JOIN US IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MARIA BUSCK FROM MALMÖ, SWEDEN!
Maria Busck is a 30 years old Swedish blogger who originally hails from Hudiksvall in northern Sweden but now lives with her partner in the district Gamla Väster in Malmö. She blogs about everyday life, fashion and hypothyroidism. Her hobbies are exploring new restaurants in Malmö, going for walks, hanging out with friends, attending different networking events etc. Maria works with marketing and communications at an IT-company and also runs her own company as an influencer.
MALMÖ
Malmö is a coastal and largest city of Skåne County in southern Sweden. It is also the third largest in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg. Lying at the eastern end of popular Öresund bridge (largest road and rail bridge in Europe), this city is more closer to Copenhagen in Denmark than Sweden’s capital Stockholm.
Malmö is one of the most diverse and multicultural city in Sweden, credit of which also goes to the universities of Malmö and Lund. It has a young population with almost half of them under the age of 35.
The Swedish brand IKEA has most of its headquarter functions based in Malmö and after the integration with Copenhagen brought by the Öresund bridge in the year of 2000, the city has seen some major transformation.
When is the best time to visit Malmö?
The best time to visit Malmö is for sure during Spring and Summer time i.e. from April-August. We have a central beach just a short walk from the inner city, lots of nice parks to hang out in, many restaurants and bars with seats outside, beautiful nature just 30-60 minutes away etc.
Winter in Malmö are about snow, ice and freezing temperatures but much milder than the cities in the north. However, if you are visiting Scandinavia for northern lights, consider coming to Malmö for it’s annual Christmas markets.
Which is the most convenient and favoured transport of Malmö?
From the airport there are special flight buses that takes you to the central parts of Malmö. The other option is taxi but since the flight buses go often I always take one of those.
When you want to travel around in Malmö you can use city bikes. Malmö is not that big so you can take the bike anywhere. It is also nice to take a bike tour to the countryside of Malmö. Malmö is a great city to bike in!
We also have buses that can take you everywhere, green buses are for journeys within the city, while yellow buses take care of regional journeys. Use trains if you want to visit Copenhagen (just 30 minutes with train) or other cities around Malmö.
What are the top three must visit places in Malmö?
Pildammsparken – Situated right in the city centre Pildammsparken is a beautiful, big park of woodlands, perennial gardens and lake which once supplied the entire city with water. Spread out in an area of 111 acres, the park is an ideal location for hanging out with friends, power walk or run. The park also has an outside gym, jogging track, ponds for bird watching and boat riding. It’s iconic bridge is a wonderful piece of engineering and architecture. The park is free to enter and stays open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If you are visiting Malmö in the warmer months attend one of its outdoor events organised in the Pildammsteatern amphitheater.
Turning Torso – Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, Turning Torso is a residential building with 147 apartments of slanting windows, curving walls and oddly shaped rooms. Inspired by a sculpture (Twisting Torso) and built using nine stacked cubes Turning Torso is the tallest building (623 feet tall ) in Sweden and entire Scandinavia actually. It is located in Västra Hamnen, and is only two miles away from the Malmö Central station. They also sometimes organise guided tours in the building, keep an eye on their website to know when.
Malmö Saluhall (Malmö Food Hall) – Is a culinary heaven brought to life by siblings Nina Totté Karyd and Martin Karyda. This refurbished warehouse is a perfect place to eat and shop locally produced food with it’s many restaurants and boutiques. You can also find Scandinavian crafts and flower arrangements there.
Bar deco cinema Spegeln – Spegeln is a cinema with a bar deco salon with a bar where you can order food and drinks that you can enjoy during the movie. Get your non commercial movies fix here! Movies shown here are generally in Swedish but have English subtitles.
What are the best day trips for nature, culture and history from Malmö?
Apart from crossing the Öresund bridge which is Malmö’s most remarkable sight, you must also check out the following –
Bokskogen in Torup – Bokskogen in Torup is around 20 kms from the city of Malmö and can be reached within 25 minutes. It’s a beautiful big forest with lots of running/walking trails. Very popular place to relax and hang out. Visit the Torup Castle which was completed around 1540 and is one of the best preserved medieval castles in Sweden.
Österlen – Österlen is a beautiful south eastern part of the Swedish historical province of Skåne. It is known for its fantastic scenery of rolling fields and fishing villages. There are many cozy cities in Österlen to explore. It’s a tourist destination with it’s beautiful environment, many cultural monuments, small towns and farmlands. During spring time you can visit the Österlen art festival.
Lund – The town of Lund is known for it’s historic and impressive Roman cathedrals. It is also well-known as a university city. Lund University is a public university, often ranking among the world’s top 100 universities.
What is the most celebrated holiday/event of the year in Malmö?
Konstrundan Österlen – Konstrundan is an art festival with art exhibitions and local artists. It takes place every year during Easter. Hundreds of artists, who are members of ÖSKG open their ateliers and galleries for visitors at the same time, all over Österlen. You can recognize artists from ÖSKG by their road sign which is a popular yellow and orange circle. Buy art and products directly from them during this event which goes on for ten days.
Malmöfestivalen – is a city festival that takes place in Malmö City with lots of food stalls, concerts from famous Swedish artists, music, culture and much more. It is actually Sweden’s oldest festival, rich in traditions and for every generation. Organised for one week every year in August, right in the heart of the city.
What is the most loved local food, savoury and sweet of your city? Is your city a vegetarian friendly city?
Malmö is the most diverse city in Sweden with lots of restaurants and food from all over the world. I like the tapas restaurant Vibliotek and the Mexican street food restaurant -Eatery Social. Typical Malmö & Sweden food is for example egg cake, meatballs and herring.
And yes, I would say Malmö is a very vegetarian and also vegan friendly city.
Where to head for shopping in Malmö?
Möllan is a trendy and an ethnically diverse neighbourhood of Malmö city. It has many second hand shopping boutiques. Read this guide by Blonde-Gypsy to know more about Möllan.
If you want to shop from the big chains you can go to the big mall Emporia at Hyllie which lies between the city and Copenhagen airport. One of the biggest shopping centers in northern Europe, the Emporia mall houses two hundred shops.
Which are the best streets of Malmö worthy of taking a stroll on?
The squares like Lilla Torg (small square) and Stortorget (large square) attract a lot of tourists.
Further down from Lilla Torg is the city area Gamla Väster located between Stortorget and Kungsparken. Like the popular Gamla Stan in the city of Stockholm, Gamla Väster is very cozy and colorful. However in Malmö’s Old Town, there are almost no stores. The charm of this street lies in its small historical buildings, art galleries, boutique hotels and cafés.
It is also nice to walk near the beach at “Ribban”.
Can you suggest a place from where one can get the best view of the city?
You can get a nice view from the roof top bar and restaurant Kasai in the Sky and also Malmö Live’s sky bar which is located at 25th floor of Live Hotel. Panoramic city views from all sides is the main attraction of this sky bar.
Would you suggest any shows in Malmö to drama, music or art lovers? Where can one spot street art in your city?
Malmö Konsthall is one of the largest art galleries in Europe built as an open space consisting of wood, glass and concrete. It has a huge art collection and is the ideal excursion for museum lovers.
Malmö is often considered as Sweden’s best city for street art. During the Artscape international street art festival, held in the year 2014, artists from all around the world painted in Malmö. Artscape also ran a series of free workshops and invited the public too to participate. As a result the Seved neighborhood has brightened up with a number of graffitis, also Norra Sofielund and Möllevången. Check out this wonderful guide on street art of Malmö to know more.
Would you recommend any local apps for food or transport in Malmö?
Visit the MalmoTown website to know what makes Malmö unique. Download travel guides or know what’s happening around Malmö during your visit.
For Transport : Use “Skånetrafiken” for both buses and trains.
For Food : The “Karma” app. In Sweden Karma has over 250,000 users and more than 1,000 eateries which offer their surplus food at much lower rate to minimise food waste. Among them are groceries giant Hemköp, Scandic hotels, Wayne’s Coffee and many more. Using this app you can check on the nearest places available, place your order, pay and pick up later. However it’s only available at Apple’s appstore in Sweden and UK.
Do you want to give any suggestion to tourists coming to Malmö?
Rent a bike, you can pay with card (almost) everywhere. Remember that Swedes are very good at English so communication is not a problem at all.
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