Toulon’s 19th-century opera house is worth a visit, whether for a concert, an opera, or just to admire the architecture. Check the schedule while you’re in town—you might catch something interesting.

Discover the natural beauty of Långasjönäs nature reserve, where Nytorpet offers a plethora of outdoor activities amidst the serene surroundings. Explore hiking trails and exercise tracks, unwind in the sauna, or set out on the tranquil waters with rowing boats. Nearby, you’ll also find Långasjönäs campsite, where you can rent cottages or camp with a caravan, camper van or tent. There is also a swimming area with an accessible jetty and barbecue areas. In the 18th and 19th centuries, there were paper mills, distilleries, sawmills, and starch mills in the area. Most of the buildings are now only ruins that are well worth a visit. Located just 10 kilometres north of Karlshamn's city centre, Långasjönäs promises a retreat into nature's embrace.

The beguinages of Flanders and the Netherlands are always oases of calm and stillness, where you might still expect to see an old beguine mumbling her prayers in a doorway. Two of Ghent’s three beguinages have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Although the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage, in Begijnhofdries in Ghent, is no longer enclosed by a wall, making it simply part of the city, it still has a unique atmosphere. Today the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage is known as ‘holy corner’, a place of religious tolerance, because it has no less than three different churches: one is Roman Catholic, one is Orthodox and the other is Protestant. From bleachfield to orchard This open beguinage grew into something of a ‘beguine city’ in the 13th century, with a church, the ‘Grootjuffer’s House’, an infirmary, a chapel, more than a hundred houses for beguines, a bleachfield (a field where linen was laid out to bleach) and an orchard. After the French Revolution, with increasing industrialisation, the inhabitants moved to their new beguinage in Sint-Amandsberg in 1873.