Another fun cycle tour, this one with the idea of looking for all the Viking-era historical sites in around Upplands-Väsby. This post is organized by theme rather than chronologically, starting with views from the cycle tour…
Great bike routes around Runsa 
Runsa Castle in Upplands- currently a private residence, no access permitted. 
Rosersberg Castle in Upplands – owned by the state and home to a hotel, café, and restaurant as well as expansive grounds including a working apple orchard and an English-style promenading garden 
Lejondahl castle as seen from our campsite across Lenjondahl lake 
Sunset on Lejondhl Lake 
The Archbishop’s castle at Stäket 
An iron marker at the ruins of theArchbishop 
Mälaren Lake from the north side of Lövön 
A fortress not far from Drottningsslot (where the king lives) 
Wide and separated bike path on Lövön 
Charmingly historic farmyard on Lövön 
Me taking my bike on the ferry 
Me with the bikes on the commuter train as we started out journey 
Our longest ride segment at 61km
Naturally, there needs to be a collection of photos from the historic sites. We didn’t always remember to take photos, and the giant stones don’t always photograph well, but here we go…
One of several standing stones at the stone ship 
Description of the stone ship and surrounding gravesites 
Me standing in the geographic centre of the stone ship… 
…the centre of the stone ship had evidence of a recent wood fire. We didn’t see any celebrants, but reviews of the site say it is not uncommon to meet norse-god worshipers at this location 
This way to the ruins of the Runsa fortress! 
Desription of the Runsa fortress 
The substantial foundation of the old fortress. Half of it is like this, and the other half is sheer cliffs rising up form the lake 
Graves sites on Lövön, nots so far from Drottningsholm castle 
Many of the grave sites are covered by round or ovoid piles of stones, which are covered in years of moss 
Description of the Archbishop’s castle, essentially a garisson which guarded a narrow waterway that was a gateway for commerce in the interior of the lake valley, to historic Sigtuna and all the way up to Uppsala. This wasn’t really about security but more about levying a tax on every boat. (Don´t ever change, RCC!) An iron marker at the ruins of theArchbishop The Archbishop’s castle at Stäket 
By chane we passed by a really cool historic site which is a collection of gravesites in Skälby. The village has adopted the sigil from one of the clasps found in the graves (like the eagle in the first photo of this post)
Since we were out in nature we did meet a lot of creatures. Some that we didn’t photograph: momma duck with a collection of ducklings, parent merganser with a collection of merg-lettes, Gute sheep, and fox (or whatever?) that was nibbling on our wind shelter the first night.
‘Copper snake’ is actually a type of lizard with no legs or a ‘skink’ 
Ponies are ubiquitous on every ride in Sweden and I never get tired of them! 
FINALLY found a Swedish frog! I almost mistook this one for a toad since there are so manyof them (and lots this same size in the same forest) 
It seems to be either a common frog (Vanlig groda) or a longleg frog (långben groda) 
She wasn’t that keen on hanging out in my hand
Creatures aside, the camping was pretty awesome. It is amazing that so close to the city (and the Royal Palace!) that there can be nature spots with great amenities.
The benefit of camping during ‘changeable’ weather is that there is very little comeptition for the best spots! This is a picnic/swimming spot on Mälaren in Upplands Väsby where we met friends Linn and Lai and Skye for lunch 
Allemänsrätten (the right to public access) does some with some responsibilities, described here at the entrance to a nature preserve 
The first awesome spot in Lejondahl Nature Preserve 
Lovely Lakefront campsite on Lövön 
The tent in situ. This Big Agnes tent has been an amazing purchase – it has ultra short poes that fit on the handle bas of my bike and takes zero panier space! It also kept us cozy and dry despite the rain 
This campsite did not make the cut for us since it wasn’t water view and the rainy weather meant we had our pick. It was fully stocked with firewood and would have been an awesome place in the middle of a blueberry and porcini festival (also mosquitos but there is no avoiding those guys)
Naturally, this was a ‘luxury’ cycle-camping tour, so we stopped for some nice lunches and snacks between roughing it in the woods. Some highlights:
- Kanaan’s Trädgårdscafé near Bromma had surprisingly good and creative dishes. It was a bit pricy, but standard for that nieghbourhood
- Scarfo Gelato shop in Bromma is super excellent. I didn’t even look at the prices, because it was cheaper than going to Italy. Even the coffee was good, the Affogato made me miss the olden-days Township. Will go back!
- Tegnérs! The well-loved hometown favourite, just as good at its other location with the added charm of watching the small car ferry unload.
- We didn’t go to the Royal Palace café since we were still full of gelato, but it was clearly popular when we rode by. I did reflect on the differences in Sweden; I cannot imagine stopping into to Buckingham Palance for a shrimp sanwhich, coffee, and cinnamon bun.
Delightful honey farmstand on the way to Lejondahl 
Lots of treasures in the forest: we picked porcinis and made blueberry soup for dessert one night 
Graham’s carnitas lunch at Kanaan Trädgårdscafé 
My super summy burrata, tapenade, and pesto toast at at Kanaan Trädgårdscafé 
Like being back in Bologna, but without the 30-plus C. Pistachio gelato, Hazelnut affogato, and a legit cannoli 
Tegnérs has a location on Ekerö by the ferry, which we tested out. Veggie paninis with nice little side salads for 109kr