A new rail link between Malmo and Oslo has quietly become one of Europe's best-value train journeys. Swedish operator Snalltaget's daylight service covers the 388km route in six hours and 38 minutes, with one-way tickets starting at just 149 SEK — about £12. In Scandinavia, where a filter coffee and cinnamon bun in Oslo can cost roughly the same as the entire fare, that's remarkable.
The trains themselves are repurposed former Lapland sleepers — the same carriages that once ran a 22-hour route to Swedish Lapland for around £23, complete with dining car and cinema. They're dated rather than plush: blue-spotted seats, a slightly temperamental recline mechanism, but generous legroom, plug sockets, decent tray tables and ample luggage space. The real highlight is the mid-century Krogen dining car, with curved booth seating and pale pink walls. Note that the dining car doesn't run every day, so check ahead.
The route itself is the selling point. The train hugs Sweden's west coast past Lund before tracing a shoreline the writer describes as mesmerising, then continues through golden farmland dotted with red wooden barns, remote stretches that follow hiking and cycle paths rather than roads, glimpses of lakes and fjords, and finally the more forested Norwegian landscape after a border crossing with no passport checks.
There are worthwhile stopoffs too. The train calls at Gothenburg Gamlestaden rather than the central station — a boon for the city's former industrial quarter, now home to the Forum vintage and antiques marketplace, indie coffee roasters, breweries and French bistros. Trams run into the centre in about 10 minutes. Further north, Trollhättan — previously unreachable directly from Malmo — is the gateway to Western Sweden's lakes, with Trollhättan Falls and the Älvrummet Nature Reserve trails both doable without a car.
A nice touch: the driver held the train for 10 minutes so passengers from the connecting Snalltaget Sleeper from Berlin could make the connection. And better links are coming — European Sleeper plans an Amsterdam to Malmo service next year, which would make London to Oslo possible with just two changes.
For travellers, the maths is simple. If you're comfortable trading polish for price, a six-and-a-half-hour scenic ride for £12 is hard to argue with — especially when private sleeper compartments on the same train cost an extra £78 despite the route running only in daylight. In Malmo, the Clarion Hotel Malmo Live near the station has doubles from £63; in Oslo, the refurbished Savoy 1918 near the Royal Palace offers classic rooms from £232 with breakfast. Book directly via the Snalltaget website.
