Nordic Countries - What about Malmö?

Going to Malmö in a few weeks. What else is there to see than the little square area and the beaches? Where to stay away from considering Malmö's current somewhat unrestful reputation?

The obvious choice is Copenhagen. There were some people doing this when I was last there.

MisterNice

Yeah I may do that as well. Still hoping for some decent suggestions also for Malmö while I'm not there that often.

Going to Malmö in a few weeks. What else is there to see than the little square area and the beaches? Where to stay away from considering Malmö's current somewhat unrestful reputation?

Thanks for the comment on Hilton Kalastajatorppa.

In Malmo, I've stayed at Hotel Baltzar near the square. It's an old but comfortable hotel much like Radisson Blue Plaza in HEL. Like the Radisson, it's walking distance from Malmo mail station. Of course, when in doubt, there's a Scandic hotel in Malmo. I felt safe walking in Malmo last summer.

The Turning Torso is pretty cool to look at. Sankt Petri Kyrka (St. Peter's Church) is worth a visit as well.

Otherwise, as MisterNice suggested: take the train to Copenhagen.

If you're looking for a day trip, you can make the short trip up to Lund, second oldest city in Sweden. It's a nice university town with an interesting cathedral, parks and a good planetarium.

Thanks for the comment on Hilton Kalastajatorppa.

In Malmo, I've stayed at Hotel Baltzar near the square. It's an old but comfortable hotel much like Radisson Blue Plaza in HEL. Like the Radisson, it's walking distance from Malmo mail station. Of course, when in doubt, there's a Scandic hotel in Malmo. I felt safe walking in Malmo last summer.As a true FTer I'm planning to stay at the Hilton in Malmö as well as I need some Hhonors points. :)

I'm surprised you didn't pick up any Choice Hotels CP points recently? Those provide excellent value. ;)

Going to Malmö in a few weeks. What else is there to see than the little square area and the beaches? Where to stay away from considering Malmö's current somewhat unrestful reputation?

The reputation is rather undeserved since what little does happen in Malmo that is "unrestful" is primarily criminal-on-criminal violence or acquaintance-on-acquaintance crime (and even then mostly confined to the neighborhood of Rosengard); and in terms of other issues it's really no worse than what goes on in Stockholm and Copenhagen. If any reputation is deserved, Malmo's ought to be that of a rather boring place with what I consider highly overpriced residential real-estate.

In Malmo, visitng the three main squares is a good idea along with eating/drinking in the little square called -- no surprise -- Lilla Torg. Also, Malmohouse castle, St. Petri and St. Johannes churches, the Malmo synagogue, a main Malmo library and checking out the Turning Torso.

Malmo is a pretty good and cheap base from which to explore around southern Sweden. I'm not sure if the Skanetraffiken / regional public transport company still offer an unlimited summer/weekly/daily travel pass, but that used to be a good way to get around even into the country side if doing a little planning. Even without a daily pass, a loaded swipeable travel card will mean discounted travel in the region.

If using Malmo as a base to visit Copenhagen, make sure to buy a roundtrip ticket from Skanetraffiken in Malmo for a visit to Copenhagen since it provides for effectively unlimited public transport travel between Copenhagen and Malmo and in Copenhagen and Malmo itself for a day. And it saves money compared to buying tickets in Denmark. Then there is also this:

http://www.skanetrafiken.se/templates/InformationPage.aspx?id=14883&epslanguage=EN

In Skane, Ystaad is a cute town on the coast to check out and you could also make your way to Ales Stenar which is sort of like a Swedish coastal version of Stonehenge with a bunch of wandering cows overlooking the water.

Lund is worth visiting too. If you get to Ystaad, have time and enjoy bikeriding, there's the island of Bornholm for riding around over 2-3 days.

Thanks for the suggestions! This is a work related trip with a free weekend, so I think i will limit myself to the cities of Malmö and Copenhagen.