Tree hotels in Sweden – the most unusual places you ever stayed

Treehotel in Harads opened in 2010 and put Sweden on the map when it comes to unusual places to stay. Over the years, the hotel has attracted superstars like Kate Moss, Justin Bieber and Elijah Wood. In the untouched forests of northern Sweden, just south of the Arctic Circle, you’ll find eight unique and spectacular tree houses – from a metallic ‘floating’ UFO to a camouflaged mirror cube. The latest addition, Biosphere, consists of a façade with 350 bird boxes of differing sizes, helping facilitate the conservation of the local bird population.

Granö Beckasin is located in the northern parts of Sweden, among pine trees and overlooking the Ume Älv (Umeå River). Here, you can stay in one of the rooms belonging to the eco-hotel or in one of the luxurious birds’ nests – six tree houses with hotel-standard rooms placed among the treetops in the surrounding woods. The bird’s nests are built of recyclable material and offer amenities such as heated floors and large windows. Granö Beckasin also serves up a variety of activities depending on the season – dog sledding, moose safaris, midnight paddling and wild dining to mention a few.

’Supermåne’ is Swedish for supermoon and that’s where you’ll spend the night here – inside a giant red moon nestled in between the pine trees, three metres above the ground. This treehouse is located in the Swedish countryside and if you’re lucky you might see the Northern Lights dance above the hut or moose grazing underneath it. Supermåne is part of Näsets Marcusgård, a small-scale tourist company and farm with a range of accommodations. You can also stay in ‘The Fähus’, a large house formerly used for cattle, or the spaceship-like ‘Oddis öga’, another tree hut.

‘Naturbyn’ (The Nature Village) is a hidden treasure amid the Swedish woods, offering a back-to-basics experience where you live and breathe the surrounding nature. With cabins situated up in the trees and floating on water, this is not your average campsite. The ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ sits five metres above the ground and the ‘Sehr Schjönn Cabin’ is ten metres above the ground. Both treehouses are ecologically hand-built with large windows and a private terrace overlooking the nearby lake. There is a sauna on the site but no electricity – you’ll be cleaving your own wood and cooking on an open fire.

Islanna, near Falköping, was a family farm until the early 1980s. Today, it’s an organic-focused hotel with three traditional Swedish-style wooden treehouses and a bakery. The first red treehouse, ‘Andrum’ (Breathing Room), is located 6.5 metres up in an aged oak, overlooking Lake Hornborgasjön. The second treehouse, ‘Sjunde himlen’ (Seventh Heaven), is a green and yellow villa with elaborate embellishments, inspired by the old tree buildings in the towns of Trosa and Hjo. The newest tree house, the red 'Himlajord' (Heavenly Earth) is inspired by the original farmhouse, with a porch 9 metres above ground. In the morning, a breakfast basket with freshly home-baked bread is winched up to your balcony.

Urnatur is where you go to experience the luxury of simplicity and to live in harmony with nature. There is no electricity or wifi here – if it gets cold, you make a fire. When it gets dark, you light lanterns. The site consists of a range of man-made and unique forest cabins and treehouses – from the Little Treehouse, built with leftovers and inspired by the life of Huckleberry Finn, to the romantic Aircastle with a spiral staircase that seems to grow out from a pine tree. Activities like hiking, kayaking and foraging are on offer, however, you are recommended to just unwind, enjoy the surroundings and do as little as possible.