The southwest - The Rough Guide to Sweden - page 152

importance, although the only signs of the town's medieval origins that remain are the
splodges of bare rock beneath the plain, brick columns.

5

Värdshuset Tre Hjärtan
Adjacent to the church at Kyrkogatan 7, the Värdshuset Tre Hjärtan (hree Hearts)
restaurant is a vast, proud building with a crossbeamed ceiling; its name derives from
the three hearts that make up the town's emblem, Christian IV having granted the
town the right to use it in gratitude for their loyalty to Denmark. It's worth taking your
coffee and cake upstairs, where the beams and ceiling are beautifully hand-painted, and
photographs of nineteenth-century Halmstad adorn the walls.

Halmstad Castle and Najaden
Aschebergsvägen 1 • Early June to Aug Tues & Thurs 6-8pm, Sat 11am-3pm • Free
Not far from Österbron bridge in the town centre, Halmstad Castle is a striking,
coral-red affair half-hidden by trees, which contains the tourist office (see p.156).
Moored in front is Najaden , a fully rigged sailing ship built in 1897 and once used for
training by the Swedish navy.

Storgatan and around
Leading north from the square, pedestrianized Storgatan - the main thoroughfare for
restaurants and nightlife (see p.156) - is a charming street, with some creaking old
houses built in the years following the 1619 fire; the great stone arch of Norre Port
marks the street's end.

Norre Katt park
Norre Katts Gränd • Café: June-Aug daily 11am-8pm
To the right of the Norre Port arch is the splendid Norre Katt park , a delightful, shady
place that slopes down towards the river and is dotted with mature beech, copper beech
and horse-chestnut trees, with great weeping willows by the water. The town's most
serene spot is at the park's centre, where there's a lily pond crossed by a bridge. A
popular café , Rotundan , housed in an ornate former bandstand, overlooks the spot.

Halmstads Konstmuseum
Tollsgatan • Tues-Sun noon-4pm, Wed till 8pm • Free • W hallmus.se
At the northernmost edge of Norre Katt park, by the river, is Halmstads Konstmuseum ,
the town's modern art museum. Inside you'll find a changing exhibition of the museum's
collection of regional art by local painters such as Roj Friberg and Lotta Antonsson, plus
a small section devoted to the work of the Halmstad Group (see p.157).

Hallandsgården
Galgberget • Mid-June to mid-Aug noon-6pm • Guided tours 2pm daily • Free
Beyond the Konstmuseum, up on Galgberget (Gallows Hill), is a collection of a dozen or
so typically Halland buildings which were moved to the site in 1925 to form a miniature
outdoor museum, Hallandsgården , including a windmill from Morup and a schoolhouse
from Eldsberga. There are sweeping views of the Halmstad coastline and Laholmbukten
bay from the top of the tower, located beside the steps up to Hallandsgården.

Martin Luthers kyrka
Östra Lyckan 5 • June-Aug daily 9am-1pm; Sept-May Mon-Fri 9am-3pm
A kilometre east of the centre on Långgatan, one of the main roads out of town, stands
the gleaming 1970s Martin Luthers kyrka The first church in Scandinavia to be