PapaG

Hello - My daughter and I (from Chicago) will be visiting Stockholm in June and would like to visit my grandmother's home in Ormesberga, Sweden a small town 2 miles north of Vaxjo in Smaland. We will then continue on to Malmo, Sweden. I understand there is a train to Vaxjo from Stockholm, but am concerned about rental car availability in Vaxjo (we only drive automatic) to visit Ormesberga which is a 20 minute drive.

Another option would be to take the high speed train from Stockholm to Malmo and then rent a car and drive 2-1/2 hours north back to Vaxjo and back, making that trip in one day. Does this seem feasible?

Or, does anyone know of a tourist driver in Malmo that we can hire to take us to Vaxjo/Ormesberga and back to Malmo again?

Any ideas would be appreciated... thank you!

Cowboy1968

Maybe this can help you to get started re rental cars in Växjö

http://www.vaxjo.se/VaxjoTemplates/P....aspx?id=33259

Driving in Sweden is a very relaxed matter (except for the Stockholm metropolitan area during rush hour). If you don't want to rent in Stockholm, you could train to Växjö, pick up a car, and drop it off in Malmö.

judybr

We rented a car from Vaxjo a few years ago. We had a manual, but don't know if we asked about an automatic. It was very easy driving in the area. When we were leaving we dropped the car off at the train station, giving the keys to the people at the tourist office. The tourist office was at the train station.

Try e-mailing the tourist office with your questions. Just google Vaxjo to find the address. Have you considered the possibility of a bus to Ormesberga from Vaxjo? We didn't take buses in Sweden, but were in Denmark in May and took buses to many small towns.

Have a great trip. Judy

PapaG

Thanks so much for your suggestions! Can you recommend a hotel in Vaxjo?

judybr

We stayed at the Hotel Verend. This was in 2003. At that time the price was $85.35 per night (665 kroner). We rented the car from Avis. As I recall, we walked to the hotel from the train station and then to the Avis office from the hotel to pick up the car. The car was $201.07 for the week.

Have you found your grandmother's family in the Parish Survey records? The reason I ask is that Ormesberga is/was a parish (and also a town?). We stayed south of Vaxjo in a cottage for a week, much of the time driving around the countryside to find the farms where my ggrandparents and several generations before them had lived. There are maps showing the farms.

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

PapaG

Judy - appreciate the information regarding the hotel and Avis car rental being so close to the train station. I will definately contact both for reservations.

I found out that the Ormesberga parish church where my great grandfather was the school master and organist is still standing, which is where my grandmother was born also. I am very anxious to visit it. The church is about 20 minutes northwest of Vaxjo, so I'm sure that we will find it. Looking forward to the trip to both Stockholm and Vaxjo at the end of June!

Thanks again!