Introduction to Malmö (Malmo, Malmoe) 

Malmö is Sweden's third largest municipality with a population of about 275,000. It is a port city located on the southern tip of the country.

The city of Malmö is twinned with Newcastle in the UK. In 2007 Malmo was awared the title of most liveable city for it's population size

Malmö, along with the southern parts of Sweden, belonged to Denmark until 1658. Malmö has a large part of its inhabitants born abroad, thus contributing to a rich cultural life and many exotic and fine food opportunities. This is expressed, not least, by the fact that Malmö's 270.000 residents belong to 164 different nationalities and 100 languages are spoken. The ship building Kockums company used to be the city's biggest employer, but today the industrial city of old has been replaced by something more middle class. As in UK cities such as Cardiff, many of the harbourside areas have been redeveloped with ambitious developments. The best example of this is the Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia. Turning Torso is now a major landmark for the Oresund region.

Each August, Malmo hosts Sweden's largest city festival  - an eight day combination of free music and cultural events with an international food festival. Learn more at the Malmo festival website (in English).

In 2008 Malmo hosted the European Masters Games as well as the European Social Forum and in June 2009 Malmo will be one of the host cities (including the final) of the UEFA U-21 football championship finals. In December 2008 the city of Malmo was shaken by an earthquake.

Getting to Malmo

Malmo airport (MMX) - A scheduled bus service connects the aiport to the city centre (various stops), takes around 40 minutes.

Copenhagen airport (CPH) - Although in Denmark, Copenhagen aiport (commonly referred to as Kastrup) has its own train station which has a train service to Malmo taking about 25 minutes and departing every 20 minutes.

Review of Malmo

Hazel from Wales, travelled in September.

"We have just spent a winter weekend in Malmo which provided much more of interest and fascination than I had anticipated. From the moment we left Copenhagen Airport on the modern train travelling over the bridge spanning the sea between Denmark and the South of Sweden and arrived at Malmo only 20 minutes later I began to relax and enjoy the experience. Malmo is a civilised city of gracious buildings, canals, waterside developments and attractive parks. The latter with lakes populated by many geese and water birds. In the town there are medieval houses mixing with the modern architecture, stylish shops and iconic bronze sculptures on the streets. But above all Malmo is dominated by its position on the sea. My own highlight was a brisk walk in the sunshine with snow on the ground to the Victorian Bath-house. The scenery was snowy, blue sky, navy blue sea, and swans swimming on the sea, temperature –4 degrees. We walked over a wooden footbridge from the shore to a building looking like a cricket pavilion. Here the hardy could undress and plunge into pools of sea- water and then hurry into the poolside saunas. To call this exhilarating is an understatement. For the less adventurous we could relish a cup of steaming hot chocolate in the café. This was a really special outing for the price of a cup of coffee and was both unexpected and great fun. Malmo is a memorable and accessible destination for any time of the year. Cannot wait to go again there is a lot more to do and see!"

Where to stay in Malmo

Have a look at our hotels page for a hotel in Malmö

Featured hotel :

Hilton hotel in Malmo, at the top end of the main shopping street, near the Trianglen shopping Centre. The Hilton is one of the Malmo's tallest building so good views from the rooms as well as the glass elevators. This corporate style hotel has a sauna and fitness room and hosts one of Malmö's most popular weekend brunches.

The Malmo card features free rides on local buses, free parking and 20% discount on train fare to Copenhagen. Also included is free entrance to several museums including Malmohus Castle, Malmo Museums and the Science and Maritime House. Take advantage of discounts on car and bike rental, pedal boats, fishing tours, concerts and lots of other activities. You can choose from a 1, 2 or 3 day pass. 

More Resources 

- Be guided round Malmo by Nina from Cardigans (video)

- Malmö Kallbadhus (cold bath house) for an authentic Swedish sauna and sea bathing experience. More cold bathing info on our blog.

- Sterling Cimber flights to Copenhagen from Gatwick.

- Malmö web-cam showing "stortorget", which means big square.