A Good Reason to Disappear for a While - Ästad Vingård
At Ästad Vingård, a private sauna, cold swims, and long hours at the spa made ordinary life feel pleasantly far away.
text: Jahwanna Berglund
My first piece of advice for a stay at Ästad Vingård would be to leave yourself plenty of time. My second would be to resist finding out absolutely everything before you arrive.
I had researched our visit, of course. But what I had seen beforehand was only a small part of the experience, and I loved having so much left to discover.
We arrived in mid-October, with autumn colours spreading through the grounds and the vines lending their own character to the landscape’s quiet beauty. It is the kind of setting that makes you curious about every other time of year. I was there enjoying one season and already considering the next.
Our room sat on a small, man-made island in a natural swimming pond. It had its own sauna, with access to the water just outside. With all this, I had very little desire to leave our room. Moving between the sauna and a cold swim was a small luxury I could easily get used to.
However, there was an excellent reason to venture further: the spa. With different saunas, heated pools and cold natural bathing spots to explore, it deserves an unhurried visit. Give yourself time to find your favourites, and then a little longer to enjoy them again.
And then there are the restaurants, Logen and ÄNG. For those of us who like to know where an ingredient was grown, how something was made, and why two flavours work so well together, the food deserves its own time and curiosity. I would leave plenty of room in the itinerary for the table, too.
What surprised me was how private it all felt. Even with the accommodation fully booked, there was always space to find a quiet corner and enjoy the surroundings at our own pace. That sense of having room to yourself made it all the easier to settle in and unwind.
Throughout the stay, I kept noticing the care behind the experience. It felt like someone had thought carefully about how guests would spend their time here, and how to make it feel special.
I could describe more of what awaits, but I would rather leave a little room for discovery. My own research had barely prepared me for what it was like actually to be there. Some details are more enjoyable when you happen upon them yourself.
I would recommend Ästad to anyone considering a first visit, and just as readily to someone thinking about returning.
As for my own next visit, I am already making a case for it.
A special thank you to Polestar for making this trip possible. Exploring the Swedish west coast in the all electric Polestar 3 made the journey as much a part of the escape as the destination itself.
