Time for play! Outdoor activities in Malmö

High-energy sports

Skateboarders visiting Malmö have plenty of places to choose from, but Stapelbäddsparken is the biggest skateboard park, at approximately 3,000 square metres. Resting under the gaze of the iconic Turning Torso, it’s located in a former shipyard slipway that has been transformed into a modern residential district. The bicycle and skateboard-friendly neighbourhood also has an outdoor climbing wall and is a hub that attracts young people from all over the city. Don’t worry if you left your skateboard at home, Le Boxx café – run by the local Bryggeriet skateboarding school – will rent you one.

More skateboard parks are dotted throughout Folkets Park, where there are also plenty of other free activities for the whole family, including playgrounds and a children’s wading pool that is transformed into a skating rink in the winter.

Water, water, everywhere

With its seaside location and profusion of canals and waterways, Malmö is the perfect city for water activities. To get your adrenaline pumping, head out to Malmö Wake Park in Ribersborg Beach, Västra Hamnen, where you can gear up with all the equipment and instructional guidance you’ll need for “snowboarding” on water. If you’re looking to enjoy a more leisurely day out, stop by a local kayak rental and head out sea.

Malmö’s canals were built in the 1800s and originally designed as both a defence system and, well, a place to dump sewage. Today, the canals are pristine and add a scenic touch to central Malmö. They also make all kinds of inner-city boating activities possible.

Cityboats, for example, rents pedal boats; BookaBoat rents electric boats with silent, fossil-free motors; and you can hire canoes at the Malmö Canoe Club in Slottsparken, which also offers a special canoe seat for disabled people. There are, of course, guided canal tours as well.

Bathing all year-round

Even on the coldest days of the year, you can bathe in the sea at the picturesque Ribersborgs Kallbadhus bathing pavilion. Take a hot sauna and then plunge into the icy-cold water, along with the local pensioners going “au naturel”. Warm up with another sauna or a hot chocolate in the pavilion’s cosy seaside café. Ribersborgs Kallbadhus is open daily, year-round.

Pildammsparken

Malmö has so many beautiful parks to bike, run or stroll in, and the 45-hectare Pildammsparken is the biggest of them all. Completed in 1926, this neighbourhood park is comprised of a beautifully maintained circular meadow surrounded by beech trees, an old water tower and a 1.5-kilometre trail around a lovely pond. And, of course, there are the beautiful willow trees surrounding the lake that gave the park its name (Pildammsparken translates to ‘The Willow Lake Park’). Join a game of boule (petanque) in the sunshine or head to the stylish, indoor Boulebar on Drottningtorget 8.