Until this summer, getting from Malmö to Oslo meant patchy transfers and long bus stretches. Snälltåget, the Swedish rail operator known for its red-shelled trains, has fixed that with a direct daily service along Sweden's western corridor – six and a half hours of coastal scenery, cardamom buns and slightly retro carriages, with one-way fares from 149 Swedish kronor (about £11). The company says more than 25,000 passengers have already ridden it since launch, and more departures are planned next year. The one catch: for now there's a single Oslo-bound train a day, leaving Malmö Central at 6.38am.

The writer's route turns the journey into a proper holiday rather than a transfer. First stop, Malmö itself – a city they argue is unfairly overshadowed by Stockholm. Nearly half the population is under 35 and 187 nationalities live there, and it shows: design fans can visit the Form/Design Center in a former 16th-century grain store, plus the Moderna Museet and Malmö Konsthall galleries, while the creative Möllevången district packs hip restaurants and organic wine bars around leafy squares. Far i Hatten, a pizza spot in wooden huts in Folkets Park, gets a shout-out.

Next, Varberg – think Swedish coastal market town, all cobbles, bunting and weekend markets, but with a bathing culture over a century old. The star attraction is the Kallbadhuset, a Moorish-style cold bath house on wooden piles above the Kattegat, where roughly £8 buys you a sauna with sea views and a bracing plunge (it's nude, segregated by sex). Stranger still: Hotell Gästis hides a spa replica of Lenin's favourite St Petersburg bathhouse, built by eccentric owner Lasse Diding in 75,000-plus cobalt tiles, candlelit busts and all. Doubles at the hotel start around £90.

Then Gothenburg, just 39 minutes away by fast train. Base yourself at Hotel Pigalle – French boudoir style, doubles from £85, five minutes from the station – and work in vintage shopping on Magasingatan, a fika of cardamom bun and latte at Da Matteo (a three-floor bakery-cafe-roastery), and a long wander through Slottsskogen, a Hyde Park-sized green space with deer, penguins and Gotland ponies.

The final leg to Oslo is the scenic peak: lakes widening, granite canyons, conifer forests and grazing cows drawing kids to the windows. Once in Norway, Citybox offers minimalist singles from £68 a short walk from the station, and a 30-minute hike from Sognsvann lake up to the Vettakollen viewpoint delivers that classic Scandinavian payoff – city skyline meeting fjord.

For anyone plotting a Sweden–Norway trip without flying, this is a genuinely practical new link: cheap, direct, and lined with stop-off towns worth a night or two each.