Museums and exhibitions

Kulturen in central Lund is one of the world’s best open-air museums. There are up to twenty different exhibitions, highlighting everything from art, design, culture and history. The children’s playground features a small water system with an old-fashioned, manual pump that keeps young ones entertained for hours. There are often temporary exhibitions especially for kids. If you get hungry, drop into the restaurant and café, or enjoy a picnic on the well-kept lawns.

Fredriksdal, located in the city of Helsingborg, is one of the largest open-air museums in Sweden, and is a historical version of Skåne in miniature.
Fredriksdal features everything from botanical gardens with flowers and plants from the region to historical vegetable and herb gardens. Find historic buildings and whole preserved town quarters complete with cobble stones and old houses.
The surrounding meadows and pastures are beautiful with cows, sheep, goats and horses grazing in the fields.
Permanent as well as temporary exhibitions showcase life and culture through the ages and the old houses present an interesting journey through the different building techniques of history. The crown jewel of Fredriksdal is the ancient rose garden with its spectacular collection of thousands of fragrant plants, the oldest going back 2,000 years.

Kulturens Östarp is an old, preserved farm just outside Lund, with buildings dating back to the 16th century. The traditional four-winged, lime washed farm makes you feel that time has stood still.
Everything looks the way it did, and the farm is now a museum. The garden features neatly cut boxwood hedges that are typical for local court yards. Children will love the chickens, cows, goats, horses and pigs on the farm. Kulturen’s Östarp is open for visitors all year around, and in the summertime the timber-framed farmstead of Gamlegård is open too. Hosts in period costume are on site to make you feel you are going back in time. A restaurant on site serves traditional, local, high quality food and the meadows around the farm are perfect for picnics.

Foteviken is a reconstruction of a large Viking settlement on the Höllviken peninsula in southern Skåne. It’s a city of inhabitable houses, creating a strong sense of authenticity. There’s also a full-scale recreation of a Viking ship found off the coast Every week after Midsummer the museum arranges the annual Foteviken Viking Market that draws hundreds of merchants, craftsmen and Viking warriors from all around the world.

Malmö Konsthall is one of Europe’s largest exhibition halls for contemporary art. The light and airy architecture creates a perfect backdrop for the varying exhibitions arranged here. The museum has an international focus, encompassing the classics of modern art and contemporary artists. The small museum-shop sells books and posters, and the restaurant serves delicious food. Sit outside in the cosy courtyard in the summertime.

This impressive art museum was opened in 2009 in a unique building, a former power station built in 1901. Moderna Museet Malmö features exhibitions of prominent contemporary artists as well as classics and has a large collection of its own that provides material for the permanent collections. A coffee or lunch in the café and some shopping in the museum shop makes a visit here complete.

Dunkers Kulturhus serves as a cultural hub and meeting place for Helsingborg. Visitors can view historical and contemporary art, different performances and listen to or attend discussions and debates on different topics. Dunkers Kulturhus is where people of all ages can explore their creativity through imagery, music and diverse media. It’s a perfect place for a cup of coffee or a tasty lunch while enjoying the view over Öresund.

This ambitious exhibition hall and its restaurant with a magnificent view of the sea and the open plains is in Borstahusen, a picturesque fishing village on the west coast of Skåne. It’s a popular place to stop for coffee or food and enjoy art and culture.

The permanent exhibitions of this museum in the city centre focus on individual histories illustrating how life has changed in Kristianstad over the years. There are temporary exhibitions covering topical subjects, and the Centre for Contemporary Art shows installations, paintings, graphic arts and photos. The exhibitions look beyond the borders of Sweden to give glimpses of contemporary art from all over the world. Enjoy an espresso and home-baked pastries or sit down for a light lunch in Café Miró. Relax under the walnut trees in the museum courtyard during the summer months.

Entering the art park of Wanås is a bit like leaving the ordinary world and its restrictions behind. It’s a different, fairy-tale universe where anything is possible and where art is everywhere. Wanås consists of an organic farm, hotel, art park full of sculptures and an art gallery housing a unique collection of contemporary art from renowned international artists. For children the park is a mind-boggling adventure containing over 50 permanent works of art as well as temporary exhibitions. Kids can write a wish on paper and hang it in Yoko Ono’s wishing tree, run through the forest and play on the swings that are works of art in themselves. The on-site shop sells organic toys and you can order organic ice cream and pastries at the cafeteria.

Skissernas Museum in the centre of Lund houses the world’s largest collection of sketches, models and preparatory works for international and Swedish art. It focuses on the artist’s creative process and you follow it from a first idea until the final model or sketch. The museum consists of seven large galleries with a variety of sketches and models, from small copper web models the size of a fingernail, to large sculptures more than five metres tall.

This may be one of the smallest museums at 17 sq. metres, but it’s the largest Hasse & Tage museum in the world. It houses more than 50 years of production from this cult Swedish 2-man comedy team from the 60s. Thirteen monitors spin their immortal films, and the drawers are full of props, manuscripts and other memorabilia.

Located near Höllviken southwest of Malmö, this unique museum shows amber in all imaginable shapes. Study the small insect fossils preserved in the golden stones and explore the temporary exhibition. You can hunt for amber after your visit. The best time and place to look is on the beach after a storm. Ask for help in the museum and they will tell you where to go to amber hunting.

Few people have missed the murder mysteries solved by Inspector Kurt Wallander, a series of books that has put Ystad on the Nordic Noir map. Ystad studios is an experience centre for film and movies honouring this popular series and Swedish movie making in general. See film presentations, try your hand at making animations, meet the people behind the films, have a go at trick filming and much more.

Iconic Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson grew up in Båstad on the west coast of Skåne. This well-preserved home turned into a museum tells the story of a girl who led a simple life without electricity or running water, but rich in talent and dreams of a musical future. Birgit Nilsson’s carrier is depicted in images, movie clips and tunes. After the tour you can have coffee in what was once the old stables.

If you love toys – and who doesn’t? – take a trip to Eslöv’s Toy Museum. You’ll find toys from your childhood, no matter how old you are. Stroll around the 400 Barbie dolls, all in their original packaging, 4,000 toy and model cars in different scales, films, TV and computer game figures, PEZ figures, 9,000 tin soldiers. There’s even a complete Smurf world, Playmobil, an entire Lego world and a fantastic LGB and Märklin train collection.You’re never too old to play.

This ambitious collection of Beatles-related props and memorabilia east of Trelleborg includes records, movies, books and souvenirs. See Ringo Starr’s drums, George Harrison’s guitar and the group’s traditional Vox-speakers. The place is tiny and only open when the owners are there, but a visit is a must for true fans.

The leather museum documents exhibitions from when leather was a major industry in Ängelholm. Other exhibitions include clog making and a doll and toy museum. The museum is only open for pre-booked visits, so call or e-mail in advance.

Globetrotter Arnold has gathered a collection of curiosities on his trips, so large that it prompted him to found Arnold’s Cannibal Museum. Having travelled to over 100 countries, Arnold is full of stories and will guide you through his collection of shrunken human heads, shark jaws and different cultural objects and tools from around the world. The museum is only open for pre-booked visits, so call in advance.

The Technical and Nautical Museum in Malmö is a Mecca for anyone who loves ships and trains. Crawl through a real submarine, admire full size steam engines and in the cellar there is a pirate ship-playground for children. At the Tivoli of Knowledge, kids can learn about the powers of physics and chemistry, take part in fun experiments involving sound, light, movement and electricity.

This museum presents the history of Swedish railroads in a 2,000 square metre exhibition hall. Every year the museum hosts temporary exhibitions with different themes. Go at the right time and you can ride the steam train. This is a great place to visit for anyone interested in trains, and there is something to interest the youngest kids and the technically advanced enthusiast.