Magnus Nilsson, the chef who once ran the legendary two-Michelin-star Faviken in remote Jämtland, has quietly opened Furuhem, an inn on the Bjäre peninsula in southern Sweden. The white guesthouse with kale-green shutters and roughly 200 restored vintage lamps is anything but flashy — and it still opened with a three-month waitlist. Locals have dubbed this stretch of coast Sweden's Hamptons, though without the status games: the CEOs summering here still mow their own lawns.
Nilsson's return matters because he was a defining figure of the New Nordic movement alongside René Redzepi of Noma. His old restaurant lured gastronomes deep into the forests for 32-course dinners built on foraged and hyper-local ingredients. Now, co-managing Furuhem with chef Frida Nilsson and Noma alum Daniella Rebelo, he's part of a broader wave: Michelin-starred chefs and homegrown hoteliers opening inns and restaurants along Sweden's west coast as wealthy Nordic travellers skip an increasingly hot Mediterranean.
The scene stretches well beyond one inn. An hour away in Halland, the Carlsson siblings turned their family dairy farm into Ästad Vingård, a winery and spa with eight saunas and Restaurant Ång, where chef Filip Gemzell serves a 19-course seasonal menu in a glasshouse overlooking beech forest — backed by a wine cellar stacked with Krug Clos du Mesnil and Montrachet Grand Cru. Down the coast, the family has bought Varbergs Kusthotell, an 1822 bathhouse near Sweden's best surf beach at Apelviken, now mid-renovation with a million-dollar spa in the works.
Further south in Skåne, Vyn Restaurant and Hotel, opened in 2023 by chef Daniel Berlin, is the region's toughest reservation — bookings go as fast as a stadium tour. Those who get in can expect an 18-course dinner (about $410), a prestige wine pairing ($460) and suites from around $848 in high season, all anchored by a breakfast that regulars insist justifies the trip itself. Michelin veteran Mathias Dahlgren, meanwhile, has opened Ateljé Vita duken – Tornhuset in Umeå, in the country's north.
What ties it together is a distinctly Swedish take on quiet luxury: no gold lobbies, just foraged dinners, ice baths, farm stays and cinnamon rolls instead of bottle service. For travellers tired of crowded Riviera beaches, this is a summer-holiday alternative built around nature, serious food and low-key confidence — provided you book early.