Ales stenar
A ship of standing stones on the cliff
Fifty-nine stones in the outline of a ship, 67 metres long, above the Baltic; climb up from the harbour at sunset.
KåsebergaFreeMegaliths
Ystad & Kåseberga, Sweden
Ideal: 1–2 daysBest: May–SepPrice: Expensive
In 60 seconds
Ystad & Kåseberga in 60 seconds
Ystad is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Sweden: cobbled lanes of half-timbered houses, a Franciscan friary from the 13th century, and St Mary's church, where a watchman still blows a horn from the tower every quarter of an hour through the night. Crime readers know it as the home of Henning Mankell's detective Kurt Wallander, and the books and television series made the town famous far beyond Sweden. Twenty minutes east, above the fishing harbour of Kåseberga, stand Ales stenar — fifty-nine great stones set in the shape of a ship on a grassy clifftop, one of the most atmospheric sights in Scandinavia. Eat smoked fish at Kåseberga, walk the dunes at Sandhammaren, and use Ystad as the gateway to Österlen or the ferry to Bornholm.
MedievalCrime fictionMegaliths
Best for
- Coast
- History
- Weekend
Known for
- Half-timbered old town
- Wallander
- Ales stenar
- The tower watchman
Skip if
You have already planned Österlen and Malmö and want something other than old towns and coast — this is gentle, pretty southern Sweden.
Your match
Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Ystad & Kåseberga fits them. Choose interests
See
Must experience
The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.
Old Ystad
Half-timbered lanes and Stortorget
Wander the lanes off Stora Östergatan and the main square; the town has hundreds of half-timbered houses.
CentrumFreeMedieval
St Mary's Church
Medieval church with a night watchman
From late evening into the night, a watchman blows a horn from the tower every fifteen minutes, as watchmen have for centuries.
StortorgetChurchTradition
Greyfriars Abbey
Franciscan friary · 1200s
One of Sweden's best-preserved friaries, now the town museum, with a herb garden in the cloister.
CentrumMedievalMuseum
Eat
Where to eat
A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?
Local
Where to eat the food this city is actually known for.
Store Thor
ExpensiveRestaurant in the old town hall's vaulted cellar
Arched 16th-century cellars beneath the town hall, and a terrace on the square in summer.
StortorgetHistoricTerrace
JH Matbar
ExpensiveModern Scandinavian on the main street
A husband-and-wife restaurant cooking Skåne's produce in a modern style.
Stora ÖstergatanModernSeasonal
More places to eat
Too few picks yet for their own heading, so they share this list.
Ystad Saltsjöbad
Very expensiveSeaside spa hotel
A grand old bathing hotel on the beach with a spa, a cold-bath house and a restaurant facing the sea.
SaltsjöbadenSeaSpa
Beyond the obvious
Hidden gems
Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.
Sandhammaren
White dunes at the south-east corner
One of Sweden's finest sandy beaches, backed by pine woods; mind the currents off the point.
SandhammarenBeachFree
Wallander's Ystad
The town in the crime novels
Mariagatan, the police station and the café of the books are all real places; the tourist office has a map.
CentrumCrime fictionWalk
Orientation
Neighbourhoods
How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.
The old town
Within the medieval street plan
Stortorget, St Mary's, the friary and the lanes between them, all in ten minutes' walk.
Kåseberga
Fishing harbour under Ales stenar
Smokehouses and fish kiosks round a small harbour, busy on summer afternoons.
Stay
Where to stay
Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.
Ystad centre
ExpensiveHotels by the square and the station
Trains from Malmö and the Bornholm ferry are steps away.
TrainsWalkable
Practical
Know before you go
- Getting in
- Trains run from Malmö in under an hour, and from Copenhagen with a change. Ferries sail to Bornholm in Denmark.
- Getting around
- Walk the town; Kåseberga and Sandhammaren are reached by summer bus, bike or car.
- When to go
- May to September. Ales stenar is beautiful in any season, and quiet out of summer.
- Taste locally
- Smoked eel and herring at Kåseberga, Skåne's äggakaka and spettekaka.
- Combine with
- Österlen, Trelleborg & Smygehuk and Malmö.
Plan this trip — useful links
Context
History in 5 minutes
Enough to make what you are looking at legible.
- c. 600
Ales stenar is raised on the clifftop; its age and purpose are still debated.
- 1267
Franciscan friars found the friary in the growing Danish trading town.
- 1658
Ystad and the rest of Skåne pass from Denmark to Sweden.
- 1991
Henning Mankell publishes Faceless Killers, the first of the Wallander novels set in Ystad.
Further out
Nearby escapes
Worth a day if you have one to spare.
Österlen
Orchards, art and Stenshuvud
Kivik's orchards, Simrishamn and Stenshuvud — Österlen has its own guide.
30 min by carCoastCountryside
Glimmingehus
Scandinavia's best-preserved medieval keep
A stone keep of 1499, almost untouched, with murder holes and a moat.
35 min by carCastleMedieval