As much as I have craved walking around cities, we wanted something besides Stockholm and Copenhagen, so we landed on Wanås in southern Sweden. It's a private 15th-century castle where the current owners have long had a large sculpture garden, not unlike Storm King in New York. A couple of years ago, they turned one outbuilding into a 15-room hotel and another into a restaurant.
I hadn't done a ton of research into the property, so I was a bit disappointed to learn that I wouldn't get to go inside the castle. And would it be too much to ask for a few interior photos in the exhibit about the history of the castle? Or perhaps it's all shag rugs and linoleum inside....
The focus is the art, most of which is of the I-didn't-expect-to-see-that-in-a-forest variety.
I didn't recognize most of the artists' names, although there were a few major ones, including Maya Lin (a serpentine mound best admired with Google Maps's satellite view) and Jenny Holzer (aphorisms dotting a brick wall along the perimeter). Lin's earthwork abuts Wanås's dairy farm, so perhaps the cows get to amble over it, which would increase its appeal greatly. As for Holzer: LESS IS MORE.
A few sculptures benefited from signs alerting visitors to their existence. Otherwise, one might have mistaken them for infrastructure.
More successful were the interactive pieces.
There was also a small indoor gallery that didn't excite us at all, except for the clocks on the facade.
The best part of Wanås, by far, was the setting: The buildings and the landscape are gorgeous. (The rhododendron bushes were huge—unfortunately, most were just past their peak.) And because the art park closes at 5 p.m., we were alone most of the time. I wish I had captured the birdsong during the long dusk and dawn.
We regretted not allotting more time for the area, and rented a car instead of taking the train, so we could've explored it more.
P.S. Concerned that I would run out of books on the trip, I picked up a copy of E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, which I hadn't read since the film came out. Reading the book so soon after rewatching the (excellent) film was ideal, because I could really see the characters. And the book is a total delight, with special resonance for anyone traveling in Europe.