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Why visit Löderup? Natural beauty and historical sites: Our coastline varies between magnificent white sandy beaches and the windswept coastal hills of Hammar where you can see (and participate in) hang-gliding in all its forms most of the year. On the land side of the beaches are many square kilometres of nature reserves with sand dunes, pine and spruce forests and hiking paths where you can experience the peaceful natural beauty and with a little luck catch a glimpse of an elk or a deer. In Sweden, access to the countryside (allemansrätt) and all it has to offer is considered a basic human right. Our coastlines are protected from development. Fences are there to keep the cattle in, not to keep people out. But we talk about access with responsibility so please be considerate to others when you enjoy our unique nature! Walking along the coastal paths you can find picnic areas, a few old fisherman’s cottages and large stretches of sandy beach where you don’t need to crowd with others. A large part of the beach (approx. 2 km) between Hagestad nature reserve and Sandhammaren is a beach for naturists. But no one minds if you prefer to “cover up”! In the eastern part (Sandhammaren) you may see a fully functional light-house built in the 1800s with the same technique as the Eiffel Tower and a small lifeboat museum from the same period. In the nature reserve of Backåkra (just east of Löderups Strandbad) you can visit the memorial museum for Dag Hammarskjöld – Swedish United Nations secretary general who died in 1961 - - and pause at the Meditation Ring near his farmhouse to ponder on peace in the world. In the west (Kåseberga) you can first wonder over a several thousand year-old stone setting in the shape of a ship (Ales Stenar) - often compared to Stonehenge in England or the menhirs of Brittany - and then eat a lunch of smoked fish down in the fishing harbour at the bottom of the cliffs. Inland from the coastal strip, Löderup boasts some of the most fertile farming land in the country. Modern agricultural methods have done away with fences and hedge-rows. The farm buildings – often white with red tile roofs in typical southern Scandinavian style – are spread over the landscape of large open fields of rye, wheat, sugar beet or rape in apparent disorder but the farmers themselves know which are their fields and the ploughing is done with millimetre precision and modern techniques. Many of the smaller farms have been converted into weekend or leisure homes but in Sweden, tradition is revered above all else and nothing is done to disturb the impression of a rustic paradise! To complete the picture of timeless tranquillity there are the well- preserved churches and classical old windmills dotted across the landscape, cows grazing in the hillside meadows and both pheasants and hares peacefully going about their business just anywhere it pleases them! A couple of years ago, some Italian visitors were sitting on the veranda of their bed & breakfast admiring the view across fields and hillsides, taking in the sounds and scents of the evening and enjoying the brilliant sunset across the western skyline. After a while the lady commented “It’s so peaceful here and so beautiful but why don’t they develop it so that more tourists will come here? Where are all the hotels, the restaurants, the night clubs and the casinos?” “In Italy” replied their host “where they belong.” |