Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [168]
If you’re bewildered by the long-armed men, sexual imagery and goat-drawn chariots, cross the road to Vitlycke Museum (0525-209 50; www.vitlyckemuseum.se; admission free; 10am-6pm May-Aug, times vary rest of year, closed Nov-Mar), which has a determined go at explaining them. Digital handheld guides can be hired for Skr40, but it’s much better to catch the English tour, complete with clued-up human being. Call ahead for tour times.
You’ll need your own transport to get to Vitlycke. By public transport, the nearest you can get is to Tanumshede, 2.5km north: regional buses on the Göteborg–Uddevalla–Strömstad route stop here. Tanumshede train station is further away still.
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Complete with cafe, STF Vandrarhem & Camping Kungälv (189 00; info@kungalvsvandrarhem.se; Färjevägen 2, Kungälv; sites/dm Skr130/200, 4-bed cabins Skr595; campsite May–mid-Sep; ) boasts a riverside setting directly across the road from the fortress.
Nearby on the river, Kungälvs Båtuthyrning (579 00; www.kbu.se, in Swedish; Filaregatan 11) rents small boats (Skr150/775 per hour/day).
Grön Express bus runs at least every 30 minutes from Göteborg to Kungälv; get off at the Eriksdal stop and walk the remaining 500m. Journey time is 30 minutes.
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BOHUSLÄN
BOHUSLÄN COAST
Dramatic, stark and irrepressibly beautiful, the Bohuslän coast is one of Sweden’s natural treasures, its landscape of craggy islands and rickety fishing villages washed in a strangely ethereal light.
If you’re heading north from Göteborg, stop at the tourist office (0303-833 27; www.bastkusten.se; Kulturhuset Fregattan; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun mid-Jun–mid-Aug; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri mid-Aug–mid-Jun) in Stenungsund to pick up brochures and maps of the surrounding area.
Transport connections are good – the E6 motorway runs north from Göteborg to Oslo via the larger towns of Stenungsund, Ljungskile, Herrestad, Munkedal and Tanumshede, passing close to Strömstad before crossing the Norwegian border. Local trains run frequently from Göteborg to Strömstad, via much the same towns as the E6 route. Bus connections from these towns to the outlying islands exist, although some aren’t terribly regular.
It’s an area suited for independent exploration – consider hiring a car or bike in Göteborg and take it in at your own pace.
Tjörn & Around
0304 / pop 14,940
A large bridge swoops from Stenungsund (on the Swedish mainland) to the island of Tjörn (www.sodrabohuslan.com), a magnet for artists thanks to its striking landscapes and stunning watercolour museum. Sailors are equally smitten, with one of Sweden’s biggest sailing competitions, the Tjörn Runt, taking place here in August.
Skärhamn and Rönnäng, in the southwest, are the island’s main settlements. Their few facilities include a small tourist office (60 10 16; turistbyran@tjorn.se; Södra Hamnen; 10am-6pm Jun-Aug, noon-5pm Tue-Sat Sep-May) at Skärhamn. At the time of research, the office’s future location was undecided so it’s best to call ahead.
Skärhamn is also home to the superb Nordiska Akvarellmuseet (Nordic Watercolour Museum; 60 00 80; www.akvarellmuseet.org; Södra Hamnen 6; adult/under 25yr Skr75/free; 11am-6pm late May–mid-Sep, noon-5pm Tue-Sun mid-Sep–late May), a sleek waterside building housing world-class exhibits. Attached is award-winning gourmet cafe-restaurant Vatten (67 00 87), whose legendary fish dishes are perfectly matched by the archipelago backdrop.
Up the hill is a working smithy, Smedja Volund (67 17 55; info.volund@swipnet.se; Gråskärsvägen 9; 11am-6pm mid-Jun–mid-Aug, noon-5pm Tue-Sun mid-Aug–mid-Jun), with a cafe and a studio displaying Berth the blacksmith’s idiosyncratic ironwork; Berth himself is often at work in the forge.
The Tjörnexpressen bus runs up to 10 times weekdays (twice Saturday and Sunday) from Göteborg’s bus terminal to Tjörn, calling at Skärhamn, Klädesholmen