Bohuslan Coast
Sweden'S West Coast Of Pink Granite Skerries And Fishing Villages, Famous For Shellfish Lobster In Autumn, Oysters, Prawns And For Kosterhavet, Sweden'S First Marine National Park · Smogen, Vastra Gotaland County
Bohuslan is the granite coast that runs roughly 150 km from the northern edge of Gothenburg to the Norwegian border: bare pink and grey rock polished smooth by the ice, thousands of skerries, and a string of white-and-red fishing villages wedged into sheltered coves. The main stops, south to north, are Marstrand with its fortress on a car-free island, Grundsund, Lysekil with its sea aquarium, Smogen with its famous harbour boardwalk, Fjallbacka under its cliff, oyster-farming Grebbestad, and Stromstad, the harbour for the Koster islands and Kosterhavet, Sweden's first marine national park, created in 2009. People come for seafood above all - prawns, oysters and, from late September, lobster - for swimming off warm rock, for kayaking between skerries and for the light. The honest caveat: in July the famous villages are packed with Swedish holidaymakers and Norwegian weekenders, prices are high, and outside summer many restaurants, shops and boats close, leaving some villages almost shuttered.
The granite coast from Gothenburg north to the Norwegian border - Marstrand, Smogen, Fjallbacka and the Koster islands, Smogen, Vastra Gotaland County, Sweden
The coast itself is always open, but the season decides everything. Most restaurants, fish shacks, boat trips, kayak rentals and village shops run fully from roughly Midsummer to mid August, with weekend-only opening in May, June and late August, and many close from October to April - check each place before you travel. Havets Hus in Lysekil is a seasonal aquarium, usually open from spring to early autumn; confirm current dates. Boats to the Koster islands from Stromstad run all year but much less often in winter. The Marstrand ferry from Koon on the mainland shuttles across in a few minutes from early morning to late evening all year. Getting there: Vasttrafik runs Bohustag trains on the Bohus line from Gothenburg via Uddevalla to Stromstad, plus buses to Marstrand, Smogen, Lysekil and Fjallbacka, but a car makes the coast far easier. Book lobster and oyster safaris, July rooms and summer weekend restaurant tables weeks to months ahead.