Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TOURISM

A shore thing: Swedish lakes

A keen wildlife watcher and hobby angler, René Rice falls hook, line and sinker for Sweden's watery charms.

Published: 12 June 2008 10:47 CEST
A shore thing: Swedish lakes

There are approximately 100,000 lakes in Sweden, which means that even if you don't have the luxury of living near the coast you are still never far from water. For me – a long-time water-lover – this is definitely one of the country's most appealing aspects, as I'm sure it is for many others around this time of year.

The lakes can vary in size dramatically – some are approximate to a football pitch whereas Vänern, Sweden's largest lake and the third largest in Europe, covers an an area of around 5600 square kilometres. Fortunately, most of the lakes are clean and safe to bathe in, and the majority of Swedes (as well as other tourists) take full advantage of this during the summer months – indeed many are fortunate enough to own a summer house by a lake.

Having never really swum in a lake in the UK, I was slightly anxious when I took my first dip in Mälaren – the water was murky, the ground mushy and what I presume were reeds tickled my legs – but although it was a far cry from the swimming pools and sandy beaches of the Mediterranean I was familiar with, it was at once amazingly refreshing and exhilarating. I was hooked.

My father-in-law recently moved house but he used to live on the shore of lake Yngen in Värmland – an area rich in lakes – and we would visit as many times as possible during the summer months. Every day, armed only with a bathing costume, fishing rod, digital camera and monocular, I would while away the hours swimming, fishing and taking photos of the lake and the various wildlife it would attract – particular highlights were the foreboding birds of prey that would silently circle the skies above me, the seemingly workaholic beavers on the lake's shores and the occasional brief but rewarding glimpse of a kingfisher swooping down into the water.

Fishing always induces a kind of emotional equilibrium within me that is hard to describe but very pleasant, and with so many daylight hours during the Swedish summer I would often return back to the house in the early hours of the morning, content with the evening's catch and invigorated by a midnight swim. Perch (abborre) and pike (gädda) are two of the most common fish found in Swedish lakes, and after convincing somebody else to gut them (a real cop-out for a fisherman, I know) we would prepare my daily catch for the evening meal. Pike is always delicious poached or roasted and served with lemon and pepparrotsvisp (a mild horseradish cream) and perch is equally good on the barbecue or simply fried in butter and served on crispbread as an accompaniment.

It wasn't uncommon that a deep-frozen pike would travel home with us and be made into fish burgers at a later date – a pleasant reminder of our time by Yngen. Even upon our return home to the city we are still only minutes away from a lake – Mälaren, Sweden's third largest – which is typically the case in Sweden. Mälaren provides us with custom bathing beaches, endless fishing opportunities and even a decent restaurant with a terrace offering amazing views over the lake and its picturesque harbour.

Although I generally utilise Swedish lakes for swimming and fishing, many of them – especially the larger ones – provide ideal opportunities for an array of water sports, as well as winter activities such as ice skating and ice fishing. I have yet to experience the alleged thrill of jumping naked into an icy Swedish lake after a steamy sauna, but it is definitely on my 'to do' list – along with finally plucking up the courage to try surströmming (fermented herring).

As I mentioned, my father-in-law recently moved from his house on Yngen and he now lives a few miles away in a tiny village surrounded by lakes and forests. Much to our dismay the nearest lake is now an unfathomable 8-minute walk from his new house, but I guess we’ll just have to make do…

See also: Photo gallery

 

For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Almost 800,000 fewer UK holidaymakers have visited Spain in 2023 when compared to 2019. What’s behind this big drop?

Published: 23 August 2023 11:36 CEST
Updated: 26 August 2023 18:32 CEST
Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate). 

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average. 

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal. 

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun. 

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring. 

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022. 

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices. 

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

SHOW COMMENTS