World Class – Sweden – High Design

After serving five years on the board of the Swedish Ecotourism Society, Håkan Strotz began working with ecologist/designer Ulrika Krynitz to create the perfect ecolodge. The result: a six-cabin wilderness retreat named Urnatur (“from nature”), which opened near Sweden’s Lake Vättern in 2007. From here guests can explore some of the country’s most striking landscapes (think lakeside cliffs and fields of wildflowers) before retreating to their wood-fired saunas and solar-powered showers. Few people outside of Scandinavia know about this off-the-grid forest hermitage, but its luxury-is-simplicity message is catching on fast (doubles from $215, including meals).


  Text by Global Travel Editor Costas Christ; Photograph by Neil Rogers/Nature's Best