A medieval Swedish coastal town with a 13th-century church and stone-paved streets. Home to Absolut Vodka distillery and white sandy beaches along the Baltic Sea.
Åhus, a coastal town in southern Sweden, invites you to walk through the Absolut Vodka distillery, where the drink is made from local wheat, explore the 12th-century Sankta Maria kyrka church, or watch summer beach handball matches. From July’s tournaments to late-summer smoked eel feasts with schnapps, the town balances calm seaside days with events tied to its traditions. Fly into Copenhagen, drive two hours across the Øresund Bridge, and you’ll reach a place where vodka tastings and Viking-era artifacts sit alongside bike paths leading to sandy shores. Anglers fish for sea trout here in winter, while summer brings swimmers to beaches backed by pine forests. Plan your visit around the handball festival if you want to see the town at its most active.
Absolut Vodka Distillery and Visitor Center
Every bottle of Absolut Vodka begins in Åhus. Tour the distillery to watch copper stills transform local winter wheat into clear spirits, then sample cocktails like the Cosmopolitan in the tasting room. Next door, Absolut Home—a restored 19th-century villa—hosts workshops in a garden planted with regional flowers and herbs. Guides explain how the brand’s bottle designs changed over time, from early medicinal jars to the sleek bottles seen today. The distillery reuses heat from production to warm nearby homes and filters wastewater to protect nearby rivers, practices detailed on the 90-minute tour.
Beaches and Coastal Paths
Åhus anchors the southern end of Sweden’s sunniest coastline, a stretch of sand and dunes reaching north to Ängelholm. Rent a bike to pedal to the town beach, where colorful wooden bathhouses stand in rows along the shore. If you prefer fewer crowds, head 30 minutes south to Haväng, a beach reachable by foot through a pine forest, or stop at Vitemölla’s open-air museum to examine century-old eel traps. Between December and March, anglers wade into the waves at dawn to catch sea trout. Walk along Gamla Skeppsbron, the old harbor promenade, to see sailboats docked below red-roofed houses with stepped gables.
Sankta Maria kyrka and Viking History
Sankta Maria kyrka, a stone church completed around 1150, retains original Romanesque arches and faded medieval paintings of saints. Archaeologists digging near the church found glass beads from the Viking age, made using fragments of Roman mosaics traded here over 1,000 years ago. In late summer, join an ålagille dinner to eat smoked eel off birchwood plates and sip vodka poured from frosty bottles. For a deeper dive into fishing traditions, visit Rokeriet Mellan Åhus & Yngsjö, a smokehouse that prepares eel and salmon using methods unchanged since the 1800s. The church’s thick stone walls and hand-carved altar contrast with the distillery’s glass-and-steel design visible just a mile away.
July’s Beach Handball Tournament
Europe’s largest beach handball tournament turns Åhus into a hub of activity every July. Over 20,000 players and fans fill the beach, where matches play out on sand courts from morning until sunset. Amateur teams compete alongside professionals, with games often decided by acrobatic leaps or last-second throws. Food stalls sell grilled sausages and cloudberry ice cream, while live bands perform on a stage near the shore. Book your hotel or rental cottage at least three months ahead if you visit during the tournament, as rooms sell out quickly.
Restaurants and Food Traditions
At Åhus Gästgivaregård, chefs pan-fry perch caught that morning in the Baltic Sea and serve it with asparagus from Skåne farms. For dessert, Otto Glass scoops vanilla ice cream into cones dipped in dark chocolate, a recipe unchanged since the 1950s. Pick up smoked eel or salmon from Rokeriet Mellan Åhus & Yngsjö to eat at a beach picnic, paired with rye bread and pickled cucumbers. During ålagille festivals, long tables under canvas tents fill with platters of eel, boiled potatoes, and schnapps poured into tiny glasses. Most bars in town stock Absolut Vodka, often using it in drinks like the Lingonberry Mule.
Hotels and Rentals
Åhus Seaside Hotel sits directly on the beach, with rooms overlooking Hanöbukten bay and balconies facing the water. Choose between modern rooms with light wood furniture or suites with terraces for sunset views. Local agencies rent wooden cottages near the forest, some with kitchens and firepits for grilling fish. Åhus Gästgivaregård, a guesthouse in the town center, places you steps from Sankta Maria kyrka and shops selling handmade pottery. Between June and August, reserve your stay early—the handball tournament and eel festivals keep the town busy.
Travel Routes and Transportation
Copenhagen Airport offers the closest international flights. From there, drive 90 miles northeast via the Øresund Bridge and highways through Skåne’s fields of wheat and sugar beets. Trains run from Malmö to Kristianstad, where buses depart hourly for the 20-minute ride to Åhus. Renting a car lets you visit nearby villages like Rinkaby, known for hosting the 2011 World Scout Jamboree, or watch glassblowers shape vases at Studio Glashyttan Åhus. Within town, bikes work best for reaching the beach, distillery, and medieval church, all within a 15-minute ride.
