As far as entrances go, Denmark makes a very sophisticated one into Sweden via the Øresund Bridge. A bridge famous for at least these 3 things:
1. its engineering acrobatics
2. staring in the Scandinavian crime television series (The Bridge)
3. and that it connects Denmark to Sweden.
As the ‘bridge’ leaves Denmark it actually isn’t even a bridge. It’s more a tunnel as it burrows below the sea for about 4km before popping up out of the water into an artificial island where it then takes the form of a bridge for about another 8km. After which you end up in Sweden. Just like that. It takes both cars and trains.
Many commute daily on it, others (like myself) use it to pop to Sweden for a day trip from Copenhagen.
In 2016, a friend and I took the train from Copenhagen to Malmo for a day of Christmas shopping and exploring. Coming from New Zealand and Australia it’s a novelty for us to ‘pop’ to another country for a few hours, so this year we thought we’d repeat it the trip. Having already explored Malmo, we decided to head a little further north, inspired by a nice little blog about the charms of Lund. It is a smaller town about 10 minutes north of Malmo. Although it was written in Swedish so we thought we'd share some of our highlights with you.
Lund is one of the oldest cities in Sweden with a bit of a 'foodie' reputation, and is home to Lund University and a significant student population. It was a great choice for us to check out something different in Sweden, and still super easy to get to from Copenhagen. So if you’ve already ‘done’ Malmo and are looking for your next Swedish town to explore, then we highly recommend Lund. Much smaller, cosier and with plenty of great food and coffee, options, it hit all the required spots for us.
Here’s some travel hacks to get the most of our your day trip to Lund.
The train
If you’re travelling from Copenhagen the train to Lund (& Malmo) passes through from both Copenhagen Central Train station (first) and then Copenhagen Airport before heading to Sweden. The first time we went, we took the train from Central. But (for whatever reasons) had a few issues changing trains between Central and the Airport. So this time we just headed straight to the Airport (via the Metro), to catch the train to Sweden, which was super easy.
If you are 2 adults travelling together, then purchase the ‘Family ticket’. This will be cheaper than buying 2 adult tickets. Bonus if you do actually have children because you can also take them on this ticket (well, 2 of them at least). No need to pre book, you can just buy at the train station/airport.
At Copenhagen Airport there are also normally many helpful staff in red jackets who stand by the train ticket machines ready to help and advise you what ticket to buy (which is how we found out about the cheaper family ticket option) or to point you in the right direction to the various platforms.
Arriving in Lund
Lund Train station is smaller than Malmo, but still a significant size. Once you exit the station we suggest a wander in the general direction of ‘right’ (not a terrribly accurate scientific measurement, so I've included a map below. But probably best to ready your smartphone with roaming or find/print a hard copy map before you go. Although Lund isn’t big. You could argue you don’t need a map at all.
Lund, Sweden
Finding coffee
Coffee, pastries and yummy food is in high supply in Lund. When we travelled there (just before Christmas) it was all about the St Lucia bun. A seasonal pastry served on and around St Lucia Day (13 December), pictured below.
Our first stop was Klostergatan (that’s a street), refer arrow B above. Here you’ll find several great options for a morning coffee and something to eat to sustain you on the rest of your adventure in Lund. It’s not a particularly long street so you can easily walk up and down it a few times before deciding where to go. Here are 3 of our highlights from Klostergatan:
Love Coffee, Klostergatan 1, Lund
Bengtsons Ost, Klostergatan 10, Lund
And until recently St Jakobs Stenugnsbageri, Klostergatan 9, Lund But sadly they are now permanently closed in Lund. However, you can visit them in Malmo (a reason to get back on the train and stop in Malmo for a quick visit). You can find them in Malmo at Skvadronsgatan 16.
Green Space
Lund has some lovely open green spaces, but our exploring of them was minimal because it was winter. However, one small area you can wander around and pop into is the Lund Cathedral. At the end of Klostergatan. Inside the Cathedral, you can also see a huge astronomical clock (on the left as you enter). Refer arrow C above.
Lunch
Keep wandering a bit further right (yes, I know. Still not a scientific or useful term unless you’re standing on the street in the same direction I was….however, humour me) to Lunds Saluhall. A big upmarket food hall with lots of local produce as well as some from further afield. Arrow D (ish) above.
You’ll also find them on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/saluhallenilund/ If you’ve been to Torvehallerne in Copenhagen, it’s a similar concept.
These are just a few of our finds. I’m sure you can find even a few more gems. And I’d be keen to know of any other great cafes to replace St Jakobs Stenugnsbageri, if anyone finds something new in Lund.
If you are returning to Copenhagen via train, the return ticket you brought will also allow you to stop at Malmo, before completing your trip to Copenhagen. Which is what we did. So, in the end, we got the best of both worlds. Lund and Malmo. Our Swedish day adventure from Copenhagen
You can also check out this page for more Lund information and recommendations http://visitlund.se/en/
Now go forth and have a great little Swedish adventure.