Store Mosse National Park
The largest bog area south of Lapland, with boardwalks over the marsh, birdlife, observation towers and easy marked trails. The most local thing you can do, and the most Swedish. Free entry.
sverigesnationalparker.seThe conference runs from 8 to 11 September 2026 at High Chaparral in Kulltorp, in the heart of Småland. Many of you are travelling a long way, so we have put together ideas for the days before and after. Everything below is optional, organised by how much time you have, and arranged so you can do it on your own. Småland is forest, lakes, glass and design, and it is best explored by car.
Opening hours and prices change. Please check each website before you travel.
SECTION A
Practical basics
Getting here
The closest airports to High Chaparral are Göteborg Landvetter (about 1 h 45 by car), Växjö Småland (about 1 h 15), Jönköping (about 55 min), Copenhagen (about 3 h 15) and Stockholm Arlanda (about 4 h 30). Copenhagen and Gothenburg have the widest choice of international connections.
Renting a car
We strongly recommend renting a car if you are extending your stay. Public transport in this part of Småland is limited and most of the places below are not reachable by train. All the airports listed above have the usual rental desks. Book early for the September weekends.
Weather
Early September in southern Sweden is mild, usually somewhere between 10 and 18 °C, with a real chance of rain and daylight until roughly 20:00 at the start of the month. Bring a light waterproof jacket and shoes you can walk in the forest with.
Money
Sweden uses the Swedish krona (SEK), Denmark uses the Danish krone (DKK). Cards are accepted virtually everywhere and many places no longer take cash at all. You do not need to bring cash.
Tipping
Not expected. Service is included, rounding up is enough.
Alcohol
Beer, wine and spirits above 3.5 % are sold only in Systembolaget, the state-owned shops, which close early on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays. Bars and restaurants are unaffected.
Driving
Roads are excellent and quiet. Headlights are mandatory day and night. Watch for elk and deer at dawn and dusk, especially on forest roads, and note that speed cameras are common.
SECTION B
Half-day and day trips near High Chaparral
Distances are approximate and by car, measured from High Chaparral.
Isaberg Mountain Resort
Hiking, mountain biking, a high ropes course, downhill trails and a viewpoint over the lakes. Good for a couple of active hours.
isaberg.comVärnamo and the furniture district
The Vandalorum museum of art and design sits on the edge of town in buildings designed by Renzo Piano, and the surrounding area is the birthplace of Swedish furniture design, with Bruno Mathsson, Källemo and Norrgavel. The natural stop for anyone interested in design.
vandalorum.seJönköping and Lake Vättern
A lakeside city with a waterfront promenade, the Match Museum, cafés and shopping. Combine it with Habo church, a wooden church painted inside from floor to ceiling.
Gränna and Visingsö island
A red-and-white lakeside town famous for its hand-made peppermint rock candy, which you can watch being pulled by hand, plus a 25-minute ferry to the island of Visingsö with castle ruins and horse-drawn carriages. One of the prettiest half-days in the region.
A moose park
Seeing elk up close is the classic Småland experience. Laganland near Ljungby and Smålandet in Markaryd are the closest options, and Grönåsen near Kosta works well if you are already going to the glass country.
IKEA Museum, Älmhult
In the town where IKEA started, in the original 1958 store. The story of how a Småland farm boy changed how the world furnishes its homes, told very well. Open daily.
ikeamuseum.comThe Kingdom of Crystal (Glasriket)
The glassworks in the forests between Växjö and Kalmar, Kosta Boda and Orrefors among them, where you can watch glass being blown a metre away from the furnace, buy directly from the outlets, and, if you book ahead, join a hyttsill, a traditional evening of food, music and glassblowing in the hot shop. Book the hyttsill in advance.
glasriket.seEksjö
One of the best-preserved wooden towns in Sweden, an entire centre of 17th and 18th century timber houses. Small, quiet and worth the detour.
Växjö
The House of Emigrants tells the story of the 1.3 million Swedes who left for America, most of them from these forests, and Huseby Bruk nearby is a preserved ironworks estate with gardens and a farm shop.
Gekås Ullared
Sweden's most visited retail destination, a single enormous store that Swedes drive across the country for. More of a cultural phenomenon than a shopping trip, and genuinely fun to see.
SECTION C
The weekend before, 5 to 7 September
Gothenburg
Sweden's second city and the easiest add-on. The Haga district for cinnamon buns in wooden houses, the Feskekörka fish market, the Liseberg amusement park, the Universeum science centre, and a ferry into the southern archipelago, where the islands are car-free and you can eat fresh seafood on the quay. Fly into Landvetter, spend the weekend, then drive to High Chaparral on the Monday, about two hours.
goteborg.comCopenhagen and Malmö
Fly into Copenhagen, spend a day in the city, Nyhavn, Tivoli, the design museums and the food halls, then take the train across the Öresund bridge to Malmö in around 25 minutes for a second, very different Nordic city, and drive north from there. Two countries in one weekend, and usually the cheapest flights.
visitcopenhagen.comStockholm
Worth it if you have never been. Gamla Stan, the old town on its own island, the Vasa Museum with a warship raised intact after 333 years underwater, the Fotografiska photography museum and a boat through the archipelago. Consider flying into Stockholm and out of Copenhagen or Gothenburg so you do not backtrack.
visitstockholm.comA slow arrival in Småland
If you would rather not add a city, fly in on the Saturday or Sunday, pick up a car and spend the time on the trips in Section B. Jönköping, Gränna and Store Mosse make an excellent two-day loop, and you arrive at the conference rested rather than jet-lagged.
SECTION D
After the conference, 11 to 13 September
The conference closes on Friday 11 September, so the weekend afterwards is free.
Glasriket and Kalmar
Drive east through the glass country on the Friday, stay a night near Kosta or Nybro, then continue to Kalmar with its Renaissance castle on the water, and cross the six-kilometre bridge to the island of Öland, with its windmills, limestone plains and the royal summer residence. The most Swedish route on this page.
Gothenburg and the west coast
Two hours west, then out to the archipelago or up the coast to the fishing villages of Bohuslän. Fly home from Landvetter on the Sunday.
Copenhagen
Three hours south, a weekend in the city and a flight home from one of the best-connected airports in the region.
Stockholm
The longest drive but the biggest payoff if it is your first time in Sweden. Leaving your rental car at Arlanda and flying home from there works well.
One extra day only
Sleep in, drive to Gränna for candy and the Visingsö ferry, have lunch by Lake Vättern in Jönköping and fly out in the evening.
SECTION E
Booking and questions
Accommodation, flights and activities outside the conference programme are arranged and paid for by each guest. High Chaparral cabins are booked for the conference nights only, from 8 to 11 September, and cannot be extended through the event registration.
If you are planning extra nights and want a recommendation, write to Katherine Bermejo, Event Coordinator, at the address on the contact page and we will help where we can.
PLAN YOUR TRIP
The regional tourist board has the most up-to-date practical information for the whole region: visitsmaland.se