Ystad & Österlen
The medieval town of the Wallander series, with the Österlen coast to the east: a ship-shaped stone setting, medieval castles, apple orchards, smoked-fish villages and white-sand beaches.
Ystad and Österlen lie in the southeastern corner of Skåne, Sweden's southernmost province. Ystad is a medieval harbour town with around 300 half-timbered houses, and the home of Henning Mankell's detective Wallander in the novels and TV series; stretching to the northeast, Österlen is a rural coastline of rolling hills, apple orchards, fishing villages and white-sand beaches, much loved by Swedish artists and holidaymakers. The area divides into three parts: Ystad's old town (Stortorget, St Mary's Church and the Greyfriars Abbey); the south coast, from the fishing village of Kåseberga and Ales Stenar to the Hagestad pine forest and Sandhammaren beach; and the east coast, from Simrishamn, Brantevik and Glimmingehus castle north to Stenshuvud National Park, the apple orchards of Kivik and the King's Grave, and on to Haväng beach and the Brösarp hills. Getting there: trains from Malmö or Copenhagen Airport reach Ystad in about 50–80 minutes, with a further 40 minutes by train to Simrishamn; buses between rural sights are infrequent, so driving or cycling is easiest, and seasonal coastal buses run in summer. Ferries sail from Ystad harbour to the Danish island of Bornholm. The best season is June–September, when beaches, fishing villages and outdoor restaurants are all open; apple trees blossom in May, the apple harvest runs September–October, and Kivik holds its apple market in October. In winter many country restaurants and attractions close and the coast is windy. Allow 2–3 days, staying in Ystad or Simrishamn, or on a countryside farm stay.
Top sights
- Ales Stenar – Fifty-nine boulders arranged into a 67-meter-long ship-shaped stone setting on a grassy clifftop above the sea. It is Sweden's largest ship…
- Ystad Old Town – A harbor town with more than 300 half-timbered old houses. Its main square and cobbled lanes served as the filming locations for the Wallan…
- Glimmingehus – A stone fortress completed in 1499, the best-preserved medieval castle in Scandinavia, set amid flat farmland.
- Stenshuvud National Park – A 97-meter hill rising from the seaside, where beech forests, white sand beaches and heathland come together. You can climb to the summit f…
- St. Mary's Church, Ystad – A 13th-century brick Gothic church that still keeps the ancient tradition of a night watchman sounding a horn from its tower at every quart…
- Greyfriars Abbey, Ystad – One of Sweden's best-preserved medieval monasteries, now home to the Ystad Cultural History Museum.
- Kåseberga – A small fishing harbour beneath the Ales Stenar stone ship setting, with smokehouses serving hot-smoked herring and salmon, the most popula…
- Sandhammaren – Kilometres of white sand beach backed by dunes and pine forest, often rated one of Sweden's most beautiful beaches, with a 19th-century lig…
- Simrishamn – The central harbour town of Österlen, with colourful cottages, a fishing harbour and the 12th-century St. Nicholas Church, making it a good…
- King's Grave, Kivik – A massive Bronze Age burial mound from around 1000 BC, with carved stone slabs showing chariots, ships and human figures.
- Kiviks Musteri – An apple estate and juice press founded in 1888, with orchard walks, an apple exhibition, apple juice and cider tasting.
- Hagestad Nature Reserve – A dune and pine forest reserve west of Sandhammaren, with forest trails leading straight to the sea and the nearby Hammarskjöld farm.
- Christinehof Castle – An 18th-century pink Baroque castle, with nearby ruins of the Andrarum alum works and one of Scania's highest waterfalls.
- Haväng – A wild beach at the mouth of the River Verke, with a Neolithic dolmen about 5,000 years old standing on the dunes.
- Brösarps backar – Rolling glacial moraine hills with grassy slopes and juniper, where cattle and sheep graze. It is Scania's most iconic pastoral walking are…
- Brantevik – An old fishing village south of Simrishamn, once famous as a village of sea captains, with quiet stone-house lanes and a small harbour.
- Smygehuk – Sweden's southernmost point on the mainland, with a marker stone, a 19th-century lighthouse, a small harbour with smokehouses and historic…
Where to eat
- JH Matbar – A Michelin Bib Gourmand small eatery on Ystad's pedestrian street, serving refined, medium-sized Nordic dishes that cha…
- Olof Viktors – A wood-fired stone-oven bakery founded by pastry master Jan Hedh, famous for its carrot cake and mini princess cakes.
- Kåseberga Fisk – A family-run smokehouse by the fishing harbor at the foot of Ales Stenar, founded in 1968; its pan-fried herring with m…
- Brosarps Gästgifveri – An old coaching-inn restaurant in northern Österlen; its Skåne egg cake with crispy pork belly, served since 1992, is a…
Itineraries
- Southern Sweden Coast & Islands Self-Drive Loop – Depart from Copenhagen and loop through Österlen, historic naval towns, Öland, and Kullaberg