Holiday and work in southern Sweden: These are the best workation tips

Colorful bathhouses, miles of bright beaches, a marina, and a photography museum featuring works by Herb Ritts and Helmut Newton : Skanör med Falsterbo is Sweden's cozy answer to the Hamptons. A true paradise for kitesurfers, golfers, and all travelers escaping the German heat to fresh Sweden. "Coolcation" is all the rage.

In Skåne, Sweden's southernmost province, you can enjoy the summer especially well – and keep a cool head so you can get a little work done. The rich and beautiful from Malmö, Skåne's capital, have traditionally spent their holidays in the white wooden villas on Falsterbo since the 1960s. An expensive place, but a beautiful one.

In midsummer, the "Villa Falsterbo," with five bedrooms, a pool, and Wi-Fi, costs up to €20,000 per week. However, smaller, more affordable properties can also be found here (starting at around €800 per week). For example, you can stay at the "Hotel Gässlingen" from €180 per night. The "Strandvillan Ljunghusen" on the Falsterbo Canal, on the other hand, has space for up to 20 guests, making it an ideal location for a team retreat by the sea. A full-board conference day with overnight accommodation costs €273 per person. The menu includes grilled mackerel with horseradish yogurt, dill, and white currants, and on Fridays from 4 p.m., you can sip oysters with champagne at the Havsbad in Skanör.

In general, the food is another argument for Skåne, besides the summer resort: The New York Times now ranks southern Sweden among the most exciting culinary destinations in the world. Here, you'll find beech trees, apple trees, farm shops, and exciting restaurants. Fishing villages and rolling hills characterize the Österlen region, for example—and a special light, which is why painters and top chefs settle here.

Like Daniel Berlin (42; two Michelin stars) – everyone is clamoring for his restaurant "Vyn" (in German, "The View"). He serves 16 courses for 364 euros, and reservations are being fought over for each of the 30 seats. The name of the restaurant says it all: The newest gourmet pilgrimage site is picturesquely situated on a hill in the town of Simrishamn – and while king crab and vendace caviar catch the eye on the plate, visitors can see all the way to Bornholm through the large windows.

In the fishing village of Brantevik, there's "Jazz under the Stars" on Wednesdays. Twenty kilometers south is Sandhammaran, one of the most beautiful beaches (twelve kilometers of fine, white sand). Swimming is often possible there until mid-September.

Nearby, in Bastad, top chef Magnus Nilsson (41) also plans to open a new restaurant following his Michelin-starred success with the "Fäviken" restaurant. The "Pensionat Furuhem," a 16-room hotel with a bakery and restaurant in a 1905 home economics school, is scheduled to open its doors this fall.

Thanks to the Øresund Bridge, it's just a stone's throw from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city and now a true IT hub. Half of the population here is under 35. At the end of August, there's a midnight run through the old town, which anyone can participate in. Malmö's market hall ("Saluhall") offers local specialties, cheese from Österlen, meatballs with lingonberries, and sweet kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls). Gert Wingårdh (74) converted the old warehouse, which once housed freight trains. The Swedish star architect also designed the "Emporia," one of Europe's largest shopping centers, with a fascinating shell of amber-colored glass.

From here, the cliffs of the Kullen Peninsula are a one-and-a-half-hour drive away. Kayaking tours offer the chance to spot porpoises that live off the coast.

Anyone bringing children should really travel further to Småland (the "real" one, after which the children's paradise at Ikea was named). "Here we sit, you and I, and it's lovely," as it says in Astrid Lindgren's book "Stones on the Kitchen Counter." The phrase comes from her father, Samuel Ericsson , and it could be said anywhere in Sweden in the summer.

The author is the reason why generations of Germans have longed for flower meadows, birch groves, and blueberry patches since early childhood. And now is the ideal time to take a closer look at this paradise.