Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
May 14th 2007, 7:14 pm
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Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
http://travel.independent.co.uk/europe/article2531890.ece
Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is
its islands
Many of the islands off Sweden's Bohuslan Coast are tiny and
uninhabited. Ingrid Bergman once fell in love with their wild charm -
and Siobhan Mulholland is similarly smitten
Published: 12 May 2007
Seeing the Scandinavians on their summer holidays, emerging after a
long winter of hibernation to lap up the light, is a fascinating
spectacle. For these most northern of peoples, worshipping the sun
appears to be more than mere vanity - it's fundamental to their
survival. They seem programmed to seek out any hint of a solar ray
that gives their skin a deep brown glow.
Into the long evenings, white-blond children buzz like fireflies
around the beaches and caf�s, women stroll along the quaysides as if
modelling for yachting catalogues, and men make the local beer look
like a health drink. And the best place to watch this performance is
the Bohuslan Coast - the stretch of Baltic shoreline that runs from
Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, north to the Norwegian border.
It is broadly as the guidebooks describe and the postcards depict: an
indented rocky coastline with picturesque towns and fishing villages
along its shore. It is pretty, sparkling clean, neat and tidy, benign
and safe: classically Scandinavian. I say "broadly" because describing
some of the smaller towns as fishing villages is a bit of a stretch.
Fishing has long ceased to be the dominant industry in the area;
tourism is now what makes the place tick. The fishermen's huts still
stand, the odd boat is still used for its purpose, and the nostalgia
has been carefully preserved rather than destroyed. However, the coast
has metamorphosed over the past half-century into an affluent holiday
location, with hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars, and a large
yachting fraternity. There is little that's "village-y" about the
place.
In early summer, the area is bustling with holidaymakers. It can even
get a little crowded. But, as you would expect of this nation, a well
thought-out infrastructure copes well with the numbers. Everything
works, runs on time, functions beautifully.
It's the Swedes themselves who mostly come here, with the odd
Norwegian in the mix as well. But beyond this shoreline is the real
secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal: the islands.
Invariably, whichever town or harbour you find yourself in, there will
be a boat or ferry. Anyone who knows the area will urge you to get on
a boat and head west, to tour the archipelago, leave the busy seafront
behind and sit in splendid isolation on a rock in the middle of the
Skagerrak Sea.
This is what the coast's most celebrated summer visitor, the actress
Ingrid Bergman, sought when she holidayed here after her marriage to a
fellow Swede, Lars Schmidt, in 1958. Bergman spent many summers on the
island of Danholmen, near the coastal town of Fjallbacka. It is little
more than an outcrop of rocks with a holiday cottage plonked on top.
The Hollywood star cherished Danholmen for its seclusion and
simplicity. She described it thus: "So lonely. Huge skies, immense
seas. An island full of enormous rounded boulders and little coves -
the sea everywhere. In the summer, everything so bright and shining -
sea and rocks and sky. And such a feeling of isolation."
The island and house belonged to Schmidt. Such was his love of the
place that, in her autobiography, Bergman claims that an appreciation
of Danholmen was a prerequisite to their getting married: "There was
one thing that was very important to Lars: Danholmen, his island. If I
wanted to spend summers in St Tropez, Capri or Monte Carlo, then the
marriage was off. If I liked his island, we would get married."
Although Bergman's marriage to Schmidt did not last, her love of the
island and its surroundings did. The three-times Oscar-winning actress
made her final visit to the area just weeks before her death in 1982.
After the cremation, her ashes were scattered in the sea there.
You pass close by Danholmen on your way out to the other islands in
the Fjallbacka archipelago. The most well-known are the windy
Vaderoarnas - the "Weather Islands". It's a half-hour boat trip from
Fjallbacka's small harbour to the biggest island in the group. Here,
visitors are dropped off on a small quayside and left to get on with
life in a remote settlement - just a couple of houses, a guest house
and a tiny caf� surrounded by huge sea. There is a bathing area from
where you can dive into the deep, sparkling green waters, and some
smooth rock slabs for sunbathing. But remember the name: clouds and
rain hurtle across the sea at a speed designed to catch out the
unsuspecting tourist. And when the heavens open, there is only one
real place of refuge: the Vaderoarnas Pensionat guest house. An oasis
of elegant Swedish charm, it welcomes many a bedraggled, underdressed
visitor to spend an afternoon hanging out, eating lunch and drinking
coffee while waiting for a pause in the weather before venturing out
again.
Less isolated island-hopping can be found by heading north up the
coast toward the Norwegian border and the town of Stromstad. Full of
Norwegians in pursuit of cheaper (if not exactly cheap) alcohol,
groceries and clothes, it is also a well-established seaside resort,
with several hotels and plenty of seafood restaurants.
Many holidaymakers visit Stromstad en route to its surrounding
islands, in particular the Koster islands. From the harbour at
Stromstad, it's a half-hour boat journey to the Kosters, Sweden's most
westerly inhabited islands. This pair (straightforwardly
differentiated by being called "North" and "South") are sleepy, car-
free nature reserves that visitors can tour on foot or by bike.
Nordkoster has a permanent population of around 40; it's barren and
easy to get around on foot. Sydkoster, the larger of the two, is much
greener and a joy to cycle around. Conveniently, wherever the ferry
stops there is a cycle-hire shop, so you can pick up a bike at one
location and drop it off at another. With its wooden houses and
unhurried atmosphere, Sydkoster feels locked in the 1950s, but it has
all the amenities: beaches, bathing spots, ice-cream stalls, caf�s,
guest houses, a hotel, even a shop selling fresh fish to day-trippers.
It's at bathing spots such as Hamburgo, an island - but only just -
across the strait from Hamburgsund, that you can witness more
interesting Scandinavian summer-holiday behaviour - their entry into
the sea. It goes something like this: they arrive at a beach or chosen
rock; they change into their swimsuits very fast (usually doing a mean
strip behind a towel without revealing any flesh); their towel is
draped over a rock; and without hesitation they plunge into the
bracing water. There is nothing tentative, timid or tortured in the
Swedish approach to enjoying the Skagerrak - they embrace their sea
with confidence.
After her first stay on Danholmen, Ingrid Bergman told her husband-to-
be: "I love your island." His reply was "Right, let's get married."
Although his prenuptial agreement might seem extreme, a visit to this
beautiful part of Sweden makes it less so: failure to appreciate the
islands is something that those who spend time on them just cannot
comprehend.
TRAVELLER'S GUIDE
GETTING THERE
The main gateway is Gothenburg, for which the most convenient airport
is Saeve, served from Stansted and Glasgow by Ryanair (0871 246 0000;
www.ryanair.com). Gothenburg's main airport, Landvetter, is served
from Heathrow by SAS (0845 607 2772; www.scandinavian.net); and from
Birmingham and Manchester by City Airline (0870 220 6835; www.cityairline.com).
To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from
Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk); or Pure (020-7382 7815;
www.puretrust.org.uk).
STAYING THERE
In Stromstad, the writer stayed at the Laholmen Hotell (00 46 52 619
700; www.laholmen.se). Doubles from Skr1,390 (�103), including
breakfast.
In Fjallbacka, the writer stayed at Caf� Bryggan (00 46 52 53 1060) in
Ingrid Bergman Square. Doubles from Skr980 (�73), room only.
Vaderoarna Pensionat (00 46 52 532 001; www.vaderoarna.nu). Doubles
from Skr1,200 (�90), including breakfast.
MORE INFORMATION
West Sweden Tourist Board: 00 46 31 818 300; www.west-sweden.com
Stromstad Tourist Board: 00 46 52 662 330; www.stromstadtourist.se
Koster Islands Tourism: www.kosteroarna.com
Visit Sweden: 020-7108 6168; www.visitsweden.com
Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is
its islands
Many of the islands off Sweden's Bohuslan Coast are tiny and
uninhabited. Ingrid Bergman once fell in love with their wild charm -
and Siobhan Mulholland is similarly smitten
Published: 12 May 2007
Seeing the Scandinavians on their summer holidays, emerging after a
long winter of hibernation to lap up the light, is a fascinating
spectacle. For these most northern of peoples, worshipping the sun
appears to be more than mere vanity - it's fundamental to their
survival. They seem programmed to seek out any hint of a solar ray
that gives their skin a deep brown glow.
Into the long evenings, white-blond children buzz like fireflies
around the beaches and caf�s, women stroll along the quaysides as if
modelling for yachting catalogues, and men make the local beer look
like a health drink. And the best place to watch this performance is
the Bohuslan Coast - the stretch of Baltic shoreline that runs from
Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, north to the Norwegian border.
It is broadly as the guidebooks describe and the postcards depict: an
indented rocky coastline with picturesque towns and fishing villages
along its shore. It is pretty, sparkling clean, neat and tidy, benign
and safe: classically Scandinavian. I say "broadly" because describing
some of the smaller towns as fishing villages is a bit of a stretch.
Fishing has long ceased to be the dominant industry in the area;
tourism is now what makes the place tick. The fishermen's huts still
stand, the odd boat is still used for its purpose, and the nostalgia
has been carefully preserved rather than destroyed. However, the coast
has metamorphosed over the past half-century into an affluent holiday
location, with hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars, and a large
yachting fraternity. There is little that's "village-y" about the
place.
In early summer, the area is bustling with holidaymakers. It can even
get a little crowded. But, as you would expect of this nation, a well
thought-out infrastructure copes well with the numbers. Everything
works, runs on time, functions beautifully.
It's the Swedes themselves who mostly come here, with the odd
Norwegian in the mix as well. But beyond this shoreline is the real
secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal: the islands.
Invariably, whichever town or harbour you find yourself in, there will
be a boat or ferry. Anyone who knows the area will urge you to get on
a boat and head west, to tour the archipelago, leave the busy seafront
behind and sit in splendid isolation on a rock in the middle of the
Skagerrak Sea.
This is what the coast's most celebrated summer visitor, the actress
Ingrid Bergman, sought when she holidayed here after her marriage to a
fellow Swede, Lars Schmidt, in 1958. Bergman spent many summers on the
island of Danholmen, near the coastal town of Fjallbacka. It is little
more than an outcrop of rocks with a holiday cottage plonked on top.
The Hollywood star cherished Danholmen for its seclusion and
simplicity. She described it thus: "So lonely. Huge skies, immense
seas. An island full of enormous rounded boulders and little coves -
the sea everywhere. In the summer, everything so bright and shining -
sea and rocks and sky. And such a feeling of isolation."
The island and house belonged to Schmidt. Such was his love of the
place that, in her autobiography, Bergman claims that an appreciation
of Danholmen was a prerequisite to their getting married: "There was
one thing that was very important to Lars: Danholmen, his island. If I
wanted to spend summers in St Tropez, Capri or Monte Carlo, then the
marriage was off. If I liked his island, we would get married."
Although Bergman's marriage to Schmidt did not last, her love of the
island and its surroundings did. The three-times Oscar-winning actress
made her final visit to the area just weeks before her death in 1982.
After the cremation, her ashes were scattered in the sea there.
You pass close by Danholmen on your way out to the other islands in
the Fjallbacka archipelago. The most well-known are the windy
Vaderoarnas - the "Weather Islands". It's a half-hour boat trip from
Fjallbacka's small harbour to the biggest island in the group. Here,
visitors are dropped off on a small quayside and left to get on with
life in a remote settlement - just a couple of houses, a guest house
and a tiny caf� surrounded by huge sea. There is a bathing area from
where you can dive into the deep, sparkling green waters, and some
smooth rock slabs for sunbathing. But remember the name: clouds and
rain hurtle across the sea at a speed designed to catch out the
unsuspecting tourist. And when the heavens open, there is only one
real place of refuge: the Vaderoarnas Pensionat guest house. An oasis
of elegant Swedish charm, it welcomes many a bedraggled, underdressed
visitor to spend an afternoon hanging out, eating lunch and drinking
coffee while waiting for a pause in the weather before venturing out
again.
Less isolated island-hopping can be found by heading north up the
coast toward the Norwegian border and the town of Stromstad. Full of
Norwegians in pursuit of cheaper (if not exactly cheap) alcohol,
groceries and clothes, it is also a well-established seaside resort,
with several hotels and plenty of seafood restaurants.
Many holidaymakers visit Stromstad en route to its surrounding
islands, in particular the Koster islands. From the harbour at
Stromstad, it's a half-hour boat journey to the Kosters, Sweden's most
westerly inhabited islands. This pair (straightforwardly
differentiated by being called "North" and "South") are sleepy, car-
free nature reserves that visitors can tour on foot or by bike.
Nordkoster has a permanent population of around 40; it's barren and
easy to get around on foot. Sydkoster, the larger of the two, is much
greener and a joy to cycle around. Conveniently, wherever the ferry
stops there is a cycle-hire shop, so you can pick up a bike at one
location and drop it off at another. With its wooden houses and
unhurried atmosphere, Sydkoster feels locked in the 1950s, but it has
all the amenities: beaches, bathing spots, ice-cream stalls, caf�s,
guest houses, a hotel, even a shop selling fresh fish to day-trippers.
It's at bathing spots such as Hamburgo, an island - but only just -
across the strait from Hamburgsund, that you can witness more
interesting Scandinavian summer-holiday behaviour - their entry into
the sea. It goes something like this: they arrive at a beach or chosen
rock; they change into their swimsuits very fast (usually doing a mean
strip behind a towel without revealing any flesh); their towel is
draped over a rock; and without hesitation they plunge into the
bracing water. There is nothing tentative, timid or tortured in the
Swedish approach to enjoying the Skagerrak - they embrace their sea
with confidence.
After her first stay on Danholmen, Ingrid Bergman told her husband-to-
be: "I love your island." His reply was "Right, let's get married."
Although his prenuptial agreement might seem extreme, a visit to this
beautiful part of Sweden makes it less so: failure to appreciate the
islands is something that those who spend time on them just cannot
comprehend.
TRAVELLER'S GUIDE
GETTING THERE
The main gateway is Gothenburg, for which the most convenient airport
is Saeve, served from Stansted and Glasgow by Ryanair (0871 246 0000;
www.ryanair.com). Gothenburg's main airport, Landvetter, is served
from Heathrow by SAS (0845 607 2772; www.scandinavian.net); and from
Birmingham and Manchester by City Airline (0870 220 6835; www.cityairline.com).
To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from
Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk); or Pure (020-7382 7815;
www.puretrust.org.uk).
STAYING THERE
In Stromstad, the writer stayed at the Laholmen Hotell (00 46 52 619
700; www.laholmen.se). Doubles from Skr1,390 (�103), including
breakfast.
In Fjallbacka, the writer stayed at Caf� Bryggan (00 46 52 53 1060) in
Ingrid Bergman Square. Doubles from Skr980 (�73), room only.
Vaderoarna Pensionat (00 46 52 532 001; www.vaderoarna.nu). Doubles
from Skr1,200 (�90), including breakfast.
MORE INFORMATION
West Sweden Tourist Board: 00 46 31 818 300; www.west-sweden.com
Stromstad Tourist Board: 00 46 52 662 330; www.stromstadtourist.se
Koster Islands Tourism: www.kosteroarna.com
Visit Sweden: 020-7108 6168; www.visitsweden.com
May 15th 2007, 6:05 am
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
"Are you related to Martin?
tim
tim
May 15th 2007, 6:08 am
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
On 15 May, 20:05, "tim....." <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Are you related to Martin?
>
> tim
er..........possibly, why do you ask ?
> "Are you related to Martin?
>
> tim
er..........possibly, why do you ask ?
May 15th 2007, 8:12 am
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Warning virus
"Nas ne dogonjat" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de
news: [email protected] om...
http://travel.independent.co.uk/euro...cle2531890.ece
Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is
its islands
Many of the islands off Sweden's Bohuslan Coast are tiny and
uninhabited. Ingrid Bergman once fell in love with their wild charm -
and Siobhan Mulholland is similarly smitten
Published: 12 May 2007
Seeing the Scandinavians on their summer holidays, emerging after a
long winter of hibernation to lap up the light, is a fascinating
spectacle. For these most northern of peoples, worshipping the sun
appears to be more than mere vanity - it's fundamental to their
survival. They seem programmed to seek out any hint of a solar ray
that gives their skin a deep brown glow.
Into the long evenings, white-blond children buzz like fireflies
around the beaches and cafés, women stroll along the quaysides as if
modelling for yachting catalogues, and men make the local beer look
like a health drink. And the best place to watch this performance is
the Bohuslan Coast - the stretch of Baltic shoreline that runs from
Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, north to the Norwegian border.
It is broadly as the guidebooks describe and the postcards depict: an
indented rocky coastline with picturesque towns and fishing villages
along its shore. It is pretty, sparkling clean, neat and tidy, benign
and safe: classically Scandinavian. I say "broadly" because describing
some of the smaller towns as fishing villages is a bit of a stretch.
Fishing has long ceased to be the dominant industry in the area;
tourism is now what makes the place tick. The fishermen's huts still
stand, the odd boat is still used for its purpose, and the nostalgia
has been carefully preserved rather than destroyed. However, the coast
has metamorphosed over the past half-century into an affluent holiday
location, with hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars, and a large
yachting fraternity. There is little that's "village-y" about the
place.
In early summer, the area is bustling with holidaymakers. It can even
get a little crowded. But, as you would expect of this nation, a well
thought-out infrastructure copes well with the numbers. Everything
works, runs on time, functions beautifully.
It's the Swedes themselves who mostly come here, with the odd
Norwegian in the mix as well. But beyond this shoreline is the real
secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal: the islands.
Invariably, whichever town or harbour you find yourself in, there will
be a boat or ferry. Anyone who knows the area will urge you to get on
a boat and head west, to tour the archipelago, leave the busy seafront
behind and sit in splendid isolation on a rock in the middle of the
Skagerrak Sea.
This is what the coast's most celebrated summer visitor, the actress
Ingrid Bergman, sought when she holidayed here after her marriage to a
fellow Swede, Lars Schmidt, in 1958. Bergman spent many summers on the
island of Danholmen, near the coastal town of Fjallbacka. It is little
more than an outcrop of rocks with a holiday cottage plonked on top.
The Hollywood star cherished Danholmen for its seclusion and
simplicity. She described it thus: "So lonely. Huge skies, immense
seas. An island full of enormous rounded boulders and little coves -
the sea everywhere. In the summer, everything so bright and shining -
sea and rocks and sky. And such a feeling of isolation."
The island and house belonged to Schmidt. Such was his love of the
place that, in her autobiography, Bergman claims that an appreciation
of Danholmen was a prerequisite to their getting married: "There was
one thing that was very important to Lars: Danholmen, his island. If I
wanted to spend summers in St Tropez, Capri or Monte Carlo, then the
marriage was off. If I liked his island, we would get married."
Although Bergman's marriage to Schmidt did not last, her love of the
island and its surroundings did. The three-times Oscar-winning actress
made her final visit to the area just weeks before her death in 1982.
After the cremation, her ashes were scattered in the sea there.
You pass close by Danholmen on your way out to the other islands in
the Fjallbacka archipelago. The most well-known are the windy
Vaderoarnas - the "Weather Islands". It's a half-hour boat trip from
Fjallbacka's small harbour to the biggest island in the group. Here,
visitors are dropped off on a small quayside and left to get on with
life in a remote settlement - just a couple of houses, a guest house
and a tiny café surrounded by huge sea. There is a bathing area from
where you can dive into the deep, sparkling green waters, and some
smooth rock slabs for sunbathing. But remember the name: clouds and
rain hurtle across the sea at a speed designed to catch out the
unsuspecting tourist. And when the heavens open, there is only one
real place of refuge: the Vaderoarnas Pensionat guest house. An oasis
of elegant Swedish charm, it welcomes many a bedraggled, underdressed
visitor to spend an afternoon hanging out, eating lunch and drinking
coffee while waiting for a pause in the weather before venturing out
again.
Less isolated island-hopping can be found by heading north up the
coast toward the Norwegian border and the town of Stromstad. Full of
Norwegians in pursuit of cheaper (if not exactly cheap) alcohol,
groceries and clothes, it is also a well-established seaside resort,
with several hotels and plenty of seafood restaurants.
Many holidaymakers visit Stromstad en route to its surrounding
islands, in particular the Koster islands. From the harbour at
Stromstad, it's a half-hour boat journey to the Kosters, Sweden's most
westerly inhabited islands. This pair (straightforwardly
differentiated by being called "North" and "South") are sleepy, car-
free nature reserves that visitors can tour on foot or by bike.
Nordkoster has a permanent population of around 40; it's barren and
easy to get around on foot. Sydkoster, the larger of the two, is much
greener and a joy to cycle around. Conveniently, wherever the ferry
stops there is a cycle-hire shop, so you can pick up a bike at one
location and drop it off at another. With its wooden houses and
unhurried atmosphere, Sydkoster feels locked in the 1950s, but it has
all the amenities: beaches, bathing spots, ice-cream stalls, cafés,
guest houses, a hotel, even a shop selling fresh fish to day-trippers.
It's at bathing spots such as Hamburgo, an island - but only just -
across the strait from Hamburgsund, that you can witness more
interesting Scandinavian summer-holiday behaviour - their entry into
the sea. It goes something like this: they arrive at a beach or chosen
rock; they change into their swimsuits very fast (usually doing a mean
strip behind a towel without revealing any flesh); their towel is
draped over a rock; and without hesitation they plunge into the
bracing water. There is nothing tentative, timid or tortured in the
Swedish approach to enjoying the Skagerrak - they embrace their sea
with confidence.
After her first stay on Danholmen, Ingrid Bergman told her husband-to-
be: "I love your island." His reply was "Right, let's get married."
Although his prenuptial agreement might seem extreme, a visit to this
beautiful part of Sweden makes it less so: failure to appreciate the
islands is something that those who spend time on them just cannot
comprehend.
TRAVELLER'S GUIDE
GETTING THERE
The main gateway is Gothenburg, for which the most convenient airport
is Saeve, served from Stansted and Glasgow by Ryanair (0871 246 0000;
www.ryanair.com). Gothenburg's main airport, Landvetter, is served
from Heathrow by SAS (0845 607 2772; www.scandinavian.net); and from
Birmingham and Manchester by City Airline (0870 220 6835;
www.cityairline.com).
To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from
Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk); or Pure (020-7382 7815;
www.puretrust.org.uk).
STAYING THERE
In Stromstad, the writer stayed at the Laholmen Hotell (00 46 52 619
700; www.laholmen.se). Doubles from Skr1,390 (£103), including
breakfast.
In Fjallbacka, the writer stayed at Café Bryggan (00 46 52 53 1060) in
Ingrid Bergman Square. Doubles from Skr980 (£73), room only.
Vaderoarna Pensionat (00 46 52 532 001; www.vaderoarna.nu). Doubles
from Skr1,200 (£90), including breakfast.
MORE INFORMATION
West Sweden Tourist Board: 00 46 31 818 300; www.west-sweden.com
Stromstad Tourist Board: 00 46 52 662 330; www.stromstadtourist.se
Koster Islands Tourism: www.kosteroarna.com
Visit Sweden: 020-7108 6168; www.visitsweden.com
news: [email protected] om...
http://travel.independent.co.uk/euro...cle2531890.ece
Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is
its islands
Many of the islands off Sweden's Bohuslan Coast are tiny and
uninhabited. Ingrid Bergman once fell in love with their wild charm -
and Siobhan Mulholland is similarly smitten
Published: 12 May 2007
Seeing the Scandinavians on their summer holidays, emerging after a
long winter of hibernation to lap up the light, is a fascinating
spectacle. For these most northern of peoples, worshipping the sun
appears to be more than mere vanity - it's fundamental to their
survival. They seem programmed to seek out any hint of a solar ray
that gives their skin a deep brown glow.
Into the long evenings, white-blond children buzz like fireflies
around the beaches and cafés, women stroll along the quaysides as if
modelling for yachting catalogues, and men make the local beer look
like a health drink. And the best place to watch this performance is
the Bohuslan Coast - the stretch of Baltic shoreline that runs from
Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, north to the Norwegian border.
It is broadly as the guidebooks describe and the postcards depict: an
indented rocky coastline with picturesque towns and fishing villages
along its shore. It is pretty, sparkling clean, neat and tidy, benign
and safe: classically Scandinavian. I say "broadly" because describing
some of the smaller towns as fishing villages is a bit of a stretch.
Fishing has long ceased to be the dominant industry in the area;
tourism is now what makes the place tick. The fishermen's huts still
stand, the odd boat is still used for its purpose, and the nostalgia
has been carefully preserved rather than destroyed. However, the coast
has metamorphosed over the past half-century into an affluent holiday
location, with hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars, and a large
yachting fraternity. There is little that's "village-y" about the
place.
In early summer, the area is bustling with holidaymakers. It can even
get a little crowded. But, as you would expect of this nation, a well
thought-out infrastructure copes well with the numbers. Everything
works, runs on time, functions beautifully.
It's the Swedes themselves who mostly come here, with the odd
Norwegian in the mix as well. But beyond this shoreline is the real
secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal: the islands.
Invariably, whichever town or harbour you find yourself in, there will
be a boat or ferry. Anyone who knows the area will urge you to get on
a boat and head west, to tour the archipelago, leave the busy seafront
behind and sit in splendid isolation on a rock in the middle of the
Skagerrak Sea.
This is what the coast's most celebrated summer visitor, the actress
Ingrid Bergman, sought when she holidayed here after her marriage to a
fellow Swede, Lars Schmidt, in 1958. Bergman spent many summers on the
island of Danholmen, near the coastal town of Fjallbacka. It is little
more than an outcrop of rocks with a holiday cottage plonked on top.
The Hollywood star cherished Danholmen for its seclusion and
simplicity. She described it thus: "So lonely. Huge skies, immense
seas. An island full of enormous rounded boulders and little coves -
the sea everywhere. In the summer, everything so bright and shining -
sea and rocks and sky. And such a feeling of isolation."
The island and house belonged to Schmidt. Such was his love of the
place that, in her autobiography, Bergman claims that an appreciation
of Danholmen was a prerequisite to their getting married: "There was
one thing that was very important to Lars: Danholmen, his island. If I
wanted to spend summers in St Tropez, Capri or Monte Carlo, then the
marriage was off. If I liked his island, we would get married."
Although Bergman's marriage to Schmidt did not last, her love of the
island and its surroundings did. The three-times Oscar-winning actress
made her final visit to the area just weeks before her death in 1982.
After the cremation, her ashes were scattered in the sea there.
You pass close by Danholmen on your way out to the other islands in
the Fjallbacka archipelago. The most well-known are the windy
Vaderoarnas - the "Weather Islands". It's a half-hour boat trip from
Fjallbacka's small harbour to the biggest island in the group. Here,
visitors are dropped off on a small quayside and left to get on with
life in a remote settlement - just a couple of houses, a guest house
and a tiny café surrounded by huge sea. There is a bathing area from
where you can dive into the deep, sparkling green waters, and some
smooth rock slabs for sunbathing. But remember the name: clouds and
rain hurtle across the sea at a speed designed to catch out the
unsuspecting tourist. And when the heavens open, there is only one
real place of refuge: the Vaderoarnas Pensionat guest house. An oasis
of elegant Swedish charm, it welcomes many a bedraggled, underdressed
visitor to spend an afternoon hanging out, eating lunch and drinking
coffee while waiting for a pause in the weather before venturing out
again.
Less isolated island-hopping can be found by heading north up the
coast toward the Norwegian border and the town of Stromstad. Full of
Norwegians in pursuit of cheaper (if not exactly cheap) alcohol,
groceries and clothes, it is also a well-established seaside resort,
with several hotels and plenty of seafood restaurants.
Many holidaymakers visit Stromstad en route to its surrounding
islands, in particular the Koster islands. From the harbour at
Stromstad, it's a half-hour boat journey to the Kosters, Sweden's most
westerly inhabited islands. This pair (straightforwardly
differentiated by being called "North" and "South") are sleepy, car-
free nature reserves that visitors can tour on foot or by bike.
Nordkoster has a permanent population of around 40; it's barren and
easy to get around on foot. Sydkoster, the larger of the two, is much
greener and a joy to cycle around. Conveniently, wherever the ferry
stops there is a cycle-hire shop, so you can pick up a bike at one
location and drop it off at another. With its wooden houses and
unhurried atmosphere, Sydkoster feels locked in the 1950s, but it has
all the amenities: beaches, bathing spots, ice-cream stalls, cafés,
guest houses, a hotel, even a shop selling fresh fish to day-trippers.
It's at bathing spots such as Hamburgo, an island - but only just -
across the strait from Hamburgsund, that you can witness more
interesting Scandinavian summer-holiday behaviour - their entry into
the sea. It goes something like this: they arrive at a beach or chosen
rock; they change into their swimsuits very fast (usually doing a mean
strip behind a towel without revealing any flesh); their towel is
draped over a rock; and without hesitation they plunge into the
bracing water. There is nothing tentative, timid or tortured in the
Swedish approach to enjoying the Skagerrak - they embrace their sea
with confidence.
After her first stay on Danholmen, Ingrid Bergman told her husband-to-
be: "I love your island." His reply was "Right, let's get married."
Although his prenuptial agreement might seem extreme, a visit to this
beautiful part of Sweden makes it less so: failure to appreciate the
islands is something that those who spend time on them just cannot
comprehend.
TRAVELLER'S GUIDE
GETTING THERE
The main gateway is Gothenburg, for which the most convenient airport
is Saeve, served from Stansted and Glasgow by Ryanair (0871 246 0000;
www.ryanair.com). Gothenburg's main airport, Landvetter, is served
from Heathrow by SAS (0845 607 2772; www.scandinavian.net); and from
Birmingham and Manchester by City Airline (0870 220 6835;
www.cityairline.com).
To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from
Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk); or Pure (020-7382 7815;
www.puretrust.org.uk).
STAYING THERE
In Stromstad, the writer stayed at the Laholmen Hotell (00 46 52 619
700; www.laholmen.se). Doubles from Skr1,390 (£103), including
breakfast.
In Fjallbacka, the writer stayed at Café Bryggan (00 46 52 53 1060) in
Ingrid Bergman Square. Doubles from Skr980 (£73), room only.
Vaderoarna Pensionat (00 46 52 532 001; www.vaderoarna.nu). Doubles
from Skr1,200 (£90), including breakfast.
MORE INFORMATION
West Sweden Tourist Board: 00 46 31 818 300; www.west-sweden.com
Stromstad Tourist Board: 00 46 52 662 330; www.stromstadtourist.se
Koster Islands Tourism: www.kosteroarna.com
Visit Sweden: 020-7108 6168; www.visitsweden.com
May 15th 2007, 9:47 am
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
On Tue, 15 May 2007 19:05:19 +0100, "tim....." <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Are you related to Martin?
>
>tim
>
Most meaningless post of the year?
--
Martin
wrote:
>
>"Are you related to Martin?
>
>tim
>
Most meaningless post of the year?
--
Martin
May 16th 2007, 8:04 am
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Small and Swede: The secret of the Bohuslan Coast's unique appeal is its islands
Nope clairvoyant
Martin the cretin= michaelnewport=divamanque whatever
One and only "person"
"Martin" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
> On Tue, 15 May 2007 19:05:19 +0100, "tim....." <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Are you related to Martin?
>>
>>tim
>>
>
> Most meaningless post of the year?
> --
>
> Martin
>
Martin the cretin= michaelnewport=divamanque whatever
One and only "person"
"Martin" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
> On Tue, 15 May 2007 19:05:19 +0100, "tim....." <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Are you related to Martin?
>>
>>tim
>>
>
> Most meaningless post of the year?
> --
>
> Martin
>
