Discovering Brahehus Castle

A drive from Stockholm to Copenhagen take can anywhere between seven to eight hours, depending on traffic and how quickly you want to get from point A to point B.

I like my pit stops. In fact, the more, the better.

Once you are outside Stockholm city limits, find and get onto the E4 highway. This is an excellent motorway (though it can get monotonous) and stretches all the way to Helsingborg. From there, it’s not too far to the Öresund Bridge that connects Sweden with Denmark.

Keep an eye on the road signs as you wouldn’t want to miss out on Gränna. In about four hours (for me  it was more as I was driving, and I like my pit stops), you should pass by the ruins of the Brahehus Castle. This  offers spectacular views of the second largest lake in Sweden – Vättern. Right below is the well laid out town itself. Look far enough and you’ll also see Visingsö island.

I didn’t know anything about the castle at that time. However, with a bit of research I discovered that it was built by Count Per Brahe the Younger, somewhere in the middle of the 17th century. Unfortunately, it was abandoned a few decades later, and was partly destroyed by a fire many years later.

There is ample parking on the opposite side in the service area . From there, an underpass leads you directly to the ruins.

We headed to the town and tried to see if we could get ourselves a guesthouse or a hotel, but to our bad luck, they were all full.