Oland
Sweden'S Second Largest Island, Joined To The Mainland By A 6 Km Bridge; Its Southern Farmland And Limestone Steppe Are A UNESCO World Heritage Site (2000), With Windmills, Iron Age Forts And The Royal Summer Home Solliden · Borgholm, Kalmar County
Oland is Sweden's second-largest island, a long, narrow strip of limestone in the Baltic about 137 km long, joined to Kalmar on the mainland by a bridge of about 6 km that opened in 1972. It feels unlike the rest of Sweden: flat, windy and sunny, with few trees on the southern plain. Stora Alvaret, the great limestone steppe, is a rare open grassland of orchids and rock-rose, and the Agricultural Landscape of Southern Oland, its farms, stone walls and villages, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Around 400 wooden windmills are said to survive of perhaps 2,000, along with Iron Age ring forts such as Eketorp, the ruin of Borgholm castle, and Solliden, the royal family's summer home. Lighthouses stand at both tips, Lange Jan in the south by the Ottenby bird station and Lange Erik in the north. Swedes come for beaches, cycling and farm food. The honest caveat: in July the island is packed and the bridge queues, while from October to April much of it is closed and very quiet.
The island across the Oland Bridge from Kalmar; Borgholm is the main town, with the southern limestone plain (Stora Alvaret) and lighthouses at both tips, Borgholm, Kalmar County, Sweden
The island is open all year; its attractions are not. Most sights, cafes and guided sites run a summer season, roughly June to August, with shorter spring and autumn hours - check each one. Solliden's gardens open roughly mid-May to mid-September; Eketorp ring fort and Borgholm castle ruin are mainly summer sites; Lange Jan can usually be climbed only in summer. From about October to April many restaurants and museums close. Getting there: drive over the free Oland Bridge from Kalmar. Pedestrians and cyclists may not use the bridge; a bike bus or summer boat has crossed in season - confirm. Kalmar lanstrafik buses cross the bridge to Farjestaden, Borgholm and the island villages. SJ trains reach Kalmar via Alvesta, and Kalmar has an airport. Book summer cottages and campsites months ahead for July.