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Experience

Islands & Island-Hopping in Sweden

Sweden is, more than almost anywhere, a country read through its islands. The Stockholm archipelago alone scatters tens of thousands of islands, islets and bare skerries across the Baltic, thinning from wooded, summer-house shores near the capital to wind-scoured rock at its seaward edge. South across open water lie Gotland and Öland, the Baltic's two great limestone islands, where Visby's walled medieval town and Öland's prehistoric landscapes carry UNESCO World Heritage standing. On the west coast, the granite skerries of Bohuslän and the Koster islands face the North Sea with a sparer, salt-bleached character of their own. What ties them together is the ferry: a dense network of car and passenger boats, many run as public transport, that makes hopping between islands feel ordinary rather than expeditionary. The reward is slowness — bare rock, fishing harbours, long northern light — and the sense that the sea, not the road, sets the pace.

Ranked by global recognition — how widely each place is read about across Wikipedia's language editions. Never paid placement, prices, or reviews.

Can islands be visited without a private boat?

Almost always. Inhabited islands run scheduled ferries, and archipelago routes often work like bus lines with day tickets. The practical limit is frequency: the fewer the departures, the more the timetable, rather than the island, plans your day.

  1. Stockholm

    Stockholm County · Sweden

    Stockholm is built across 14 islands, and the skerry archipelago beyond fans out by Waxholmsbolaget boat straight from the city quays.

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  2. Gothenburg

    Västra Götaland County · Sweden

    Gothenburg's southern archipelago is car-free — Styrsö, Donsö, Vrångö — reached on the city's own tram-and-ferry ticket from Saltholmen.

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  3. Luleå

    Norrbotten County · Sweden

    Luleå's archipelago counts more than 1,300 islands in the brackish bay, served by summer tour boats and winter ice roads.

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  4. Örebro

    Örebro County · Sweden

    Örebro's island is Vinön out in Hjälmaren, a farming-and-fishing flatland reached by the lake's little car ferry.

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  5. Visby

    Gotland County · Sweden

    Visby is the walled port of Gotland, the Baltic's largest island, where ferries land and the rauk coasts of Fårö wait up the road.

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  6. Kalmar

    Kalmar County · Sweden

    Kalmar is the mainland door to Öland — the six-kilometre bridge starts at the city's edge — with the island's windmills and sands beyond.

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  7. Östersund

    Jämtland County · Sweden

    Frösön rises out of Storsjön opposite Östersund, an island of runestone, hilltop church, and airfield that the city counts as its own.

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  8. Norrköping

    Östergötland County · Sweden

    Norrköping's coast at Arkösund opens Östergötland's archipelago, a low maze of skerries running south toward Sankt Anna.

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  9. Karlstad

    Värmland County · Sweden

    Vänern's island belt off Karlstad is a freshwater archipelago of bare rock and pine, paddled or day-cruised straight from the delta.

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  10. Karlskrona

    Blekinge County · Sweden

    Karlskrona spreads across some thirty islands — Trossö at the centre, Stumholmen's naval museum, and the Aspö car ferry running free.

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  11. Örnsköldsvik

    Västernorrland County · Sweden

    Örnsköldsvik's water ends at the High Coast islands — Ulvön of surströmming fame and car-free Trysunda's painted chapel village.

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  12. Gamla Stan

    Stockholm · Stockholm County · Sweden

    Gamla Stan covers Stadsholmen and its satellites — Riddarholmen's church island and tiny Helgeandsholmen under the parliament house.

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65 more Islands & Island-Hopping destinations