While I was staying in Copenhagen, I took a day trip to Sweden (a new country for me)! I went to Lund and Malmö with two of my cousins. Thanks to the accessibility of the trains, it was a very easy and smooth trip. We first went to Lund, then Malmö for dinner, and then back to Copenhagen. The terrain in these cities was very flat, which helps with accessibility!
This trip was spontaneous so I did not do much planning or research ahead of time. We had a lot of fun, but also ran into some accessibility issues, all of which I was able to handle with the help of my cousins. These attractions may not be the best if you are in a wheelchair, but I wouldn’t necessarily rule it out either. We mostly went to say that we went to Sweden and to eat Swedish meatballs, rather than going specifically for the attractions. In total, we were in Sweden for about 7 hours.
Train Accessibility
We left Copenhagen from Copenhagen Central station (København H) and took the train to Lund Central station (Lund C). The journey took about 50 minutes, and trains run about every 15 minutes along this route.
At Copenhagen Central, we were able to buy tickets at a kiosk and board the next train. We did not have to book any assistance- we just went to the platform and to one of the doors marked as accessible. There are screens that show where the accessible cars are and the accessible entrances are clearly marked on the side of the train. On the train we were traveling on, 4 out of the 8 cars were accessible. When the train arrived, I went to an accessible door and there was a train attendant who deployed a small ramp to help me board.
In our accessible car, there were several spaces for wheelchairs as well as an accessible bathroom. When it was time for me to exit the train, the attendant was there to help with the ramp.
We also took the train from Lund to Malmö and from Malmö to Copenhagen. We did not run into any issues on these trains either and had a pleasant experience. I don’t remember needing a ramp at Lund or Malmö. I can’t recall the exact conditions, but I was able to handle them with ease in my manual wheelchair. There are attendants that walk through the train and there are buttons near the wheelchair spaces on board so I always felt that I could reach someone if I did need help.
Lund
Lundagård
Our first stop in Lund was the park Lundagård, which is a pleasant place to walk around and spend time outside. There are some beautiful buildings in the park, including Lund Cathedral, Kungshuset (King’s House), and Lund University’s Main Building.
Kulturen
Our main stop in Lund was Kulturen, an indoor and open air museum right next to Lundagård. It is only a 10 minute walk from Lund Central Station. It has a collection of historic Swedish buildings and small gardens. It was interesting to learn how Swedish people lived in the past and see what Swedish buildings are like and have been like throughout history.
The accessibility here was not perfect, but it was good enough that I was able to go and have a pleasant experience. The outdoor portion of the museum is mostly coarse gravel. With my Batec mini handbike, I was able to navigate the gravel pretty easily. Several of the historic buildings have stairs/high thresholds to get in, so my cousins went in and took videos for me to see rather than helping me in and out of each one. We tried briefly to use the lift at the Yard House/Play Building (#14 on the visitor’s map), but it was not working. I was able to use a lift in The Ystad House (#26 on the visitor’s map), which connected me to other buildings. However, we did run into a number of stairs so I was not able to go to the full exhibit.
To get to the part of the museum on the left side of Adelgatan as a wheelchair user/someone who has difficulty navigating stairs, go through the green gate (#34 on the visitor’s map). You will need a code to enter this way, which will be given to you by a staff member in the gift shop when you purchase your ticket, along with a paper copy of the visitor’s map.
Kulturen’s Website: https://www.kulturen.com/welcome-kulturens-museums/kulturen-in-lund/
Kulturen Visitor’s Map: https://www.kulturen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/besokskarta-a4-2023-host-eng-for-utskrift.pdf
Botaniska Trädgården
Another attraction that looks interesting to me in Lund is Botaniska Trädgården, a free botanical garden that is only a 7 minute walk from Lundagård and Kulturen. I did not visit the botanical gardens, so I can’t personally comment on the accessibility, but it looks beautiful. Online, it says that there are accessible bathrooms, which is great and a good sign that there are some parts of the garden that should be accessible in a wheelchair. From what I can tell from Google Street View (which is limited), it looks like it would be doable in a wheelchair.
Read more about Botaniska Trädgården here: https://www.botan.lu.se/en/botanical-garden-0
Malmö
Our next stop on our Swedish journey was Malmö to accomplish our main reason for visiting Sweden: to eat Swedish meatballs. We went here just for dinner, so we weren’t here for very long and I don’t know how much there is to do in Malmö as a tourist.
We ate at Bullen, a beautiful and cozy Swedish restaurant. I would definitely make a reservation ahead of time, as it was busy. We tried making a reservation on their website 2 days in advance and all the standard dinner times were already booked. However, when I went to their website the day before our trip to Malmö, all the dinner times were available for reservation. I’m not sure why this was the case, but I’m thankful it worked out for us!
Unfortunately, Bullen is not wheelchair accessible- my cousins had to help me up the stairs into the restaurant. If you are in a manual wheelchair and are traveling with people who can help you up stairs, I would definitely recommend coming here if you’re looking for good Swedish food and a great atmosphere! I am not sure if they have an accessible bathroom, but given the steps required to enter, I doubt that they do. Bullen does have an outdoor seating area, so if you are there at a time of year where it is nice to eat outside, I would think this would be a good option for you to eat here if you’re unable to climb the stairs to get inside.
To eat, we split the Toast Skagen (buttery toast with cold shrimp in a creamy mayo sauce with fish roe and lemon) as a starter. For our entrée, we all had the veal meatballs with whiskey cream sauce, pickles, lingonberries, and mashed potatoes. Everything was absolutely delicious!
Bullen menu: https://www.bullen.nu/en/a-la-carte/
Siesta in Malmo also has meatballs with the same sides, so this may be another option. They also have stairs, but they also have outdoor seating which looks accessible.
Siesta menu: https://assets.website-files.com/62383988d5477faed06b7e9f/65cb776011bc4cb93fab4243_Eng%20Meny_Siesta_240213.pdf
I hope this post was helpful for you in deciding if this is a good day trip for you!
