Kalmar travel guide

Kalmar is a perhaps unique example of a town that was moved and transformed into a Baroque island fortress. Its vital role in trade remained and its merchants built imposing houses that still grace its streets.

By then it was already the site of Sweden’s most important castle.

Kalmar slott was once the key to Sweden. Visit this beautifully restored Renaissance castle, over which Swedish and Danish armies fought multiple battles, and its museum. A castle tour reveals one of the country’s most dazzling royal chambers.

Kalmar’s cathedral is one of Sweden’s most unusual churches, built on a cruciform plan but with four towers.

Surrounding the town was a mighty wall barrier with powerful bastions and gateways that gave access to Kalmar’s critical port.

The imposing 19th century steam mill now houses a regional cultural collection in its museum. Learn the story of the sinking of the royal flagship Kronan and see what was salvaged by archaeologists.

Öland is no secret in Sweden, but it still guards many mysteries jealously. Who built its remarkable Iron Age ring forts, which might also have had a ritual function? Who were the people buried in its grave fields and remembered by its standing stones.

Everything suggests they must have been powerful. Other monuments include runestones, medieval stone churches and quaint timber farm windmills – hundreds of them.

Visit one of Scandinavia’s exciting castle ruins, Borgholm slott, which has guarded its side of Kalmarsund since medieval times.

Get all the travel tips for Kalmar, including:

● Affordable accommodation options

● The best budget meal options

● The details on transport links with Stockholm, Öland, Gotland and other parts of Sweden