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Published: August 20th 2022
Ahus is a small town on the Baltic coast near our base for 3 days in Kristianstad Sweden. It also appears to be the home of Absolut Vodka. We resist the temptation to do a tour of the facility and instead have a look around the town, which is typically Swedish, quiet, very clean, pretty Church and a small well organised museum with helpful staff. 400 years ago, Ahus was the major town in this area but was destroyed in the Swedish-Danish wars and when control of this area swung back to Sweden, Kristianstad became the new regional centre.
The coast south of Ahus is a series of sandy beaches and is famous for eel fishing. We find a shop selling smoked eel and buy a half eel which is the smallest portion they sell.
We spend 3 nights here, which is a chance to see the south coast of Sweden and a good break from driving. To reach here from Denmark involves 2 long (20Km) toll bridges, one across the Great Belt and the other a more recent construction that crosses into Sweden just south of the city of Malmo.
We take the coast road from Malmo
to Kristianstad and stop off at a large stone ship known as Ales Stenar. It is on a low cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea and as the ship's bow points to the sunset on summer solstice it may have been a form of calendar but opinions as to its original purpose seem to be disputed. Best estimates are that it is 1400 years old. I’m impressed, this is the largest stone ship in Sweden, though it turns out there are plenty of others around just not as large or well situated as this.
We’re keen to do a bit of hiking so track down an area of walking paths near the Hovdala castle about 25km from our apartment. There are plenty of walking paths here so manage to navigate out way through a 12km or so walk. It’s easy walking country, not entirely flat but only small hills, and a mixture of open land and forest. On our walk we don’t meet any other walkers so this is not a popular spot for mid-week hiking! The castle is busier as there is a shop, café and restaurant. On the way back we find a Viking burial site with, guess
what, stone ships!
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