A poll from travel site Reseguiden saw humble Kalmar in the southeast of Sweden named the country’s best city to visit during the sunny season, with the coastal city leading from start to finish in a two week ballot that took in over 37,000 votes.
This is the second consecutive year that Kalmar has led the ranking, which Reseguiden has been running for nine years. Two other small coastal cities completed the top three, with Halmstad placing second and Västervik third. Both also held on to their previous positions from the 2015 edition.
It was a miserable year for big cities Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö however. None of the three managed to rank within the top 10, the first time that has occurred in nine editions of the ranking. The biggest mover was Helsingborg, which placed 10th after previously coming 17th in 2015.
With a population of just over 48,000 people, Kalmar is one of Sweden’s oldest cities, giving its name to the union between Sweden, Denmark and Norway that was established in 1397 and endured until 1523.
The city boasts Scandinavia’s best preserved Renaissance palace, in the form of an 800-year-old castle, and has twice been awarded the Europa Nostra prize for European architecture.
Check out the entirety of Reseguiden’s ten best Swedish summer cities below:
1. Kalmar
2. Halmstad
3. Västervik
4. Karlskrona
5. Varberg
6. Härnösand
7. Hjo
8. Falkenberg
9. Mariestad
10. Helsingborg
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