The Kallbadhus
Sauna and open-sea bathing on a wooden pier.
L.G.foto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0
Ribersborg is a sand strip running some four kilometres along the Oresund strait, beginning a twenty-minute walk from central Malmo — which makes it a rarity: a genuine city beach rather than a distant suburb. Locals call it Ribersborgsstranden and shorten it to Ribban. The water is very shallow for a long way out, so you can wade a hundred metres and still be waist-deep — which makes it safe for children and relatively warm in August compared with the rest of Sweden. Behind the sand are wide grass lawns for sitting and a cycling and running path along the water, with a direct view of the Oresund Bridge and Turning Torso. Its distinctive feature is the Kallbadhus: an 1898 wooden sea bath extending on a pier into the water, with a traditional sauna and open-sea bathing pools separated by gender. Winter bathing there after the sauna is an authentic Swedish ritual locals keep up year-round, even below freezing.
Sauna and open-sea bathing on a wooden pier.
Wade a hundred metres and stay waist-deep.
Ribersborgsstranden, 217 57 Malmo
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