Ullared

Without Gekås, Ullared would be an unremarkable farming village in the forested inland of Falkenberg municipality, one of dozens like it in this part of Halland. With Gekås, it's one of Sweden's most-visited destinations, pulling in coach parties and car-loads of shoppers from across Scandinavia to a single vast store on the edge of the village — famous enough to have its own long-running Swedish TV series named after it.

That single fact reshapes the whole place: the village's economy, its car parks, its hotels and its identity all revolve around the store, and it's worth being upfront about that before you plan a visit.

Why go

There's really one reason people come to Ullared, and it's Gekås — a department store on a scale that has to be seen to be believed, covering everything from clothing and homeware to groceries and electronics under one roof, busy enough on peak days that its car parks and coach bays rival those of a small airport. If shopping on that scale doesn't interest you, there's little else in the village itself to detain you; this is a practical stop, not a scenic one.

For the shopping trip itself — what the store is like, how to plan a visit, and what else the complex includes — see the dedicated guide to shopping in Ullared rather than duplicating it here.

• Falkenbergmunicipality
• Gekåsmain draw
• Inlandno coast nearby
• ~25 mindrive to Falkenberg

Things to see and do

Outside the store, Ullared is quiet farming and forest country — rolling fields, small woods, a village church and not much else in the way of formal sights. Most visitors treat it purely as a shopping trip and don't linger beyond the Gekås complex, which by itself takes up the better part of a day for anyone doing it properly. If you do have time to spare, the surrounding countryside is pleasant for a short drive, and it's a reminder of how quickly Halland turns from coast to farmland once you head inland.

Beaches and nature nearby

Ullared has no coastline of its own — the nearest beach, Skrea strand at Falkenberg, is a drive of roughly half an hour, so don't expect to combine a shopping trip with an afternoon swim without factoring in the journey. For woodland instead, the beech forests and lakes of Åkulla lie a short drive south-west, offering marked trails and a genuine change of pace from the store's car parks.

Eat and drink

The Gekås complex has its own food hall and cafés built to handle the volume of visitors, which covers most people's needs on a day trip. The village itself has a small selection of grill and pizza places serving the shopping crowd. For a proper restaurant meal, most visitors drive on to Falkenberg, which has a genuinely strong food scene by comparison — see restaurants in Falkenberg.

Getting there

Ullared has no railway station — it's a car-and-coach destination, reached by road from Falkenberg or Varberg, both roughly half an hour away. Coach tours run from across southern Sweden and beyond, and the store's own site lists current transport options; see gekas.se. Drivers arriving without a coach booking should expect the car parks to fill fast on weekends and around holidays. See driving in Halland for the wider picture.