Last month, Christopher’s parents invited us as well as Christopher’s sister and her boyfriend to join them on Ven. Ven is a tiny Swedish island in the Öresund strait between Sweden and Denmark and it is absolutely beautiful.

We started the day by taking a ferry from Landskrona to the island. During the summer, ferries also depart from Råå and Copenhagen. We’ve had a pretty cold summer this year and the trip on the ferry was chilly, but we were lucky enough to have a warm, sunny day once we arrived. Then, we rented tandem bikes and took a relaxing tour around the island. It’s so cute and quaint! I think anyone that’s visiting the Southern Sweden/Copenhagen area should spend a day here.

This was my first time riding a tandem bike and it was so fun! I thought it was really easy and since Christopher was driving, I could look at all the scenery. Turns out, it was so easy because I apparently wasn’t pedaling hard enough. As we were headed up one of the hills, Christopher asked if could pedal a little harder. I was just kind of going with the flow and didn’t realize I was supposed to put effort into my pedaling… oops! I was wondering why it was so easy! The poor guy was basically biking us both around for the first 20 minutes.

We took a break near some of the island’s museums and one of it’s two observatories built by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the late 1500s. Next, we stopped by St. Ibbs’s Church, which is the oldest church on the island and was built in the 1200s. It’s located on top of a hill with beautiful panoramic views of the cliffs along the coastline and the little village below. The gravestones in the church yard were several hundred years old and even included the person’s occupation. We also came across an alpaca farm and had a great time trying to feed and pet them. Finally, had a nice lunch right next to the water.

There’s also a whiskey distillery that we didn’t get a chance to visit. It’s called the Spirit of Hven (the Danish spelling of Ven) and they have guided tours, whiskey tastings, a restaurant, hotel and spa. Despite being a domestic alcohol, it’s actually quite expensive in the liquor stores here- so be prepared to pay a lot to experience the distillery.

Ven is a little paradise to get away from it all. I can’t wait to visit again and spend a night or a weekend in one of the rental cabins. It’s someplace that I want to bring my family to when we’re all in Helsingborg! Thanks for a wonderful day Marika and Tony!