Sweden: Bohuslan (The Wild West Coast) — Finkel Family Adventures

For the second half of our fall-break travels, we took a huge car and freight ferry from Frederikshavn, Denmark to Goteborg, Sweden and then traveled about one hour further north to an area on the western coastline called Bohuslan.

This is a rugged and rural part of the country with small, rocky islands dotting the coastline.

We had planned to do some exploring by kayak, but unfortunately, high winds kept us on the shore. Still, making our home base Orust Island, at the center of Bohuslan, allowed us to spend two nights at the incredible and unique Ladfabriken guest house.

With only a few rooms and virtually all cooking done for you by the excellent hosts, our two nights here felt more like staying with extremely generous friends than at an inn. Marcel and Johan have been running their guest house for about 7 years and have every detail accounted for.

I first learned about this location from.a design blog that I read regularly and it didn’t disappoint. It was one of those places where every curated piece seemed to fit perfectly together in the space. Yet, I know that if I tried to do something similar, my result would be a hot mess.

Even the linens were beautiful and always creatively matched to the meal.

Eli and Sandy hunkered down for a day in their reading nook to catch up on some work. Norah and Ben played Legos in the living room and eagerly awaited appearances by Lucas the dog.

I basically set out in search of picture perfect Swedish landscapes, sometimes by myself and sometimes with Fern (enthusiastically) and the kids (reluctantly) in tow.

A day trip to Fiskebäckskil and Lysekils included hopping several small car ferries, a beautiful – nearly private - lunch at a beautiful hotel restaurant, and a small aquarium with a super cool octopus.

Waiting our turn to ferry to the next little island. The ferries are timed so that you can leapfrog each island with minimal waiting time.

The area is lined with small fishing and boat houses on the inlet shores.

One of the prettiest things I ate in Sweden. It was absolutely delicious too.

We also spent a morning visiting the Nordic Watercolor Museum, where the setting is as much on display as the art exhibits themselves. The location includes several artist lofts that are available for rent as well as beautiful nooks where painting is encouraged. The kids didn’t last long in the museum, but, like most European museums, they found plenty to do in the interactive painting studio.

The museum is near a highly recommended restaurant called Salt & Sill which is known for its many preparations of Swedish herring, for which my father-in-law, Sandy, is a big fan. It also has a beautiful waterfront location with lots of little corners to explore.

Our last stop in Bohuslan was a town called Marstrand, also a small cluster of islands where a 700 year old fortress sits atop a hill. I had plans for us to visit this fortress as well. But, winter hours meant the castle was only open a few short hours each day, which didn’t align with our schedule, and the island was a virtual ghost town.

So, a key learning for me was that while you can visit some places during low season and reap the benefits of small crowds and big sights, clearly low season in this area means all-but-closed. Unfortunately, I think this made the difference between having an exceptional trip and having a great trip. This is not meant to be a complaint. We certainly enjoyed all that we got to see and do. But the itinerary was a little bit of a push – with lots of moving around and several long drives – without all the “pay-offs” in sites and adventures that I had planned for. That said, if you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path trip destination next June through August, I highly recommend this corner of Scandinavia!

Back in Copenhagen, we ended things on a high note, with a visit to Tivoli Gardens. Interestingly, Tivoli is also typically closed this time of year, but was open for 10 days for a Halloween festival – phew! Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world – the first is also in Denmark. Plus, it is the place that inspired Walt Disney to create his theme parks.

The park is located right in the center of Copenhagen and was very crowded with families and teenagers on a Sunday afternoon. Still, the kids were able to go on several rides and eat carnival food, and we all enjoyed the fun Halloween decorations. Side note: Halloween seems to be much more of a thing in Denmark than the Netherlands. Norah also tried out her first, legit, rollercoaster and – I fear – is a fan for life.

Just before our departure, we woke up to a beautiful morning and clear skies, which gave us a last chance to walk along the seashore and see Copenhagen’s famous Little Mermaid before heading to the airport.

Another great, great, week and two more countries explored during this stay!