Älmhult Travel Guide

Carl von Linné (Linneus in English) who categorised plants, was born in Råshult north of Älmhult. Today, the croft has been rebuilt after a fire but is standing almost in the same site, just a different angle. Outside, you will find a herb garden and beautiful meadows and there is an ongoing project to farm the land around Råshult in an old manner. Summertime there is also a café nearby and you can go swimming in nearby Lake Såganäs. The midsummer celebrations are usually nice with folk music and demonstrations of hay making. If you want to see the church where Linneus' father was a vicar, you have to go back towards Älmhult and you will find Stenbrohult where I was baptised :-) The chuch was rebuilt in the 19th century during a church modernisation then sweeping the south of Sweden but is still nice and there you can also swim just below it.

At least that's how it seems at Taxås Klint. Dramatic cliffs you don't want to fall down and this marvellous view of Lake Möckeln and miles and miles of forest (especially after the 8 January 2005 Great storm which means you now have views northwards too!). Excellent to take a brisk walk up here with a "magenbitter" after a heavy Christmas lunch...:-))) You can also continue the stairs down the steep cliff to the lakeside and still get out by the manor you set off from. The top used to be a stone quarry so it's not the most child friendly place but you get a great walk in a nature reserve and below the cliff you find the most amazing stone piles from the quarry. There is also a good chance to see birds of prey. More pics on my Stenbrohult page.

Yes, that's what an American tourist was once overheard saying to his friend in astonishment as he laid eyes upon the world's first IKEA. If you are an IKEA fan you can shop here and even stay in the IKEA hotel. Maybe you want to make a pilgrimage? Then go around the villages where Ingvar Kamprad was from. He is the founder of IKEA (hence "IK" in the name) and today lives in Switzerland but is frequently seen shopping in the villages north of Älmhult around major holidays as the economic person he is. The "EA" stands for Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd and are two villages where Kamprad grew up and where he started his empire through selling biros to local farmers before finally realising that furniture was lucrative and renting a warehouse in bigger Älmhult. Oh, and by the way, IKEA stores in Sweden only became blue and yellow when the continental stores started selling "Swedish furniture" that way - originally all IKEA stores were white with red letters.