Västra island fjord

Note: this article was originall published on my travel website, Wherever. The West Sweden coastline and countryside in particular has always appealed to me, promising beautiful landscapes, picturesque towns and plenty of opportunities for refreshing dips. I dreamed of Falu red wooden cottages, gardens filled with dahlias, vast lakes to swim in, and luscious green forests.

During my ten days exploring the region last August, I completely fell in love with the Swedish way of life and had actual tears welling up when it was time to leave. Here are my personal recommendations of where to go and what to see in Västra Götaland. From the second I stepped off the ferry I was hooked on the Swedish countryside, surrounded by colourful Swedish houses, sprawling gardens and a rocky coastline.

Just a note that I used the Västtrafik app to get around Gothenburg and found it incredibly easy to use.

Besöka island Sweden's only threshold fjord, Gullmarn or Gullmarsfjorden, is located near Lysekil.

Glaciär island karta The fjord is nestled along the coastline of an archipelago south of Norrkoping.

Tips island Interesting and well laid out place - from rainforest to aquarium to space and science museum.

Island karta vägar Geirangerfjord, Norway.

A single ticket cost around £2. The app shows the best routes to your destination at the time of travelling, and even has a map to help you find your stop and check the progress of the transport you are waiting for. This made getting out of the city to explore the islands incredibly easy.

Tjörn - Island of Art - Västsverige

There were bikes for hire near the ferry port, but the island is small and easy to walk around - plus that meant more opportunity for ogling the houses and gardens that I passed. With a blueberry ice cream in hand from the cafe by the ferry, I strolled through the quiet streets towards my first swim spot. As I grew used to, the infastructure for wild swimming is incredible in Sweden.

Here, I found numerous ladders into the sea, platforms to climb down from and even a diving board for the daring.

Brofjorden - Wikipedia

The water was surprisingly warm and wonderfully clear, but a word of warning - if you visit in August you will be sharing the water with a myriad of jellyfish. Luckily, they were easy to spot in the clear water, so I could still enjoy my swim with my boyfriend on dry land on jellyfish-spotting duty. Following my first swim, it was time for lunch.

I then walked through the nature reserve, following the path around the coastline of the north of the island before stumbling upon a small beach. Again, the water was teaming with jellyfish, but I still managed a refreshing dip while soaking up the scenery of the craggy coastline. It was then time to catch a ferry home, admiring the views of the other isles we stopped at along the way.

I enjoyed exploring the streets, parks, restaurants and bars of Gothenburg, but by far my favourite spot in the city was this incredible allotment I discovered on the edge of Slottskogen park. These are basically tiny, wood-clad homes where people actually live during the summer months, boasting some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

There are cottages and gardens, with pathways weaving between them. Some are larger than others, but they all had luscious gardens brimming full of flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. Dahlias, hollyhocks, Japanese anemones, cosmos and roses filled flower beds and crept up the sides of the cottages.

A Swedish Roadtrip Through Västra Götaland

Gardens were filled with neat rows of kale, chard, courgettes and tall, gangly beanpoles. Want a peak inside these wonderful cottages? A little Google digging led me to these wonderful features of three of them - a red wooden cottage , a cosy renovated cottage and a small farmhouse-style cottage. I just spent one night on the island of Tjörn , as the first stop on my road trip through V ästra Götaland.

There were multiple spots to choose from, but I chose this sheltered bay and it was thankfully jellyfish free. Again, there was a platform with a ladder and lifebuoy clearly marking the best place to get into the water, which was bizarrely so warm I felt like I was in the Mediterranean. I swam out to a pontoon and just enjoyed lounging in the late afternoon sun for a while, before drying off.

Later in the evening, I strolled around the area where I was staying, down country lanes that were glowing in the golden hour sunlight. The next day was the only gloomy weather of my trip, so rather than seeking out somewhere to swim or a wild landscape to explore, I instead chose to visit one of the many small fishing towns that dot the coastline between Gothenburg and Strömstad.

I chose Fiskebäckskil on the island of Skaft ö , purely for the reason that we needed to stop somewhere we could charge our electric car. This was a common theme of my trip, and choosing places to spend the day based on the location of charging points led us to some of my favourite spots.