Royal retreat is a miniature Kew
Øresund. In Sweden, reached by ferry, we went cycling out of Helsingborg along a seafront to rival Brazil’s Ipanema or Copacabana Beach.
The strip of white sand stretched away into the distance and palms swayed lazily in the breeze. Thankfully, the autumn weather was too cool for lovers of that skimpy Brazilian swimwear.
Helsingborg is on the “Swedish Riviera”, an underexplored stretch of coastline with nearly 25 miles of stunning beaches. You can swim, fish, sunbathe, take a boat trip, or walk or cycle along miles of wooden decking or uninterrupted cycle path.
There are great beachside cafes and restaurants dotted along the way. Sillen & Makrillen, a slick, wood-andglass construction, a 15-minute walk out of town had us raving.
For about £100 all-in, I enjoyed trout with radish followed by butter-fried cod. Jayne had shrimps on dark bread, with cauliflower cream and truffle cabbage.
Although Helsingborg is bigger and busier than Helsingør, there is still a pretty old town, centred around Karnan, a 700-year-old keep.
We stayed nearby in the enigmatically-named “V”, a boutique hotel which mixes period decor with quirky modern.
Four-poster beds come alongside table lamps shaped like lion’s-head door knockers. From there, we cycled easily to Fredriksdal, a 19th-century manor house converted into a working farm museum – all thatched barns and windmills, heavy horses and “rare breed” cows and sheep.
In the opposite direction, we biked to Sofiero Palace, an ivy-clad Renaissance pile used as a royal holiday home in the 1900s, but now open to the public.
Princess Margareta – the Surrey-born wife of Prince Gustav Adolf – borrowed ideas from Kew Gardens to create a private magical retreat to enjoy there with her husband and their four children.
You can stroll through acres of colourful flowerbeds, walk under rose arches and admire slide-rule hedges and beautifully-named features such as Queen Sylvia’s flower jewel.
There are mini-ravines filled with rhododendrons and a green and peaceful hillock where you can gaze into the distance across the Øresund to Kronborg Castle.
In fact, I can’t help thinking Prince Fred of Denmark should have spent some time here – it would have made him a nicer person.
THE KNOWLEDGE
Norwegian (0330 828 0854/ norwegian.com) offers return flights from London Gatwick to Copenhagen from £25. Trains (rejseplanen.dk) from Copenhagen to Helsingør £14 one way. Ferry (scandlines. com) across the sound, £5 one way. Kyhn’s Guesthouse (dialling from the UK: 00 45 71 70 84 82/kyhnsgaestehus.dk) offers doubles from £125, B&B. V Hotel (42 14 44 20/vhotel.se) offers doubles from £120, B&B. Norway tourism: visitnorway. com. Sweden tourism: visitsweden.com