Unique accommodation close to nature in Sweden

Ice exclusive, Swedish mountains and windswept west coast

Who hasn’t heard of the ICEHOTEL? For those who haven’t, it is a real hotel made out of ice each winter near the village of Jukkasjärvi in Swedish Lapland. The reception area, the restaurant, your bedroom, the drinks glasses – all ice. Mad, iconic and a bucket list favourite.

The STF Stensdalen Mountain cabin in the Jämtland mountains, in central Sweden, is off the beaten track with the nearest road 13 km from the nearest road. Recently renovated, this former school run by the indigenous Sami people, offers trails, fishing and a sauna. 

Head to Hätteboda Vildmarkscamping for lakeside setting, forest and real southern Swedish wilderness. Canoeing and rowboats are available and there are bathing jetties for early morning and late evening dips. 

Ramsvik Stugby & Camping is in the heart of the Bohuslän coast in west Sweden. The cottages here hug the coastline perched on the smooth granite rocks. A huge range of sports and nature activities are on offer too.

Hanging around

Hanging around in your hotel room literally takes on new meaning at the Treehotel in Swedish Lapland, near the town of Luleå. Each room, suspended in the forest canopy, has been designed by a leading Scandinavian architect. Choose from Dragonfly, the Mirrorcube and the 7th Room. As hotel stays go, they don’t come much more unique than this.

Just north of the city of Umeå in Swedish Lapland lies the Granö Beckasin hotel. Here you can stay in a cabin suspended from the treetops on a hill above the Umeå river. And when in Värmland you can sleep in Naturbyn in a cabin 5 meters up in the spruces with panoramic view over lake Eldan.

Eco-stays

Urnatur is an eco-lodge, retreat tree house hotel and natural design hotel rolled into one. Ditch the laptop, tablet and mobile and be at one here with the natural surrounds in the Holaved forest on the eastern bank of Lake Vättern in southern Sweden. Activities include woodcraft, fishing, foraging, walks, canoeing and boating.

You supply the muscle by building your accommodation and mode of transport and you then pilot it on Sweden’s mighty but gentle Klarälven river in the province of Värmland. It’s river rafting, arranged by experts Vildmark Adventures. Stay on the raft under a tent, or pitch your tent on the banks of the river. 

Kolarbyn eco-lodge lies some 2 hours by bus, train or car northwest of Stockholm in Bergslagen, an area known for its dense taiga forests and lakes. 

Stay in one of the 12 forest huts and activities include guided foraging, bushcraft, animal spotting and howling with the local wolf pack (!). 

Traditional stays with a twist

Eriksberg Hotel and Nature Reserve offers a swish stay in the surrounds of Blekinge province in the south. Five different accommodation options are set beside a large game park where the animals roam free, they include bison, moufflon sheep and a variety of deer. 

Garpen lighthouse on Garpen island, is on the east coast near the town of Kalmar. Accommodation is available in the four well-preserved former lighthouse staff buildings here. Take the 119 steps up to the top of the lighthouse for the panoramic views.

Troll Tree Stump and Mushroom-shaped accommodation is available at the Norrqvarn Hotel that sits canal-side on the Göta Canal in west Sweden. Just imagine the look on your kids’ faces! 

Glamping

Every stayed in a yurta? Now you can, at Nyrups Naturhotel in the province of Skåne. The Ritz this is not, but the yurtas are pretty plush with a standard bed, wash basin and heater. Hang around in suspended tree furniture, cook in an outdoor kitchen, enjoy the gorgeous walking trails or just ‘be’ here.

Glamp it up at Fejan Canvas Hotel on an island in the Stockholm archipelago. The robust canvas tents are water and windproof and you can do self-catering or choose the breakfast and dinner option. Guided and non-guided kayaking tours of the archipelago are on offer here, as well as a cafe serving traditional Swedish waffles. 

Near the town of Halmstad in southern Sweden is Stedsans in the Woods . This ‘lab for the lifestyle of the future’ intrigues with 13 Beduin tents to stay in and a restaurant serving only local and home-grown produce. If all goes according to plan, permanent cabins, a floating sauna and a ‘glass restaurant’ will be in place in 2018.  

Stay in a tipi tent in the wilds of Dalarna province with a Dalarna Outdoor guide to teach you such necessities as bushcraft, survival techniques, compass reading and much more, as well as guide you to local beauty spots. Bear Grylls eat your heart out.