SWEDEN’S FORMIDABLE CASTLES SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR FORMER PURPOSE LONG AGO. TODAY THE HISTORICAL ROOMS ARE BEING CONVERTED INTO MUSEUMS, RESTAURANTS AND COZY HOTELS.
The Sundbyholms castle on the south bank of Lake Malaren near the town of Ekilstuna hasn’t changed a bit since 1640, when scaffolding had been just removed from it. Since the end of last century the castle has operated as boutique hotel: there are 6 spacious suites each with a bedroom, a studio study with satellite TV and high-speed Internet connection and a bathroom with jacuzzi. There’s a library in the attic that becomes a tea club in the evenings, and a restaurant in the inner courtyard. A great sauna complex with several swimming pools occupies its own island; you can order a special boat to take you there. The castle has a smaller sauna with a solarium located in the same wing with a pool room for aristocratical evening leisure. The castle owners try to retain the romantic atmosphere and hold medieval banquets and costume parties for the guests.
The Sundbyholms castle
Location: on the south bank of Lake Mаlaren near the town of Ekilstuna.
Room rates: from €560 per night depending on the season.
The Wik castle is located in the town of Mаlardalen. It was built in the style of 13th century Norse architecture. With turrets and spires, surrounded by a water ravine and protected by sturdy walls, the castle managed to withstand a year-long siege and a reconstruction that turned it into a comfortable hotel with 30 rooms. Unlike the cozy Sundbyholms it retained the authentic medieval spirit, with austere interiors supplemented with antique art, small but cozy rooms behind oak doors and windows overgrown with ivy. You can try local cuisine and taste the wine from the hotel’s cellars at the restaurant and in your free time go boating or horseriding in the vicinity.
The Wik castle
Location: Mаlardalen on the shore of Lake Mаlaren, 85 km from Stockholm and 2 km from Uppsala, Sweden’s medieval capital.
Room rates: around €350 per night depending on the season.
Wik’s close neighbor, the Sodertuna castle surrounded by a picturesque park, had once been attended by the Swedish Royal Family and in 1985 shared the fare of many other castles and became a first-class hotel with a great restaurant, a covered pool, sauna and solarium, having retained the 18th century atmosphere. The hotel’s layout is somewhat surprising: it has 23 double rooms and 42 single rooms. Who would decide to travel in Sweden on their own, you may ask? The answer is: hunters. Sodertuna area is famous for its great variety of game bird, from duck to black grouse, as well as hares and foxes hunted on horseback. The hunt is a real theatrical performance; traditional hunting enthusiasts from all over Europe come to Sodertuna wearing costumes, bringing their own horses
and dogs. Amateurs can rent a horse; the not-so-confident horsemen are accompanied by horse trainers.
A castle for kings and tourists
Drottningholm Palace is called a "miniature Versailles". Since its foundation in the 15th century it has served as a summer residence of the Swedish Royal Family, having become their permanent residence in 1981. However, this doesn’t stop tourists from inspecting the palace interiors, attending opera and ballet performances staged in the 18th century de.cor at the palace theatre and adore the park and bronze statues captured in Prague and Copenhagen during the Thirty Years’ War. The palace can be reached from Stockholm via Lake Ma.laren on a ferry steamer; it takes no longer than an hour. The palace’s operating hours are 10 am to 4.30 pm daily May to August and 12 to 3.30 pm on the weekends in autumn and winter. The entrance is 50 kronas (€5).
Famous castles of Sweden
Mauritzbergs, 140 km south of Stockholm, is located on the shore of Lake Braviken. It was built in 1725 and in 1991 after a redo converted into a hotel with 17 spacious rooms.
Hackeberga built in the mid-14th century, is located on one of the 7 islands of Lake Hackeberga 35 km from Malmo. There are 10 double rooms and 10 single rooms.
Haringe stands on a peninsula 37 km north of Stockholm. Built in the mid-16th century, it was converted into a hotel with 47 double rooms, 26 single rooms and 4 suites.
Natalia Yakubova
Photoreport
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