During our road trip in Sweden, we stayed a little while in Hovs Hallar, a natural reserve popular for its beauty but not only…
Note: This post includes Booking affiliated links. If you decide to book a room at this hotel, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own anyway. I just really loved this place and had to tell you about it.
Our trip to Hovs Hallar… getting there
It was during the last stretch of road trip in Sweden, that we stayed in Hovs Hallar. We were heading toward Helsingborg (Sweden) to take the ferry to reach Helsingor (Denmark). As I was already feeling that I would be missing Sweden dearly, I wanted to stay there just a little longer. Just one more night.
I hesitated quite a bit…
As Mr A. was driving, I was browsing on Booking to see the different options of hotels, in the general area we were heading toward. I was having a bit of a hard time and I kept coming back to the one located in Hovs Hallar. Some of the pictures gave the impression it had like a sea resort vibe, with a simple and quiet decoration which was what I looking for. However, some of the pictures were maybe confusing. I looked at Google map and the hotel seemed right in front of the seashore. Google also showed that a huge parking lot, bigger than the hotel was located between the hotel and the seashore. I hesitated. Yes, I was being picky because that was going to be our last night in Sweden and I wanted it to be memorable!
Sometimes you (I) have to stop being picky!
We arrived in Hovs Hallar an hour later. A confused receptionist had a hard time finding our reservation but finally checked us in. As the process took a little longer than it should, which to be fair, is often the case when you made your reservation an hour before, Mr A. was looking around. He noticed a picture which reminded him of something and asked about it. The now, even more confused, receptionist had to call her manager. It was then, that he realized that he Hovs Hallar was famous. I still had no clue what he was talking about since I was still dealing with the check in.
We proceeded to our room and I crashed on the bed. Only after a much-needed nap, did Mr A. explained the conversation he had with the manager and showed me why he knew Hovs Hallar and why it was famous.
You see, Mr A. is a film lover and connoisseur. Much to his despair, I’m pretty much completely film illiterate.
Nether the less, what he showed me got me excited, so we put on our walking shoes and went for a hike.
Hiking in Hovs Hallar
We took the path in front of the hotel, the one that sharply goes down. Such path leads to the beach on the right of the hotel. Despite the numerous cars on the parking, there were very few people on this path, probably due to the fact that it’s really not an easy one to follow.
I should mention something that may look weird to you, at first…
Mr A. is very tall, and I’m much smaller. I don’t think I mentioned this before and you may wonder why I’m saying this now?! Well, you see, I really don’t mind being smaller than him, except in very specific circumstances. Hiking in places like Hovs Hallar is one of those circumstances! Why? Because I see him taking, what looks to me, like giant steps between rocks and I can’t keep up. When he breezes through a path like it’s a staircase, I have to crawl. When he makes a single step between 2 rocks, I have to leap and when he leaps, I have to find a different path! And it’s a little annoying especially since I know he enjoys seeing me struggle!
So in short, the path is probably easy if you are tall, it is just a little bit more difficult if you’re shorted like me! And I’m not, in any way implying that it is like escalating the Everest or else! It is still a fairly easy walk, especially since it’s not that long.
Oh, and don’t worry, there are plenty of times when I’m happy to be shorter than Mr A. Like in planes, in cars, in small beds… 😉
Anyway, there you had it, me crawling my way through the first part of the path and him making fun of me from the bottom!
Back on track…
So first we reached a little beach covered in cairns. At that point, we weren’t quite sure to be heading in the right directions but people, met on the path, confirmed that the beach we were looking for was further down. We therefore continued our way, trying to follow the shoreline.
Finally, we saw it in the distance. We just had to cross the rocky beach… Once again you can easily picture him taking his giant steps and me leaping behind and sometimes praying not to fall, or specifically not to crash my camera!
There was absolutely no one on this beach which you know is something I love.
So there we were, on the beach we were looking for and in front of the cave…
What makes Hovs Hallar famous?
Apart from being a natural reserve and being stunningly gorgeous, Hovs Hallar is famous because… this is where Ingmar Bergman filmed the Seventh Seal!
The Seventh Seal is 1957 film, considered as one of the greatest movies of all time, you know!? So being on this beach, where Death played chess with the knight who wasn’t ready to be taken, was quite moving.
GIF found here. No copyright infringement intended.
We lingered in the little cave, while Mr A. explained the Seventh Seal to me. We admired the sea…
After a while, as we saw a group of men arriving on the beach, we decided it was time to head back and let them enjoy the place.
And so again, you can picture us going back to the hotel. Mr A. walking ahead, me leaping and crawling (gracefully of course!) my way back!
It’s not all that bad, you know! And the view is always gorgeous.
The below part was the part that made me wish for a few more inches.
A few additional words
The hotel in Hovs Hallar is a 3 stars hotel from Best Western and is called: Hovs Hallar, Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western.
It was nice but most importantly superbly located! I don’t recall what we had for diner, but I do recall the sunset!
Cairns are fun to make but apparently there are not such a good idea. I knew there were many purpose to cairns, including to mark trails but never thought of them as possibly causing environmental issues. That is until I found this article which made me double think. You should read it as well.
PIN THIS ONE FOR LATER!
