Furniture design
Sweden is famous for design of household objects and interiors, and ‘Möbelriket’ (The Kingdom of Furniture), in the region of Småland, is the place to visit to see design in action. Visit factory workshops and pick up a few handy pieces at showrooms such as world famous Lammhults, Bruno Mathsson International, Källemo, Abstracta, Svenssons, Nilssons and Norrgavel. IKEA creative headquarters is also here beside the novel IKEA hotel.
Fashion
The Sjuhäradsbygden district in Västergötland, around the city of Borås, is where most of Sweden´s leading fashion brands and chains are headquartered. Get your bargains in Gällstad where there’s a ton of factory outlets where you can stock up on your Swedish brands. Worth a visit: Lager 157, New Wave Factory shop and Logofactory.
Glass & ceramics
The cradle of design and glassworks in Sweden is The Kingdom of Crystal or ‘Glasriket’ in Småland. Take a guided factory tour, try a glassblowing workshop, visit the factory outlet stores and get a deal on legendary glassworks from 13 crystals design houses including world famous Orrefors and Kosta Boda. And Höganäs town is a must for ceramic lovers with factory outlets selling brands such as Rörstrand and Höganäs-ware.
Farm shops
Always dreamed of lording about in a Scanian sheepskin? And feasting like a king on farm-fresh produce, while shopping for handcrafted cheeses, speciality mountainous meringue cakes (spettekaka) and locally air-dried, smoked wild boar and deer? Then the farm shops or ‘gårdsbutiker’ of the Skåne region is your answer.
Pick up your sheepskins. Buy local honey. Tuck into a spettekaka (which is actually like a mini-mountain). Taste handcrafted cheeses. And sink a Scanian cider in one of the many farm shop cafés. A recipe for a grand day out in the country in general.