Travel tips for study abroad students: Malmö

We're going to continue this travel tip series with Malmö, Sweden. I know many haven't heard about Malmö but it's Sweden's 3rd biggest city and home to the Turning Torso! Its also a 20 minute train ride across the Øresund Bridge from the Copenhagen Airport. Malmö is also extremely diverse so if you're expecting to see just blonde people you'll be surprised by seeing so many immigrants coming from Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon.


Malmö

• The hostel I stayed at was Bosses Gästvåningar (Södra Förstadsgatan 110 B Malmö, Skåne) and it was great. It has a kitchen which is great for those who are traveling on a budget because you can just go to Hemköp or any grocery store to buy supplies. The rooms themselves were very roomy, the bathrooms were clean, and its located in a nice area close to many restaurants and a bus station.
• The city is not huge so it's very walking friendly. I basically walked from the hotel to the Turning Torso and it took less than an 1½. It's a very nice city so don't even bother taking a bus. Walk to see what Malmö has to offer.
• 1 Euro = 8.86 Swedish Kronor so when you look at the prices don't panic. You'll be seeing lot's of things priced 100 kr and more, so what we did to roughly get the price was move the decimal point to the left. So 100 kr is roughly about 10/11€.
• Don't worry if you don't know a word in Swedish because their English is FLAWLESS. I swear I understood their English better than the English spoken in Manchester. 
• Malmö isn't too known for it's nightlife (FYI the sun sets at around 15h) so there isn't a wide selection of bars to choose from. The one that we went to was Carib Kréol Anitllo Bar & Restaurant which has a good selection of cocktails and good Swedish jazz music.
• Don't expect to find alcohol at the grocery store, the only place you can buy alcohol in Sweden are at government owned stores.
• If you're from California then you know all about California fries, well in Sweden their version of that are called poutine. Try the falafel or kebab poutine from Daoud's Pizzeria which is near the hostel I stayed at.
• Make sure to pack plenty of warm things, such as thick leggings and undershirts when visiting Malmö in the winter. And don't be discouraged to come here during the months of December and January because despite the fact that it was pretty cold, it didn't rain at all! 

If you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or Android download the foursquare app because it will become your best friend during your trip. I didn't have 3G while I was there but it works just fine with wifi, so take advantage of foursquare and look up restaurants and other places to check out. Yelp on the other hand does not work in Sweden.