Why solo travel to Sweden works

Sweden has been on our list for longer than I’d like to admit. There’s a pull I’ve always felt towards Scandinavia, something about the light, the water, the pace, that feels like it should be familiar, even though I’ve never set foot there. Maybe it’s heritage. Maybe it’s just the way I ended up loving cold water and quiet mornings and somehow landed in Wales instead. Either way, early Summer 2027 we’re finally going, and I’ve been thinking about why.

The journey itself is part of it. A ferry out from Stockholm, further into the archipelago than most people go, arriving at a private island with its own yoga shala, its own sauna, and nature trails we’ll spend the week slowly working our way through. No roads. No noise. Just water on every side and the Stockholm archipelago to explore, partly on foot and partly by kayak. Very few people get to see this part of Sweden. Even fewer get to stay.



This is also, I think, one of the best places we’ve chosen for anyone travelling alone. Once you arrive, everything is done for you: the cabin is ready, the meals are prepared, the days have a shape. You don’t need to plan anything or work out where to be. There’s enough time with the group to feel properly looked after and surrounded, good food, good company, evenings that unfold without effort. And there’s enough time to yourself, too, to swim alone, to sit with a book you’ve been meaning to finish for months, to not speak to anyone until you feel like it. Solo travel in Sweden has a particular quality to it: the Swedish respect for personal space means no one will chase you into conversation, and no one will think twice if you disappear for an hour. Solo doesn’t mean alone here. It just means the choice is yours.

Wild swimming holidays are having a moment, and Sweden isn’t the only place you can find one. But habits only stick when there’s the least amount of friction between wanting to do something and doing it. If the water is a drive away, you’ll swim sometimes. If you can see it from your cabin window, you’ll swim most days, without having to talk yourself into it. That’s the island we’ve chosen: remote, private cabins right on the water, nothing between you and a dip before yoga except the walk down to the shore.

There’s also a rhythm to how the Swedish do this that I think we’ve lost a bit of in the UK. When you swim, you don’t get in and rush straight back to the warmth. You get out, you sit in the cold air for a moment, and only then does the sauna’s heat mean something. The whole culture of the bastu is built around that pause, not just resting at the end of the day, but doing nothing between things, on purpose, more than once. There’s a word for it too: friluftsliv, roughly “open-air living,” the idea that time outside isn’t an extra, it’s just part of how you live. And lagom, not too much, not too little, just enough, which might be the most useful word I’ve come across in years.

We’ll be there as spring turns into early summer, when the water is still properly cold and the light barely fades. We’re not going to rush any of it. Our chef Kim, who recommended this island to us in the first place, is joining me to cook, and I can’t think of a better person to have there for it.

An archipelago, a private island, a yoga shala looking out over the water, and no decisions to be made, you know if this is for you.

This is Zest Life, the Sweden way.

NOW TAKING BOOKINGS for May 2027. Explore more HERE.

Laura Bell is the founder of Zest Life and has been leading yoga and wellness retreats in the UK and abroad for over a decade. A qualified yoga teacher and experienced retreat leader, she designs and hosts small group retreats rooted in nature, movement and genuine care. Laura also works with organisations to design and deliver bespoke corporate wellness programmes and retreats — bringing the same standards of quality and thoughtful facilitation to workplace wellbeing.