Rainy Days
Don’t let bad weather such as rain stopping you from having a good time. There are a lot of things to do in this county and surrounding areas, but you can also take the chance to cosy up in the cottage with the provided books, films and games (which is at storage at K43) whilst you wait for the rain to stop.
Below you can find some suggestions to do when it is raining.
SWESCOT is not liable and take no responsibility for any injuries or damages caused when doing any activities and urge every guest to always consider health and safety.
Indoor Swimming
If you don’t fancy a swim in the lake in the rain then there are indoor swimming pools in Gävle and Sandviken. We recommend the following:
Fjärran Höjderbadet in central Gävle (40 mins drive on E4 south) is a full bath complex, open all year. Bathing and swimming in the pool complex or 25-meter pool. It has very warm water (approx. 30 °C), whirlpools, hot tubs and the water slide. You can also swim outside to cool down. On every Saturday they have water toys between 11-15!
Parkbadet is in central Sandviken (45 mins drive on road 272 south). They have a major rebuilding work with the old slides being demolished and replaced with new ones. Otherwise, the pools are open. Every 30 minutes, it has two-meter waves in the pool.
Lekland in-house playground
If the kids need to stretch their legs or are very restless, then a play land is perfect. Whilst they run around wild you can drink coffee and surf on the Wi-Fi.
There are several play lands in the area – we recommend:
Leklandet Delfinen in Gävle, 30 mins drive www.leklandetdelfinen.se is good for children 8 years and younger.
Andy’s Playland in Valbo (40 mins drive on E4 south and E16 west) www.andyslekland.se/lekland/lekland-gavle is for older children as the venue is bigger and more spread out.
Alborgen Adventure House
Alborgen is filled with exciting and fun experiences for adventure seekers of all ages. Open all year around. They currently have 16 exciting adventures with a total of 45 rooms, guaranteed to be something to chew on for everyone. Young or old, man or woman has much fun on Alborgen.
Cinema
Most foreign movies in Sweden have Swedish subtitles so if you cannot find anything good on TV to watch then you can confidently go and watch the latest movie in Gävle cinema complex (only animations are dubbed), which is situated at Gävle central square.
Visit www.sf.se to see what is showing and performance times.
Bowling Halls
If you fancy bowling, then there are 3 bowling halls that we know of:
Gävle Bowling – at www.gavlebowling.se Located in central Gävle near the square – driving time ca 40 mins on E4 south. They have disco bowling which our children prefer.
Sandviken Bowlingcenter www.sandvikensbowlingcenter.se Takes 50 mins to drive here on road 272 south.
You can even do bowling or shuffleboard at a restaurant called O’Leary’s, which is beside the Gävle town square. See more at www.olearys.se/gavle
Gävle Drömhus
In central Gävle there is a place called Gävle Drömhus www.gavledromhus.se
an activity centre where you can do Laser Tagging, Snooker, Table Tennis, Sumo Wrestling, Gladiator Arena, Segway, Mechanical bull, Air Hockey, and much more.
As it is at the Gävle town square then you could start here and then go to the cinema afterwards.
A pleasure place for everyone. No age limit and with many different activities.
Inhouse Go-carting
Sweden's largest indoor go-kart track can be found in north Gävle, so it takes ca 30 mins to drive there.
The course is very technical and fast, and almost 500m long. It has a modern electronic timing system and the hall has a new fan and ventilation system with sensors so it's always clean air.
During the weekends it may be difficult to find a gap in the drop-in time schedule, so we recommend calling and checking if there is time to drive during holidays.
Read more here www.gokartgavle.se
Within 3 hours travel you can visit these cities: Stockholm, Uppsala, Gävle, Sandviken, Falun, Bollnäs, Borlänge, Sundsvall, Hudiksvall, Söderhamn and Mora. Visit each city’s home page to find out more. You can drive to all of them, but going by train is good www.sj.se
City trip to Gavle...
Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum
The Swedish Railway Museum, in Gävle, is the national museum for Sweden's railway history. Its ca 40 mins drive on E4 south.
Its collection consists of over 300 vehicles from the mid-1800s to the present day and includes Prins August, which is the world's oldest operable locomotive.
A lot of information to read, available both in Swedish and English. The area is very child friendly with a lot of activities such as a playroom with model trains, dress up train station, Lego city with a train going around, outdoor mini train to ride, and little toy ride-ons in the playground. In the cafeteria you can either bring you own food or purchase.
More information can be found here www.jarnvagsmuseet.se
Sveriges Fängelsemuseum
The Prison Museum of Sweden is a small museum in Gävle that covers the history of prisons in Sweden. You can easily walk here from the train station (www.x-trafik.se) if you don’t want to drive otherwise it is ca 40 mins drive.
The museum is split across two buildings: with a section from the 1600s and one from the 1800s.
If you don't speak Swedish, you'll only have the audio guide (included in ticket price), as unfortunately all descriptions are in Swedish. One thing you get a feel for is Swedish human rights thinking as several exhibits ask if it is the prisoner's fault or societies.
More information can be found here: www.sverigesfangelsemuseum.se
Länsmuseet Gävleborg
The Gävle County Museum encompasses both the provinces of Gästrikland and Hälsingland.
The Gävle County Museum has one of Sweden’s finest art collections and over 2,000 square meters’ exhibition space. Admission is free, and it's just a few minutes from the station. It is especially worth going at Christmas time when they have their annual gingerbread creation.
More information can be found here: www.lansmuseetgavleborg.se
City trip to Stockholm…
There is so much to see in Stockholm and on rainy days a visit to the multitude of museums is recommendable. We recommend that you read up on the museums yourself, but our favourite places are:
ABBA: The Museum
A Swedish interactive exhibition about the pop band ABBA that showcases in a contemporary, interactive setting at Djurgården “Walk in. Dance out” is what they say and so we did!
See website for full details: www.abbathemuseum.com
The Vasa Museum
The Vasa ship capsized and sank in Stockholm 1628. After 333 years on the seabed the mighty warship was salvaged so its voyage could continue.
Today Vasa is the world's only preserved 17th century ship and the most visited museum in Scandinavia.
Kungliga Slottet
Any visit to historic Stockholm is not complete unless it includes The Royal Palace of Stockholm. Located a short stroll across from Central Stockholm in Gamla Stan. The castle is small and filled with royal history exhibits and museums. It is a working castle. Highlight is the Tre Kronor Museum (history of original palace destroyed by a fire in 1697) and the Changing of the Guards.
www.kungahuset.se/kungligaslottet is open all year round even though it's the King and Queen residence.
Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet
The Swedish Museum of Natural History is the favourite for our kids - perfect for a rainy day! Free entry, kids learn while they are playing, lockers, food and coffee places. Easy access via bus or metro. You can spend the whole day there and more.
Read more on www.nrm.se
City trip to Falun…
Falu Koppargruva
If you were ever wondering about the famous Swedish red painted houses, this is the place to find out about why!
A World Heritage site (the largest copper mine on Earth) is based in Falun (1.5-hour drive on E16 west). It has guided tours that give plenty of information to absorb.
There are many mine buildings including one which houses the highest bridge in Sweden as it is over a mine shaft of about 300m depth!
It’s literally a maze of tunnels (you go to a depth of 67 metres) so don’t even think about not following the guide or you may never find your way out again.
You are given ponchos and hard hats for the tour, but one word of caution is that your shoes will get dirty so don’t wear white!
There is also a very good restaurant at the mine complex.
More information can be found here:
Carl Larsson-gården
Carl Larsson Farm in Sundborn is one of Falun's most popular tourist destinations and an icon in Swedish home decoration and family life. Here, the artist Carl Larsson lived with his wife Karin and their children.
Follow a guided tour and learn more about the world-famous artist pair, the art, the love and their noisy life.
Guided tours every day, 1 May-30 September 10.00-17.00. We recommend that you book your visit.
The walk through the house takes about 45 minutes www.carllarsson.se
Mackmyra Svensk Whisky
Don’t think only the Scots or the Irish can make whiskey. Mackmyra has come a long way since 1999 when it was founded as the only whisky distillery in Sweden.
It is named after the village and manor of Mackmyra, where the first distillery was established, in the residential district of Valbo, south-west of Gävle.
Mackmyra claims that “In Sweden, we find one of the world’s purest water, filtered to perfection since the Ice Age”. It is no coincidence that the distillery is located next to a boulder with constant access to the crystal-clear waters. The Swedish barley develops a special sweetness during the long summer days, a sweetness that has become one of the cornerstones for the whisky.
You can visit the Mackmyra Whisky Village, just outside Gävle, and make up your own mind. If you would like to book a tour, please contact [email protected]. More information can be found here: www.mackmyra.com
JÄDRAÖL - damn good beer!
Beer is the most natural thing in the world. You just add water, malt, hops and yeast.
The only other ingredient that Jädraöl adds is their devotion. The result is a damn good beer or as we say in Swedish “Jädra god öl!”
This is a local microbrewery that you can visit otherwise you can buy their beer in the Systembolaget (Swedish state-owned alcohol store).
If you want to get behind the scenes and get a tour of an authentic microbrewery and beer tasting course, you can contact [email protected]
Booking is required in advance.