The Gothenburg Archipelago is one of the best places to visit in the city.
Whilst enjoying a winter city break in Gothenburg we travelled out to the southern archipelago. It takes only twenty minutes on the tram from central Gothenburg to get to the port of Salthomen which is the gateway to the southern Gothenburg archipelago.
We also returned in the summer more recently and hired a kayak to explore the islands of Gothenburg’s Southern Archipelago a bit more. If you’re looking to enjoy the Swedish outdoor activities, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Gothenburg’s archipelago has 5,000 permanent residents and another 6,000 residents during the summer months. All the islands are strictly car-free but that doesn’t mean you won’t see any vehicles; the residents of Gothenburg’s archipelago rely on golf buggies to get them from one end of the island to the other!
If you’re visiting Gothenburg and looking for things to do in Gothenburg I’d highly recommend taking the Gothenburg archipelago ferry out to the islands.
It’s a great addition to any Gothenburg Europe city break whatever the season! Here’s how to add a Gothenburg archipelago tour to your Gothenburg travel itinerary.
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About the Gothenburg Southern Archipelago
The Gothenburg archipelago is made up of more than 20 islands. It stretches along the western Swedish coast and isn’t far from the city of Gothenburg making it the perfect addition to any city break to Gothenburg. In the archipelago, you’ll find charming fishing villages, beautiful nature and beaches, seals, fishing and more.
The archipelago is split a northern collection of islands and a southern part. We visited the southern part which is known for being carfree. The islands in the southern archipelago are; Asperö Ostra, Köpstadsö, Styrsö Bratten, Styrsö Skäret, Donsö, Sjumansholmen, Kårholmen and Vrångö
Map of Gothenburg South Archipelago islands
Here’s a map of the ferry routes and the names of the islands in Gothenburg’s southern archipelago.
How to get to the archipelago from Gothenburg center
Getting to Gothenburg’s southern archipelago couldn’t be simpler.
From Gothenburg take the #11 tram (or number 9 in the summer) or bus 114 (destination Ö-snabben) to Salthomen. Both take around 30 minutes from downtown Gothenburg.
The port of Salthomen is in western Gothenburg and is where you’ll catch the ferry to the islands. The ferries are run by the same company as the trams, so if you’ve bought a tram pass you can use it on the ferries too! A day pass for the ferries costs about 85SEK ($10US).
Ferries to and from the islands vary time wise but it’s roughly every hour to the bigger islands (Asperö, Brännö, Köpstadsö, Styrsö, Donsö and Vrångö).
During peak season the boats depart a bit more often and there are also boats to the smaller islands Knarrholmen and Stora Fotö. You can see the full schedule here.
The ferries out to the island are listed below, you can see a map of the southern Gothenburg archipelago just above to get your bearings.
- 281 (Saltholmen–Vrångö)
- 282 (Saltholmen–Brännö Husvik)
- 283 (Saltholmen–Brännö Rödsten)
Since the islands that make up the Gothenburg Archipelago are car-free, these aren’t car ferries. You can’t bring your car on to them and everyone will embark as foot passengers.
Islands in the Southern Gothenburg Archipelago that we visited
We didn’t visit all the islands in the southern Gothenburg Archipelago but we did manage to see quite a few on a short, cold winter’s day!
Styrsö Island
Our first stop was Styrsö one of the larger islands. Styrsö is located in the middle of the southern islands and has about 1,400 people living on it all year round, with a much larger number come the summer! It can be considered the hub of the southern archipelago.
On Styrsö there are a few cafés, guesthouses and restaurants. There plenty of places to swim and lots of small ports with sailing boats. The ferry from mainland Gothenburg only takes about 20 minutes and taking a stroll around Styrsö and over to Donsö is well worth it!
Donsö Island
Donsö is an important fishing and ship-owning community and the harbour is at the heart of the island. Surrounded by fishing facilities and fishermen huts, this port was pretty much the only place we saw other human beings (apart from on the ferry) all day!
We were after a hot chocolate but unfortunately, the only café we could find was closed. So, with that, we headed over to the next island for more adventuring!
When the wind got too much and we lost the feeling in our fingers, we headed back to the ferry and the mainland of Gothenburg.
This is the island we kayaked to during our spring/summer trip to Gothenburg. It is quite a long way to kayak, but with rentals for the day and no wind, it wasn’t too bad. We stopped off at a cute island cafe for lunch and then paddled back over to Fiskebacken to complete our Gothenburg archipelago day trip.
Vrångö Island
From Donsö we took a second ferry further south into the archipelago towards Vrångö; the most southerly island in the archipelago.
Just 380 people live on this island in the southern archipelago of Gothenburg the whole year round. Though there’s a big population increase in the summer months. As with the other islands in the archipelago, fishing plays an important role in the island.
We headed to the shore on the far side of the island from the port and climbed over the rocks as the sun began to set on the Gothenburg Islands.
Last Updated on November 24, 2023 by Hannah
Hannah started That Adventurer after graduating back in 2013 and has documented all of her adventures since then. From backpacking South America to city breaks in Europe, a 3 month road trip across the USA in a self-converted van and 6 years living in Canada, you’ll find posts on all of this.
Hannah specialises in active travel and on That Adventurer you’ll find hiking, walking, biking, skiing and all sorts of active travel guides to allow you to see a destination in an adventurous way.
Now back in Europe, you’ll find new guides as Hannah and her husband spend the next year ‘digital nomading’ from Norway to Portugal, Switzerland to Scotland and places in between.
it’ so beautiful!
I love the idea of getting around by golf buggy, these places in Sweden look so picturesque
I’m planning on visiting here this January. Your pictures look beautiful and make me even more excited to visit!! Since you also went during the winter months, did you find that most of the restaurants and shops were open? Thank you for sharing your experiences! 🙂
I’m sure you’ll love it! In Gothenburg lots of places were open but we did find quite a few of the cafes on the island – particularly the smaller ones – were either closed or closed very early (about 3pm if I remember!) which was a shame when we wanted a warm drink!
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