I would do Stockholm or Copenhagen. Regardless, decide soon. The only reason they haven't sold out is because they added more slots for 2014. Yesterday there were only 170 left.

Pre-race:
Hang out for a couple of days at Öland, nice beaches and as much sun-guarantee you can get in this country.

Post-race:
Stockholm or Gothenburg if your a city-lover.
Österlen in Skåne or Bohuslän archipelago for the nature-oriented.

If you decide on Stockholm and need a break from the city then take a bust to Hellasgården:
http://www.hellasgarden.se/en/

Great MTB and running trails, sauna, nice lake to swim in and a hang-out for triathletes and adventure racers.

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x2 on what HuffNPuff said. Stockholm and Copenhagen are two pretty awesome places. I was in Malmo, Sweden, which is a 20-30 min train ride from Copenhagen, the day after IM Sweden and it was the 2nd day of a folklore festival. It was pretty awesome with a free open air concert, other free music venues, food, carnival, and other stuff.

What are you planning to do at the beach? The water there is great for a wetsuit triathlon swimming, but freaken cold for normal people swimming. Plus, there's seaweed. The air temp is pleasant if you are walking around, but might be a bit frisky/chilly if you were just laying around in your swimsuits.

Oland has other stuff on it that you can do as a tourist. It's a lot more laid back and spreadout than Stockholm and Copenhagen, as far as activities to do as a tourist.

If I had to do it all over again and knowing what I know now, I would have spent an extra day or 2 in Malmo after the race to take in the week long festival.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Educate me about Sweden

Awesome cross country skiers and endurance sports culture.

Expensive.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Lots of natural blonds ;)

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Not as many as you would think. I was surprised a bit. No different than Munich, Chicago, Paris, NYC, etc.

What did surprise me when I was in Stockholm in January was the fact that women in bars don't sit back and wait to be conquered, they take the initiative themselves whenever they want to. And no, I have not been to THAT kind of bars.

My hubbie and I did the relay at Ironman Copenhagen last weekend. I don't know if you are asking specifically about Sweden for a reason or if you are open to other Iron-distance races in that region and timeframe, but you may want to give Ironman Copenhagen a serious look. Race organization was superb, and the finish line in front of Christianborg Palace (which is also home to the Danish parliament) right in the heart of the city was something else. I found parts of the bike course simply gorgeous. Overall the course was challenging and fair and definitely not flat.

In terms of travel, Copenhagen's infrastructure make it an easy place to visit. We had no problems dragging a bike box from the airport to the Metro and to our apartment. Because the finish line is in the heart of the city, our apartment was 500m away from the finish line and we didn't break the bank for accommodation. Getting to T1, which is outside the city (two separate transitions - T2 is very near the finish line) was also extremely easy. No car required, just the Metro and about a mile of walking. There's lots to see in Copenhagen, including activities for kids, like going to Tivoli, doing boat tours, checking out palaces, and experiencing the bike commuting culture. You can rent a car and go to the north of Denmark or take the train to Berlin if you plan on going to Germany.

Blonde and twins nuff said

a big part of what make s sweden charming is the summer stuff going on. summer is such a short event that the swedes try to do a lot of festival events at that time.
combined with this is the whole area where you'll be (southern part), including glass factories, folklore events, etc. on the latter, if you're into seeing real folklore, it'd be a lengthy but worthwhile trip north of stockholm to dalarna where they really keep the customs. many or most employees in the shops wear folk costumes.
i'm not putting down opportunities for swim-bike-runs, figuring that if you did IM sweden you'd have gotten your fill for the week(s).
lots of beautiful country in southern sweden. if you're at all into horses, the village of flyinge ( outside of lund) is a don't-miss. somewhat like the kentucky horse palaces, set in
beautiful countryside. lund, itself, is well worth seeing.
great place. i hope you enjoy it.
peggy

Thanks to all of you for the advice.

It could very well be that the race is sold out before I can book the vacation, but in this case we are sorted for next year ;-)

I did Copenhagen in 2012, which is a reason why I want to do another race in the north of europe.

So maybe we will rest for 2 days after the race and have a look for festivals or other events. Hellasgarden looks nice, too. Maybe we'll add some sailing along the coast ....

I believe Sweden has the highest number of power metal bands per capita. I guess it is never too early to indoctrinate the kids to power metal...

I saw a lot more in Copenhagen then I did in Kalmar. Also, I felt very smurfy compared to the Danes in general (they were quite tall and I am 5' 8"). When I got to Sweden, I felt they were similarly sized to Americans.

We don't have any wimpy power metal bands... Death metal on the other hand is one thing Sweden is well known for within underground music.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

One thing I don't get about the rest of the world is how we Americans are often tagged as "rich Americans" --yet, a lot of us couldn't afford to live in other countries of similar modernization.

However...agreed on the xc skiers...just amazing. Go Gunde! Go Wassberg! Go Torgney! (The dominant relay team of their time...then, the Norwegians arrived.)

One thing I don't get about the rest of the world is how we Americans are often tagged as "rich Americans" --yet, a lot of us couldn't afford to live in other countries of similar modernization.

Yes and no.

This is more Lavendar Room political stuff, but it's a "yes" if you are just doing a straight up comparison between a U.S. and a Sweden, but it's not apples to apples, it's more apples and oranges - there are a lot of differences and much of them subtle and it can get complicated

Let's look at food for example. Americans pay across the board some of the least expensive prices in the world for food( although many Americans think they pay a lot), whereas in places like Sweden, feed is expensive. BUT, people tend to eat less of it, which leads to less issues of obesity and being overweight( there are strong linkages between the low cost of food in the U.S. and the obesity issue) Couple that with being much more active and you have overall a much healtier population in Sweden. Healthcare is public, and a contribution of peoples taxes goes to that. However, because of the overall and collective better health of the country, the expenses for health care percapita, are not super high. So, the government has more money to spend on other public programs, like say education, so people would pay less for that than in the U.S. over the whole course of a young-persons education from kindergarten through University. More people have a higher education, which in turn leads to collectively, better higher paying jobs! And around we go

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I just spent 10 days in Sweden. I was in Stockholm for much of the trip then we flew north to Umea.

We spent time in the islands around Stockholm. The CASH there was CRAZY. Huge boats everywhere. Either everyone in that area has money or Sweden is loaded in general...lol.

I do agree with above. You don't see many fat people. And there are lots of women that are very easy on the eyes. It was a refreshing retreat from the overweight Americans.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

IM Sweden is sold out. So is Copenhagen. But I think you can get in via Nirvana.

Not quite sure if that will convince my wife ;-)

Scandinavia is well known in Germany for its high prices, good education and generally high standard in infrastructure. I can't judge the obesity topic at the moment, but my experience in Copenhagen was the same: Lots of people on bikes, whole Denmark seems to be outdoors on the weekend and the obese people you notice are probably american tourists. Love my stereotypes ;-)

Thanks, it will take us at least 10 days to sort things with our employers. After that I will check the remaining possibilities - maybe Sweden is for 2015 and I'll go to Vitoria next year.

I don't know if this would interest you, but an alternative could be the Vatternrundan - its a 300 kms loop around Lake Vattern in south central Sweden. Attracts about 20,000 cyclists from recreational levels to really serious. It sells out early. http://www.vatternrundan.se/...lang=SV&fwsite=1 I hear its an absolute blast.

Other than that, not much else to offer other than to mention that Sweden is quite expensive compared to North America. Fortunately I have a friend over there that I could stay with if I ever decide to do the Vatternrunden.

Perhaps there is an IKEA you can drop her off at ;)

Both Kalmar and Copenhagen are sold out.
Sweden is a really beautiful country, the same with Denmark.
You can always try to race Norseman.