Experience the best of Ystad

Ystad lies on the south coast of Skåne, a medieval trading port whose centre is full of half-timbered houses along cobbled lanes. A watchman still sounds a horn from the tower of St Mary's Church each night, as the town has done for centuries. The Franciscan monastery of Gråbrödraklostret, one of the best-preserved in Scandinavia, is another landmark.

Henning Mankell set his Wallander novels here, and fans trace the detective's haunts around town. Ferries leave from the harbour for the Danish island of Bornholm and for Poland. East along the coast, Ales Stenar is a ship-shaped ring of standing stones on a clifftop, and Glimmingehus, a late-medieval stronghold, stands inland. Smygehuk, the southernmost point in Sweden, is to the west.

Österlen, the region east of town, is a country of apple orchards, seaside villages and artists' studios, and its farm shops sell cider and smoked fish. Skåne's cuisine includes herring, eel and, in November, roast goose. The beaches and dunes of Sandskogen are popular in summer, when the Baltic light stays long.