After marriage in 2004 we settled in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite being Swedish born Pakistani, my wife had not even fully explored Stockholm. Perhaps one of the reasons was that we got married at a young age. I am very fond of travelling and she adopted the same hobbies. Today we have been married for 18 years and in these eighteen years we have explored many places together.
CONFESSION
But today I would like to confess one thing through this blog. She would always mention two places and express her desire to go there. One is Trosa, a small town about 70 km south of Stockholm, famous for its summer street market. While the second location is Scandinavia's largest department store, located in Sweden's Southern Coast in Halland County. Since both places are popular for shopping, I was not interested at all. Because I am allergic to shopping since childhood. Somehow I had managed to refuse to visit these places. Thankfully, the world has progressed and today we can order online from the comfort of our homes.
SURPRISE
This year I thought why not surprise my wife and kids and take them to Ullared Gekås. When I told the family that I am planning a road trip to Scandinavia's largest department store Ullared Gekås, everyone was overjoyed. As I mentioned. I dont like shopping and especially traveling 500 km just for shopping seemed like a stupid decision. So I had to make my journey full of fun. And then I booked a motel which is 12 minutes away from Ullared Gekås.
ROUTE 154
The road that leads us to Ullared Gekås is called Route154 and there you will also find the Motel Route154. We booked our overnight stay there. A Motel where you can check in 24/7.
Motel Route 154 is owned by a very nice couple who have been managing the place for a few years. They are very hospitable and take care of their guests. The rooms were very fresh and clean and the toilets were well cleaned too. A disadvantage of the rooms is that it is not soundproofed so you will hear what the guests next to you are doing. But you won't experience it for long as most guests don't stay several days here.
The best and most attractive thing was their ground floor, where you will find a lot of activities for children and adults. Since the motel is located on a road that has nothing else around, it is well thought out to entertain the guests in the evenings. They have an 18 hole course (mini golf), shuffleboard, dart board and not least a vintage car museum. Yes, you read that right, a car museum where you can find cars from the 60s. If you don't want to stress yourself in the morning, you can enjoy breakfast in a spacious restaurant but also lunch and dinner۔
We decided to spend the night in a motel and the next day go to Ullared Gekås Department Store.
SHOPPING TOURISM
I know different types of tourism but I haven't heard about shopping tourism. Shopping tourism was a new term for me. it was shocking that people specially visit this department store from different cities. We were one of them too 😆
ULLARED
You either like it or you don't, that's what I've learned about Ullared Gekås. As always, it all depends on what you're after. We like to explore new places, so this time it was to Ullared Gekås, you can stop at several different towns along the way to rest.
In addition, surrounding this departmental store you will find several restaurants and branded outlets, but also inside Gekås there is a large restaurant with plenty of seating. There you can have your lunch or coffee.
You can imagine a place that is huge and where you can find everything from Ikea, Rusta, Ö&B all in one roof. But we were mostly looking for clothes and some small things for the family. There's always something you'll find, even if you haven't thought about it, I promise you won't come out empty-handed. It was a completely different feeling to visit Ullared Gegås. My wife has been talking about this place for almost 3 years and now we are finally here.
You will find branded clothes and other things but not at low prices. Toys aren't cheap either, you'll probably find the same thing in Stockholm on sale.
What all parents are looking for is probably mostly children's clothing. The variety is much larger than the usual Stockholm stores. Yes, I mean you can find a high quality T-shirt for 30 bucks and trousers for 100, and good quality is guaranteed as I've already washed several of them and am still using them.
Have no kindergarten children left but can strongly recommend parents to shop seasonally for the children.
Adults can also find a lot of clothes. Men's T-shirt and pants at reasonable prices. As I said, remember that we are not talking about branded stuff. But good for work and everyday life.
My daughter and wife were completely infatuated with all the knick-knacks, make-up and home textiles. why not they would be, after all it's a girls' paradise.
I think you can take advantage of it and buy large packs of things that cost a lot, e.g. hair ties, clips, tassels, deo, body spray etc., so there was a lot to pick up.
Should also say that socks and underwear can also be taken or bought at reasonable prices.
Can't say that it was a real relaxing trip, but, well, there was a lot of shopping and a bit of relaxation anyway. If nothing else, we enjoy being away from work and home.
Disclaimer
As I mentioned in my intro, from the last 2 decades I have been active on social media, google mapping and reviews, youtube and thatsup. I will share my own past interesting content from these channels, but all my upcoming content I will share on hive.blog first.