Five Swedish restaurants with fantastic locations

Those dreaming of majestic views and crisp Swedish mountain air should book a table – and maybe a room, too – at the country’s oldest mountain hotel and restaurant. Fjällnäs consists of several 19th-century wooden houses with vast areas of unspoiled nature on their doorstep. Take a walk in the surroundings and quench your thirst with water straight from a mountain lake; then sit down in the restaurant, where local flora and fauna are transformed into dishes inspired by the area’s rich food heritage. Each season provides new and exciting tastes from reindeer meat to cloudberries, spruce shoots and whitefish roe.

Want to tick off several of Stockholm’s notable buildings from your list in one go? Head to Tak, which literally translates as “roof”. Through its large windows and from the outdoor terrace on the top of Hotel At Six, you can see Stockholm City Hall, the Royal Opera, the Royal Palace, Stockholm Cathedral and much more. Inside, guests can enjoy Japanese-inspired food made from Nordic ingredients, created by head chef Frida Ronge. The sleek interior, designed by local architects Wingårdhs, is worth noticing as well.

Boasting a fantastic location on Lake Vättern’s southern shore, Sjön also convinces with its cuisine and the stylish architecture. Seasonal, local and organic are key words for the cooking, which wows food lovers with modern versions of classics such as beef tartare and Arctic char. On warm summer days, locals like to ride here by bike and combine a dip in the lake with a glass of wine and lunch or dinner on the terrace overlooking the water.

Founders Mette Helbæk and Flemming Hansen call Stedsans in the Woods “a lab for the lifestyle of the future”. In this outdoor resort located by a lake in a Halland forest, they strive to make every choice as sustainable as possible. And the food? Think eating at a table surrounded by a forest, with fresh eggs and fish, homemade bread, wild herbs, locally grown greens and berries on your plate, and you’re starting to have a pretty good picture. If you want to, you can stay and spend the night in a comfortable wooden cabin.

This one is for the art lovers. Wanås Restaurant Hotel is located inside one of the world’s best sculpture parks, combining the best of two worlds. The permanent collection of Wanås Konst is housed in a majestic beech forest, 18th-century barns and farm buildings surrounding Wanås Castle. The foundation's art collection contains more than 70 site-specific works by top artists such as Yoko Ono, Dan Graham and Jenny Holzer. The restaurant has a team of chefs who create culinary magic using produce from the forest, the on-site farm and nearby farmers.