at back in February, and we loved our stay so much, we decided to go back with the girls last week! It’s such a beautiful part of the world with so much to do. Here are a few snapshots from our four-day trip – I hope it might inspire you to visit this part of Sweden and enjoy day trips to Stockholm, kayaking, bike rides, the serenity of the islands and generally splashing about in the Baltic!
Vår Gård
Second time round and its starting to feel like a true home from home! The 128-room hotel is centred around a beautiful old manor house, overlooking the Baltic Sea. Located in beautiful Saltsjöbaden, it’s an easy 40-minute train ride from Stockholm making it a perfect base to explore the excitement of Sweden’s capital city as well as the tranquillity of the archipelago. A perfect balance!
The rooms are located in u-shaped modern blocks around a central square with an outdoor gym (which the girls loved!). Our family of four stayed in a which had two connecting rooms. The hotel has a design focus (which of course, I love!) and every room is kitted out with beautiful wallpaper, designer lamps, soft linen covers, beautiful coffee table books and board games.
Day 1 Stockholm
At the start of the summer, the girls had one wish – to visit – a theme park by the water in central Stockholm. So, we headed into the capital for the day.
I’ve been to Stockholm many times over the years. It’s such a great city with so much to see and do. If you haven’t been, leave plenty of time to enjoy the museums, galleries, historical sites and waterside restaurants and bars! This time, we kept it simple and wandered the picturesque cobbled lanes of Gamla Stan (old town) before heading along the waterfront to .
Per and I quickly found ourselves screaming our lungs out on Monster, Jetline and Twister – the theme-parks biggest and craziest rollercoasters before somehow being duped into going on the free-fall (did I tell you I’m afraid of heights?). We all had so much fun, but admittedly I was grateful to be back on safe ground and making our way back to Vår Gård at the end of the day…
…for a refreshing evening dip!
In the evening we tucked into fresh seafood (you can’t visit the archipelagos and not enjoy the catch of the day / prawns / oysters etc) at the in-house restaurant! I also had the most delicious green tomato gazpacho (I have since found a in case you’d like to try it this summer!).
Day 2 Cycle ride and SUP
I started each day with a coffee and breakfast overlooking the water. It was a perfect moment of calm before all the adventure!
We borrowed the hotel e-bikes (they also have pretty classic bikes but since it was a hot day with plenty of hills we decided to go for the speedy variety!) and followed the coastal path around the bay (passing many incredible villas in Solsidan along the way – not to be missed for some ‘life goals’ dreaming!).
We made our way to Tattby nature reserve (even spotting a couple of snakes along the way- in Sweden they have adders and grass snakes which are a rare sighting so it’s quite incredible to see one, let alone two!) and a picnic and swim at Erstaviksbadet.
We then peddled back to Vår Gård to enjoy some Stand Up Paddle boarding.
It’s hard to imagine the sea was partly frozen when we (the sauna offered a wonderful respite from the cold and we even caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights!) – on this trip the Baltic Sea sparkling in the sun and a lovely 20 degrees!
Even so, Per went out on one of the hotel SUP boards in all his clothes – so confident that he wouldn’t fall in. As you can imagine we were all watching from the bank hoping he might just lose his balance (what are families for otherwise?).
Day 3 Kayaking around the islands
Action packed holidays are perfect for families with tweens and teenagers (Liv is nearly 14 and Allie is 11) and there was so much to choose from. On day 3 we bought freshly made rolls from the in-house bakery, rented kayaks and paddled off to explore the surrounding islands.
We even found our very own island for a picnic and swimming!
The rest of the day was spent hanging out by the water’s edge… some more active than others!
Spot the different tempo?
There was ice cream involved too!
The girls were excited to discover a cupboard full of lawn games, and every evening we rounded off with ‘Kubb’ – a classic Swedish game allegedly deriving from the Viking times involving wooden pegs you have to knock down. I’m pretty sure every Swedish family has their own rules, in ours, Per insists that you can only win if you throw the final pins between your legs. As you can imagine, it can take a while!
Do you have a similar game on your country?
All in all, such a lovely, relaxing few days simply being together as a family – I wish I could do it all over again.
Could you imagine spending time here? If so, exciting news, I’m offering the chance to win a stay at Vår Gård this August! It’s super quick to enter the prize draw over on (going live in the next few hours) and open to all.
***
Now that I’m back at my desk, I’m looking forward to sharing some beautiful Scandi interior inspiration with you on Wednesday. And then on Friday – I can finally share our new cabin bathroom! I hope you’ll like it as much as we do! See you then!
Niki
