But first, we like to offer balanced reporting here at The Local, so here’s our former northern correspondent Paul Connolly’s five reasons why northern Sweden beats the south, and our deputy editor Lee Roden’s seven reasons why Gothenburg may just be Sweden’s coolest city.

1. Weather

Spring arrives in the south earlier than anywhere else in Sweden and it enjoys a more temperate climate than the rest of Sweden year-round too, with an average winter temperature of zero to -2C and a record summer high of 36C (in June, 1947). Take that, northern Sweden and your snow sports.

But we won’t bore you with stats. Just close your eyes and think of sandy beaches, open-roof road trips, eating fresh strawberries in April and having a cold beer at a Malmö outdoor bar when the rest of Sweden has barely forgotten Christmas.

2. Celebrities

Oh, we’re not just talking about that Swedish footballer from Malmö you may have heard of. Skåne boasts so many celebs you can hardly walk out your door without bumping into one of them, including both Sweden’s 2016 Eurovision entry Frans (who’s from Ystad) and the 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw (Lund). Compare that to northern Sweden where you can walk several miles without bumping into any people at all.

It gained another famous name, after royal baby Prince Oscar was named Duke of Skåne by his grandfather, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Others include now-retired footballers Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg, acting legend Max Von Sydow and of course British actor Hugh Grant, who has bought a house in Torekov.

3. Food

It’s not for nothing that Skåne was once named ninth coolest place in the world by the New York Times. The region boasts multiple fantastic restaurants, from Bloom in the Park and Vollmers in hip Malmö, to Daniel Berlin’s Vyn in the Scanian countryside.

If those are too pricey, there is no falafel as cheap or as tasty as the one you can get in Malmö (we recommend Jalla Jalla on Bergsgatan in the rugged-but-trendy Möllevången area), which could also give several European cities a run for their money with a long list of hipster-friendly budget eateries.

4. Proximity

There’s no other place in Sweden as close to another European capital. While a train ride from Malmö to Stockholm takes more than four hours, you can hop on a train across the Öresund and get to Copenhagen in Denmark in 30 minutes. Not to mention that the region itself is quite small, so it is easy to get around as well – unlike Stockholm where friendships have been known to end if one of them moves to the opposite side of the city (unless you want an hour’s journey changing between two metro lines and the commuter train).

5. Nordic Noir

When was the last time a Swedish crime drama was not set in Skåne? British comedian Ricky Gervais is only one of the many fans of The Bridge, the police series that takes place on the Öresund bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen. And Sweden’s most famous fictional detective of all time, Kurt Wallander in author Henning Mankell’s novels, is from Ystad on the picturesque south coast, where both the Swedish TV series and the BBC version were filmed.

Article first published in 2016 and updated in 2024.