Rånäs castle is an elegant hotel, restaurant, spa, as well as a venue for weddings and conferences. It once belonged to the Reuterskiöld family, who were fascinated by culture and travel. And you can see the family’s passion reflected in the Italian-inspired 19th century manor house .
In each article of the Staycation series, we explore different locations in Sweden where you can travel to, for a holiday style getaway without leaving the country. In this edition we took to Rånäs castle for a romantic weekend experience and this is our report.
Located a 50 min drive from Stockholm passing by Arlanda airport, you will arrive to the imposing location surrounded by nature, a lake and historic landmarks. From the moment you walk in, you breathe in the elegance of the castle. Our room was quite simple yet classy and waiting there for us was a box of chocolates and a welcome small bottle of Rånäs castle’s own Blanc de Blanc Champagne, which we indulged ourselves with immediately to give our arrival a touch of class.
The afternoon tea was our next stop on the second floor, where their lounge rooms and bar are located under a marvellous ceiling with paintings in 19th century details. A big table was catered with a buffet to choose from to make our own salad and sandwiches to taste. There was a second smaller table in a cute array of all sorts of treats and deserts which we enjoyed with a few cuppas of Rånäs’s own tea with aromas of grape and flowers.
We then went exploring Rånäs castle and made our way to its clock tower, where a small museum consisting of dresses, photographs, antique objects and memorabilia encapsulates the history of the castle and its surroundings.
During our visit the weather gods were good to us and we were having not-unpleasant-at-all temperatures of 28 degrees, so we felt it was time for a dip in the lake and relaxing at the spa. We slipped into the hotel-provided robes and flip-flops and crossed the garden to reach the water. That lake swim felt amazingly refreshing and whilst we relaxed in the jacuzzis we had a few glasses of sparkling as the sun was going down over the lake.
The outdoor terrace was the location for our courtesy aperitif, a glass of bubbles whilst being sun-kissed by the evening sun. The terrace at the back of the castle is wonderful, facing the garden, its fountain and the lake framed by the tall elm and ash trees in double rows, with the sun setting to the right. We were then transferred to our table to enjoy a 5-course dinner with different drink menus to pair the dishes with, one with both local and European beers, one with wine and another one with non-alcoholic drinks. The food was delightfully presented with all the colours of the Swedish spring and summer on the plate. We really enjoyed the fish and the meat tartar.
After dinner we took a walk to the lake where many people were still enjoying the water. With summer the bright evening sky made for a very romantic sight.
To finish the day off we had a cocktail at Rånäs’s second floor bar.
The morning after started with a well-assorted breakfast buffet, we couldn’t resist having another cup of Rånäs’s own very tasty tea together with some pancakes. After that we got ready for our return to Stockholm.
During this trip we also took the chance to visit a few neighbouring landmarks. The first one of those was to see the oldest/largest oak tree in the municipality of Norrtälje.
We also visited the ruins of Mörby Castle which date from 1380. There we could walk around and see some of the rooms still standing from the inside and even went up to one of its towers overlooking the lake.
There was only one thing that we missed during this little getaway and that was to stop by Rimbo, a small town 12km from Rånäs castle, home to the famous Rimbobullar, oh yes sweet-toothed people, we said bullar. Rimbobullar are crispy and puffy pastries with a filling of butter, sugar and vanilla plus glazing on top. Oh well, now we have another reason to go back to Rånäs castle.
All I hoyos and video by Karen Lundquist – www.1-way-ticket.com
