Is Malmo Safe for Solo Female Travelers?
When researching destinations in Northern Europe, I was pleased to find some refreshingly affordable short-term rentals in the southern city of Malmo, Sweden. Its proximity to Copenhagen was an added bonus, offering the opportunity for international day trips. After booking a month in an apartment near the center, I started looking a little more closely at what the city had to offer me, a female digital nomad, and my then-1-year-old baby.
Disclaimer 1
I was only there for a month, hardly long enough to delve deep into the local culture and gain a thorough understanding of the social and political undercurrents. My perspectives are only those of a tourist. That said, I have a ton of experience as a tourist. At time of writing, I’ve been to 38 countries and am headed to the 39th in a week. I’ve taken planes, trains, busses, bikes, and my own two feet up and down some of the most stunning natural landscapes and dodgiest alleyways you can imagine. It’s safe to say, without running the risk of tooting my own horn too loudly, that I’ve developed quite an instinct for travel. How to get around, situations to avoid, where to find the best price on potatoes, things like that.
I felt perfectly safe 100% of the time that I was in Malmo.
Disclaimer 2
I don’t drink alcohol, and I don’t go out at night. As a single mom with a full-time job and a time-consuming writing habit, I’m usually pantsless by about 8 or 9 with no further plans to leave the house. I can’t speak to the bar/nightclub/live music scene. I was there in June and July, and I have heard that crime rates go down in Northern Europe during the summers because people are happier and there’s less dark to hide in, which makes sense.
However, nothing I saw in the long daylight hours lent any credence to the multiple warnings I read on popular question-and-answer forums online warning people about threats of terrorism, theft, and worse. Emphatic warnings along the lines of “Do NOT come to Malmo if you are a solo female traveler!” popped up more than once in discussions of the city.
Malmo’s online reputation was so bad that I considered changing my travel plans. I worried about my responsibilities as a parent and whether it was remiss of me to bring my baby to such an apparently dangerous place, but in the end I decided to go because I couldn’t find anything else in my price range on such short notice.
And, boy, am I glad I did! The Malmo I saw was a city of wide, well-maintained streets, smooth, stroller-friendly sidewalks, and vast parks.
Nowhere did I see any of the usual trappings of danger: No broken windows, no chained-up dogs, no razor wire. I didn’t even see any of the mild irritants that contribute to an unpleasant ambiance: No trash on the sidewalks, no one sleeping in public, not even any graffiti! There was one person begging outside my local grocery store most days, but they only sat there with a box–no asking for money or aggressive approaches.
Malmo is the best place I’ve been so far for my toddler and I and I’m looking forward to going back as soon as I can. It’s slightly over my budget, but it checks all the other boxes hard.
Mild Weather
I came to Northern Europe in the first place because I didn’t want to endure another sweltering, miserably hot summer. Malmo did not disappoint. During our month in Malmo, there were a few rainy days and a few more with patches of drizzle. The rainy days rained hard and fast, and it was back to sunshine within the same day. The drizzly days were gray and we even had to wear a sweater once or twice. The sunny days were extremely pleasant, with temperatures most days in the mid to low 70s. I’d say it didn’t get hotter than 80 or colder than 50 the entire month. Perfect for walking around and exploring.
Cultural Diversity
As the mother of mixed-race child, cultural diversity is a big factor for me when scouting out places we could potentially spend a year, or even settle long-term. In my ignorance, I’d assumed that Danny’s black hair would contrast sharply with the blond Swedish heads all around him. Not so! What a delight it was to see kids of all shades and ethnicities playing together at the playgrounds!
In fact, one mother of Sri Lankan origin even mistook Danny as one of her own for a moment until he turned around. We’d arrived in Sweden from an Eastern European country that, while lovely, has an extremely racially homogenous population, so the rainbow of faces in Malmo was wholly refreshing. Not to mention the variety of food available in restaurants and shops!
We were staying near Folkets Park, which we walked through many times to play or just enjoy the lively ambiance. One weekend we happened upon a celebration of African culture, complete with live music, dance performances, and food stalls representing cultures from across the African continent and Caribbean. The following weekend it was a Thai food festival, with more mango sticky rice and som tam than you could shake a stick at and plenty of dishes I’d never even heard of. Both events were brimming with people of all nationalities and the vibe was fun, celebratory, and carefree.
Playgrounds Galore
Malmo’s playgrounds are among the best I’ve ever seen in the world. Well designed, safe, fun, and well maintained. The theater-themed park Teaterlekplatsen with the stages and movable props, the ocean-themed playground with the pirate ship slide and tall climbable wooden kelp forest, the King’s Park with the windmill, Folketspark with its bouncy bubbles, multiple play structures, and pond, and many more. And that’s just outside. There are indoor playgrounds as well, but the weather was so nice the whole time we didn’t explore much indoors.
Nature For Days
The enormous parks around the center were big enough to get lost in, with some of the tallest domesticated trees I’ve ever seen and big hedges you can go inside. Forests and rolling hills and little streams everywhere, right in the heart of the city. And all perfectly clean, with no one living in them and no obvious drug deals in sight!
Many of the parks also had shallow, artificial ponds, which were great for the little ones to splash around and cool off on warm days. Danny loved wading around picking up fallen leaves and feathers. I didn’t get the chance to ask anyone, but I’m assuming these ponds are used for ice skating in the winter too.
The Children’s Library
A good library is more than just good books. Children’s libraries in particular are at their best when they’re comfortable, welcoming, and beautiful. The central children’s library in Malmo is in an actual castle. It’s on the ground floor of the library and has multiple rooms of comfy seating and lots of little nooks and toys. My favorite was a nice quiet room with blue decor and a mountain of stone-shaped pillows. Danny’s favorite was a little volcano he could jump into in the board book room.
So Why Does Malmo Have an Unsavory Reputation?
I don’t know. I don’t follow the news and I did not see any evidence that Malmo is anything less than a beautiful, welcoming, and safe place to be. There are probably areas of the city that you’d keep your phone in your front pocket and all that, as there are in every city, but I didn’t see them.
There have probably been some tension between locals and new arrivals, as there always is, but I didn’t see any of that, and no racist graffiti or flyers or anything like that either. All I can think, as an outsider (see disclaimers), is that if you’ve lived all your life in a tiny Swedish village, you might feel overwhelmed or anxious about seeing so many people who don’t look like you.
To those who still maintain that Malmo is dangerous, dirty, etc, I wholeheartedly invite you to literally any city of its size in the USA, have a stroll downtown, and reevaluate.
To anyone thinking of visiting Malmo, I give my unreserved approval. Especially if you have kids!
