Elisabeth’s Varberg tips
Come along to my favorite places in Varberg, experienced seasonally and with the dachshund Bertil on the leash. In addition to these lovely places, I am more than happy to help with all kinds of tips about what Varberg and Halland have to offer as a destination.
The dog walks with Bertil are a closed chapter. After a dental operation in the spring of 2022, various internal organs were knocked out. The anesthesia was too tough for the seventeen years and three months old wirehaired dachshund. It’s hard to get used to the silence and emptiness. The loss is great, but I am slowly getting used to being without a dog, after we were a “rugged” old couple for seventeen years. Will there be a new dog? Well, I’ll have to wait and see. Until then, other small dogs are welcome to the Hippo, subject to space.
Spring
The nicest and greenest walk is in the Påskberg Forest, where the beech trees explode around the first of May. Everything becomes burgeoning green, and the azaleas are in full bloom in Arena Varberg’s park. If you’re lucky, there are newly hatched ducklings swimming in the Påskberg pond. A pleasant trail of a few kilometers takes you around the “forest” in the middle of town. It is something certain to discover the first blue and wood anemones. Bertil’s hunting howl when he has caught game weather of a roe deer is widely infamous in the area.
Summer
Of course, the walk goes down towards the Society Park and the Society House, a park that was built in the 1880s when it was fashionable to hang out, drink from mineral springs, listen to music and dance, a pleasure for royalty and high society. Even today, you can listen to music from the outdoor stage on summer evenings. The walk continues on the Seaside Promenade, starting at the northern corner of Varberg Fortress with the characteristic cold bathhouse at the Children’s Beach. Bertil takes the opportunity to cool off and drink some water in the moat, as well as scare some ducks. The fortress, dating back to the 13th century, rises majestically on the cliff by the sea. On warm summer evenings, it seems as if “everyone”, tourists as well as residents of Varberg, have made their way down to the Seaside Promenade to enjoy the sunset and the picnic basket they have brought. When my first year as a teacher was over here in Varberg, and thus also the year’s temporary position, I took a walk along the sea and realized that this was where I wanted to continue living. I got a job and since 1984 I have been a resident of Varberg, but not a Varberger. Along the Seaside Promenade there are several bathing sites, both nude and common ones.
Autumn
The best way to experience autumn with its storms is to continue south on the Seaside Promenade. The foam from the sea becomes elusive but exciting things for Bertil to try to catch. The long ears stand straight out in the wind. It is important to dress weather resistant. The walk continues down to the old Coast Sanatorium, which is nowadays a hotel and conference facility. Children with TB from all over the country traveled to Varberg, and the idea was that good care and sea breeze would make them well. Some recovered, some were laid to rest at Apelviken’s cemetery. Continue towards Subbe lighthouse and walk through a piece of Varberg’s history where the quarries bear witness to the time when the town became a significant exporter of granite that became paving stones in Europe’s growing cities. In the summer of 2019, it became very popular to build stone towers from the loose stones. The waves of discussion ran high whether it was allowed or not. Let’s see if they will remain standing!
Winter
Now that Bertil is over 100 years old, he thinks it is most comfortable to walk around on the streets of Varberg. The winter in Varberg can be very grey, rainy, and slushy and then it’s nice to press against a house wall, and to walk on fairly dry pavements, he seems to think. The inner city consists of mixed buildings of wood and stone. Many old wooden houses were swept away in the great city fire of 1863, but quite a few remained. Wander up and down the streets and discover for yourself the small town’s charm with the range of large buildings, such as the City Hotel and Local Savings Bank by the square and small low wooden houses on the cross streets. However, the inner city is undergoing major transformation, where low-rise buildings are being demolished to make way for taller buildings with more apartments. Varberg is growing!
All year round on Wednesdays and Saturdays there is a market in the town square.
