Fancy a free trip to Sweden? Simply pronounce these iconic locations directly to get started
It’s no secret that IKEA has taken a lot of inspiration from its Swedish surroundings. Many of our homes are equipped with chairs, cabinet legs, dustbins and bath towels that all bear the names of beautiful places in Sweden.
Now the country’s marketing company trades in the well-known furniture to transport people to the real places.
A new competition from Visit Sweden invites Britons to send short films of themselves pronouncing place names for a chance to win a trip.
The competition opens today (22 August) and runs until 30 September, so there is plenty of time to brush up on your Swedish pronunciation.
Four winners from each country will be chosen for one of four trips, highlighting all the great outdoors Sweden has to offer: from paddling around glittering lake islands in Västmanland to tasting world-class food over a campfire in Småland.
– In Sweden we are proud of IKEA and in a way you can say that they helped us make Swedish places world famous through the names they borrowed for their products, says Nils Persson, marketing manager at Visit Sweden.
“Now, with warmth and a twinkle in our eye, we want to show the originals behind the product names and invite the world to discover all of Sweden.”
After you submit your video hereyou just need to add a few words about what makes Sweden such an irresistible place for you.
The name of the game: Has IKEA worsened Sweden’s natural environment?
The popularity of IKEA’s housewares means that the Swedish places they are named after are often lost in online searches.
Visit Sweden says there are 21 iconic places across the country that it wants to put back on the map.
With almost 270,000 islands and a total of 95,700 lakes and generous Allemansrätt, there are so many starting points for your next holiday.
Some local areas reclaim their names in a unique way. Bolmen has launched a new slogan: “Bolmen – more than an IKEA brush” on a sign to help travelers find the peaceful location by the lake.
Magnus Gunnarsson, chairman of Smålands Sjörike and member of the municipal council in Ljungby, points out that Bolmen’s “crystal clear” water could not be further from the toilet association.
“We appreciate that IKEA has named a product after our beautiful lake and that Visit Sweden draws attention to this globally. But now we want to show the world that Bolmen is so much more than an object that you clean your toilet with.
“It’s an incredibly beautiful place, much loved by us locals. We want to invite the whole world to spend time in our wonderful, unspoiled nature, show the same care that we do and enjoy the crystal clear water,” he says.
21 places were taken back by Sweden
The Swedish Tourist Board is keen to welcome more tourists.
Sweden, they say, offers a smorgasbord of destinations and memorable experiences. These include everything from Viking monuments to picturesque towns, castles and silver mines, with activities from rafting to dog sledding, fly fishing and ice swimming.
If you feel inspired to get out of your Grönlid (IKEA sofa) and go on a Nordic adventure, here are the 21 places to familiarize yourself with.
- Järvfjället, a mountain in Swedish Lapland (gaming chair)
- Bolmen, a large lake in the Småland region in southern Sweden (toilet brush)
19. Ektorp, a suburb of Stockholm (sofa)
18. Skärhamn, a fishing village on the island of Tjörn off the coast of Western Sweden (door handle)
17. Stubbarp, a manor in Skåne in southern Sweden (cabinet legs)
16. Ingatorp, A village where you will find one of Sweden’s oldest wooden buildings, in the Småland region (pull-out table)
15. Höljes, one of Sweden’s most sparsely populated areas, a forest in the Värmland region (pendant lamp)
14. Hemsjö, a village in the Bleking district (block light)
13. Toftan, a lake in Dalarna (trash bin)
12. Mästerby, a historic battlefield on Gotland (one step stool)
11. Voxnan, a river with waterfalls and rapids in the Hälsingland region (shower shelf)
10. Himleån, ravines in the Halland region (bath towel)
9. Laxviken, a village in Jämtland Härjedalen (cupboard door)
8. Kallax, a coastal village near Luleå in Swedish Lapland (storage shelf)
7. Misterhult, an archipelago of 2,000 islands near Kalmar in the Småland region (a bamboo lamp)
6. Vrena, a village near the east coast in the Sörmland region (countertop)
5. Björksta, a village near the university city of Uppsala (picture with frame)
4. Norberg, a small town in the Västmanland region (folding table)
3. Askersund, a small town near Örebro in Central Sweden (closet door)
2. Rimforsa, a small village in Östergötland in eastern Sweden (workbench)
1. Bodviken, a mountain lake in the High Coast UNESCO World Heritage Area in northern Sweden (wash basin)