Summer in Sweden is something else, and everybody keeps telling me that I came at the right time.  Of course, they’re right. Gothenburg is gloriously warm right now, as it has been for the last few weeks.

One of the perks of living in Gothenburg is the easy access to the famous archipelago of West Sweden. For people like me who always long to roam in nature after being in the city for too long, Gothenburg offers the perfect escape.

The southern archipelago, which is a part of Gothenburg municipality, really spoils me with choices for easy weekend getaways. Brännö, Styrsö, Vrångö, Köpstadsö, and a few other islands are just a few minutes ferry-ride away. All are covered in the Gothenburg city pass, and I still can’t believe I can easily go to these islands for free with my pass.

We chose Brännö and Galterö as we wanted to do some hiking in a quiet place, away from the crowd. And it’s quite easy to get to. From my place, the journey to the island of Brännö only took less than an hour.

Brännö

How to get there

I lived in the suburb, so I took a couple of buses to Kungssten, where I then took a tram to Saltholmen (you can take either tram number 9 or 11). From here, I hopped on the ferry number 283 to Brännö.

Fifteen minutes on the ferry felt like 5 minutes, but it was certainly enough to take a few shots of this beauty.

Before long, we arrived at Brännö Rödsten, the ferry terminal in Brännö.

As soon as we got there, all we had to do was follow the ‘footsteps’, the stamps on the street that mark the path leading to the nature reserve. Our destination was the bridge on the west side of the island that connected Brännö with Galterö, the neighboring island.

Our way to the bridge was easy on the eyes, unsurprising to me. If you could mindlessly take pictures with your phone and they still turned out great, then you know the place was that amazing.

The Bridge

The modest wooden bridge that connected Brännö and Galterö was just less than 10 meters long. There was nothing grand about that, but the view from the top of the hill was nothing short of amazing.

I mean, how often do you get to see a vista like this?

We had a pit stop here to eat some snacks, before continuing our journey down the hill to reach the bridge.

Galterö

It wasn’t long before Galterö became my favorite out of the two islands.

All islands in the archipelago are car-free, and Galterö is no exception. But unlike Brännö, there are no houses here. An uninhabited island, the place was tranquil. It almost felt like being on a private island, save for a few day-trippers like us.

Upon arriving, we were greeted by the island’s main residents: sheeps.

Galterö was a dream. We took our time sitting on top of the hill, looking at the shoreline stretching below us. We strolled around the islands and walked along the shore, and the only footsteps on the sands were ours. Being a beach-comber that I am, I keep my eyes peeled for beautiful seashells that I could find. I didn’t need to worry; they were scattered everywhere.

Brännö and Galterö reminded me of a few places I’ve visited before. The high cliffs overlooking the vast ocean reminded me of Tintagel in Cornwall and the chalky rocks reminded me of Durdle Door, while the islands in general reminded me of the Isle of Wight and Nusa Lembongan (it might seem crazy to put those two together as they’re world apart, but they actually share the same relaxing vibes that small islands usually have).

Three hours later, we made our way back from Galterö to Brännö Rödsten, and caught the ferry back to the city.

Now this is what I called the perfect, quick getaway.