How can a small locality in the Swedish countryside cause nightmares for a lot of Swedish men? Our apologies for the stereotypes, but this is a place that most Swedes have heard about. Even though it has a meager population of around 800 people. So what is causing all the fuzz about Ullared? And what brings thousands of people to visit the place each day?
A Short History of Ullared
The modern history of Ullared is well connected with the history of the main attraction in the locality. Gunnar Karlsson opened the doors to the first version of the store Gekås in 1963. It was at the time located on the ground floor of a villa. A decade or so later, in the 1970’s the shop moved into its current building and the phenomenon that is Gekås took off. It has formed and defined the small town ever since.
Five Things to Do In Ullared
Most people that know of the locality, connect it particular only with one activity. People go there for shopping! However, there are more things you can do there. So what are your options?
Gekås
This is probably the main reason a lot of people go to Ullared in the first place. Gekås is one of the largest shopping centers in Scandinavia and it is famous for low-price shopping. According to the store’s website, the shop was visited by 4,8 million people in 2015, with a daily top of 28 900 customers. Considering the population of Ullared, 800 people, the shop is huge. It offers 3.500 parking lots and 8.000 shopping carts to its visitors. The shopping carts are actually numbered so that you won’t lose them!
Other Shopping
With the exception of the main shopping center of Gekås, there are also a number of additional shops as many stores have set up outlets in the area. Most stores have concentrated their efforts on the low-cost market when setting up their stores in the locality.
Downhill Skiing
There is a smaller ski slope in Ullared that when the weather allows it offers the possibility of skiing. It is of course not possible to compare the slope with other major ski resorts. This is, however, the perfect opportunity to practice.
Upzone Adventure Park
Just next to the ski slope is the Upzone Adventure Park. It offers a few different tracks, with the main attraction being the “Big Jump” at a height of 18 meters.
Enjoy the surrounding nature
There are some advantages to visiting a locality with a small population. Nature is at once a lot closer and there are some lakes and forests around Ullared to explore. For example, you can take a swim in the lake Musasjön or walk along the stream Högvadsån.
Going to Ullared?
Do you want to travel to Ullared? Here are a few means of going there:
- Car: A few smaller roads connect the locality with other villages and towns in the region as well as the major roads leading to the rest of the country. Road 153 gives access to Varberg at the coast and road 154 to Falkenberg, also at the coast. Road 153 also gives access to other roads leading to the eastern and northern part of the country.
- Bus: There are local buses connecting Ullared with the rest of the region. Except for those, there is mainly one kind of bus going to the locality. There are daily buses from most of the southern part of Sweden to Ullared. All these are mainly for the purpose of letting its passengers stop a few hours of shopping before driving them back home.
- Flights: There is no major airport close to Ullared, but the airports in both Gothenburg and Malmö/Copenhagen are within relatively easy reach.
The driving distance to Ullared from 5 major Swedish cities, according to Google Maps:
Stockholm – 470 kilometers (5 h 9 min)
Gothenburg – 107 kilometers (1 h 20 min)
Malmö – 204 kilometers (2 h 16 min)
Luleå – 1.367 kilometers (15 h 5 min)
Linköping – 275 kilometers (3 h 13 min)
Find out more about other destinations in Sweden by visiting our page Exploring Sweden
