Where to stay in Borgholm
Most visitors stay in the centre of Borgholm, the small grid below the castle where hotels, restaurants, and shops gather within an easy walk of the harbour, the square, and the seafront. It suits first-timers who want the castle, the harbour, and the summer life of the town all close to hand. Beds fill fast here.
Rooms run from established seaside hotels to small guesthouses, and demand peaks across the short, busy summer when the island draws holidaymakers from across the country. South toward Solliden and the resorts along the strait, holiday lodging and campsites string out behind the shore. Out across the island beyond the town, farm stays, cottages, and cabins suit travellers with a car who want Öland's beaches and old landscape on the doorstep.
These spread far across the long island. Book the centre early in summer. The island lodging rewards those exploring the wider coast.
Things to do in Borgholm
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
- Borgholms stadsmuseum
Churches & Religious Sites
- Borgholms kyrka Heritage-listed — Church of Sweden church building
- Köpings kyrka Heritage-listed
- Sankt Elavi kapell Heritage-listed
Castles & Historic Sites
- Borgholms slott Heritage-listed — historic fortress
- Jaktstenen Heritage-listed
About Borgholm
What is Borgholm known for?
The castle defines Borgholm. Borgholms slott, a vast roofless stone ruin on the ridge above the town, has crowned this part of Öland since the medieval period and still draws visitors from across the country. The town below is Öland's busy summer resort, filling each warm season with holidaymakers along its harbour and streets.
Solliden, the royal summer residence, sits just to the south. Beaches, the island's light, and its old farming landscape draw the crowds.
What are the main landmarks in Borgholm?
Borgholms slott towers over the town, a vast roofless stone castle whose great walls and round towers crown the ridge and rank among the most visited ruins in Sweden. Solliden, the royal summer residence with its gardens, lies a short way south above the strait. Borgholms kyrka stands in the centre below the castle.
The town museum, Borgholms stadsmuseum, keeps the local story across its rooms, from the island's farming past to the resort age. The harbour ties it to the strait.
What is the history of Borgholm?
Borgholm grew up around its castle. A stronghold rose on the ridge above the Kalmar Strait in the medieval period, guarding the narrow water between Öland and the mainland, and over the centuries the fortress was rebuilt and enlarged into a grand stone castle by Sweden's kings. Fire gutted it in the eighteenth century.
The great walls were left as the roofless ruin that crowns the ridge. The town below came later, chartered as a borough in 1816 and growing slowly as a harbour and market for the island. Summer trade transformed it, when royalty built Solliden nearby and steamers brought holidaymakers across the strait, making Borgholm the resort heart of Öland.
The castle ruin became its great draw. Tourism still carries the town through every summer season.
Where is Borgholm?
Borgholm lies on the western side of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea, facing the Kalmar Strait that divides the island from the mainland, in the north-eastern part of Kalmar County in south-eastern Sweden. The town sits on the shore below a low limestone ridge, with the castle ruin standing on the height above and the strait opening west toward Kalmar. The flat, open farmland of Öland spreads east and south.
Färjestaden lies down the coast at the foot of the island bridge. The Baltic surrounds the long island.
What is the climate of Borgholm?
Borgholm has a mild, dry climate, among the sunniest in Sweden. The Baltic tempers the seasons, holding winters cool rather than harsh and keeping the open island bright, so that Öland sees long stretches of sun and little rain through the warmer half of the year. Summers are warm and clear.
Long northern evenings stretch the daylight late around midsummer, filling the beaches and the harbour through the warmest weeks. Steady sea winds sweep the flat island.
How do you get to Borgholm?
Borgholm is reached by road across the long Öland bridge, the great span that carries traffic from Kalmar on the mainland over the strait to the island. The bridge is the island's main link. From the bridgehead at Färjestaden, the road runs north up the western coast to the town.
Buses cross the bridge from Kalmar. The nearest airport and the nearest railway lie at Kalmar on the mainland.