Brännö Island: A day exploring the Gothenburg Archipelago

Posted by

·

Sometimes solo travel is the most rewarding. I might be married and enjoy travelling with friends and family, but sometimes the pure solitude of being alone, undisturbed with my thoughts and free to do as I please, is true happiness for me. As I sailed out solo on the ferry in the glorious sunshine, I knew it would be a good day.


  1. Contents
  2. What is the Gothenburg Archipelago?
  3. How to get to Brännö Island
  4. The ferry ride to Brännö Island
  5. Things to do on Brännö Island
    1. Admire the beautiful village houses
    2. Visit the church and graveyard
    3. Take in the view across Brännö Rodsten
    4. Brännö Lotsutkik
    5. Hike Brännö Nature Reserve trails to Galtero Island
    6. Brännö Museum, Shop and Vardshus
    7. Enjoy Brännö’s beaches

Gothenburg is a coastal city, right on the water’s edge in western Sweden. Off the coast are two sets of islands, known as the North and South Gothenburg Archipelago. Between them, there are around 30 large, visit-able islands, making them a perfect choice for a day trip.

They literally all looked amazing, so I did what any respecting tourist would do in the situation – ask a local. At dinner the previous night, I was sat next to a lovely Swedish couple who looked very outdoorsy (they all look outdoorsy in Sweden, mind you), and decided to take the plunge and ask for advice. They recommended Brännö island as their favourite due to its hiking routes. I also asked at my hotel’s reception staff which lead to a long debate about whether Brännö, Styrsö or Vrångö was better.

I decided on balance, I liked the look of Vrångö because it had the most beautiful beaches and the weather forecast was 25 degrees, or Brännö if I woke up in the morning and fancied a hike, given its home to a nature reserve and receives few visitors outside of the peak summer months. Both islands are car free so I figured I’d go with the flow and see how I felt.

Long story short, when I got to the ferry terminal, the ferry to Brännö was leaving in 10 minutes, the ferry to Vrångö would be another 2 hours as I’d just missed one. So that was that – Brännö and a hike for me!


From Gothenburg, getting to Brännö was super easy. I managed it by myself no problem. I took Tram 11 from outside Gothenburg Central Station in the direction of Saltholmen, which took around 30 minutes.

From Saltholmen I then walked to the ferry terminal, called Saltholmens Brygga (literally a 2 minute walk from the tram stop across a car park), and asked when the next ferry left. You could also do this on line, but I’m old fashioned and like to check with a person. You can check all the ferry timetables leaving from Saltholmen HERE (it even shows you which port they leave from C1, C2 etc). My ferry left from C3, which was just through the ticket gate.

At Saltholmen Ferry Port (ferries leave just to my left)

Talking of tickets. Public transport in Gothenburg Zone A is easy as pie – when riding the tram, you just have to swipe your debit card on the terminal on the card reader bit at the bottom (the unit is normally just past the driver as you walk in to the tram) so no need to buy an advance ticket. This ‘swipe’ costs around £3 and lasts for all travel for 90 minutes, and EVEN BETTER, the southern islands are also considered Zone A. So as long as you get a ferry within 90 minutes, you swipe again as you get on (the ferries all have the same units to swipe as the trams) and there’s no extra charge.

I had absolutely no need for advance tickets or anything like that. Maybe in summer it would be worth it, but certainly for me I had no problems at all with the entire journey costing me £6 there and back.

Arriving in to Brännö


You will need to take Ferry 282 from Saltholmens Brygga to get to Brännö.

The ferry ride to Brännö takes around 45 minutes, and stops at numerous other islands on the way including Asperö, Köpstadsö, Styrsö and Vargö.

Styrsö Island from the ferry

I did contemplate trying to get a couple of islands in, but the timetable just didn’t work. I arrived in Brännö at around 10.40am, and the next ferry departing it wasn’t until 3.30pm. I knew after a long day of hiking I probably wouldn’t want to try and rush round seeing islands in an evening after that, so decided just to visit Brännö but you could island hop, especially if you don’t want to hike.


Brännö is an absolutely beautiful village, full of pretty houses everywhere you turn. I loved seeing it in spring with flower window boxes blooming. It was also lovely to see some street stands selling everything from flowers to jam.

The local church is a cute little building, worth a short detour from the shop to see. The graveyard sits at the top of the island and its most famous resident is Lasse Dahlqvist who was one of Sweden’s most famous song writers. I found the benches in the graveyard in the shade a lovely place to sit and take a breather – again, there was no one else around.

The lovely little local church

Also at the north of the island is the area with sweeping views out across to Rivo island, with a Swedish flag flying high from the vantage point. Lovely!

One of my favourite spots on the island was the bright red lookout hut, Brännö Ltsutkik. You can reach it via Faggeliden, and take the left hand turn up a track before it becomes Vassdalsvagen. Follow it up a hill and then some steps to come out to a stunning view of the hut and out across the island.

The path to the hut

This was easily my favourite thing to do on the island, it was just SO beautiful. I entered the nature reserve from the road Galterovagen (opposite the shop), and followed it through a beautiful area of woodland until I could see the coast. I hiked across to Galtero Island and completed the signed loop there, before heading back across to Brännö and following the blue trail across the rocks to Lonndal to complete a big circle ending at the shop for an ice-cream.

Through the woodland area

As a top tip, there is a map of the island at the ferry port so I recommend taking a photo as the hiking trails are marked on there as a red dotted line. The route through the reserve is easy, but crossing Galtero and looping back over the rocks does require some scrambling and careful following of the route via way posts.

More views

The walk was absolutely amazingly stunning. I had it completely to myself, seeing only 1 other person on the entire route. I cleared my head and honestly kept thinking to myself how lucky I was to have such a beautiful experience. In total the hike took me 2.5hrs.

Views along the trail

Brännö has a little Museum, which was closed when I visited as it’s only open in the summer months (I went in May). The island’s one shop is open daily, though closes for lunch 12 – 2. There is also one restaurant on the island, Brännö Vardshus, which again was closed when I visited on a Monday outside of peak summer season so check the opening times before you go!

It meant I had no food or drink as there was literally nowhere to get lunch. Luckily for me, a lovely elderly couple saw me sitting outside the shop (clearly looking rough) and offered me water and a bowl of soup on their porch to keep me going. I am incredibly grateful as after a 2.5hr hike I was struggling with no water!

The Museum

Brännö is home to a number of lovely beaches to finish your visit off with some R&R. I didn’t get too much time here, maybe about an hour, before my ferry arrived but I enjoyed reading my book with a background noise of a few children splashing about with their parents.

One of the beach areas


I had an idyllic day on Brännö island. It was truly beautiful in the spring sunshine and I felt so lucky to have the place largely to myself. I think it would be incredibly isolated in winter, but in summer it’s a true paradise, and I’d love to return one day to explore more islands – I think they might be one of Sweden’s, and maybe even Europe’s, best kept secret!

34 responses to “Brännö Island: A day exploring the Gothenburg Archipelago”

  1. Wow, so much green! Brännö Island was a good choice, and perfect timing with the ferries. Looks like a beautiful day in the warmee months, and I’ll be keeping this place in mind should I return to Sweden some day. Thanks for sharing, Han!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It really is a haven, I had such a beautiful day in the sunshine and peace 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I love your beautifully captured photos, my friend! If I lived in or near Gothenburg, I would frequently visit the archipelago during the summer as it is close enough for an easy day trip or even an evening dip, but contrasting enough from the city that it can almost feel like you are you vacation when you visit. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks so much Aiva, it was a really special day and I can see why the locals visit the islands so much over summer. Have a wonderful weekend 🙂 xx

      Liked by 1 person

  3. What a lovely day trip by ferry!great photos

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Tanja – have a lovely weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks, you too!

        Like

  4. What a magic spot! You picked the perfect day for some beautiful views and restorative quiet time. Nice one. Mel

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It truly was magical, I had such a great day which I look back on with real happiness 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. One of those special travel memories. Wishing you more of them!

        Like

  5. It looks like you had fabulous weather to explore Branno Island. I love all the colourful houses and coastal views. The trails through the nature reserve look very scenic.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was a truly wonderful day, one of my best every travelling I think. Total peace for the entire day out in nature 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  6. You know, even before I read about the couple who gave you soup, I was thinking to myself: I bet if she missed the last ferry and there were no hotels on the island, someone would offer her a place to stay in their house. That’s just the feeling I got reading this. Looks like fate smiled upon you that day when you missed the earlier ferry. Agree with you about solo travel. I love traveling with the Husband, but the truest freedom comes with solo travel.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. LOL you are so psychic, that is literally what would happen!! It was just such a wonderful place to visit and I felt truly at peace for the day, a travel blessing for sure 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Brännö island looks idyllic Hannah and I’ll definitely be following your suggestions the next time we visit Gothenburg. We’d planned to take an archipelago trip ourselves on our last day but the weather wasn’t great so it will be something new to look forward to next time. Marion

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was beautiful Marion, I think you’d really love it. I hope you can make it one day 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Oh my, it truly is a stunning place, and it looks perfectly idyllic, as you mentioned. I love it when faced with a decision, something makes the choice for you. It’s like the universe is telling you this is what you should do today. Lovely photos as usual!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was such a peaceful, restorative day. I will look back on it for a long time with great fondness 🙂 Have a lovely weekend.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Beautiful part of the world. Thank you for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. What a lovely place! It seems perfectly suited for a day of quiet solitude with beautiful views. I really love the houses and the views of the water. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It really is, I had such a peaceful and relaxing day 🙂 If only the weather was like that at home ready for the weekend, but no – it’s absolutely pouring down with rain!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Here’s hoping for some blue skies to come your way 🙂

        Like

  11. The views at Brännö are lovely! I love the pathways and boardwalks on your hike — it definitely looks like 2.5 hours of absolute joy! I think you’ve just discovered the hidden gem of Europe – stunning photos!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. It was true joy and peace, a blessing of a day. It’s definitely a hidden gem which I know so many would love to experience but don’t know about!! Thanks as always for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Lovely place and a lovely hike that oozes restorative and relaxing vibes. The perfect place to enjoy solitude and some quiet time.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Absolutely Leighton, thanks as always for taking the time to read and comment 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  13. I love asking locals for recommendations, and have been directed to some wonderful places I wouldn’t otherwise have found over the years. Brännö looks idyllic and so peaceful! Gothenburg wasn’t massively on my radar before reading your posts, but I’d love to go and explore the city and the surrounding islands. They look fabulous.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s always the way to go isn’t it 🙂 I really hope you make it there, it’s such a beautiful city and well worth a visit (with very few tourists!)

      Liked by 1 person

  14. I love that you didn’t make a decision until morning. I’d say you mad the right choice, but you’d probably love either one. I really love that a local couple gave you a bowl of soup! That really says something about the people on the island. Looks like a great day trip. Maggie

    Liked by 1 person

    1. They were so lovely to give me soup, I must have looked really rough haha!! It was a wonderful day, definitely a treasured memory 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  15. What a stunning place! And even more so that you had it almost completely to yourself! I remember your Instagram stories of that day, and from the pictures you post here it did seem like an amazing day, and a perfect place for a solo day trip too! I’ve added Gothenburg and its archipelago to my list now!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was really such a special day. I hope you get to visit it one day, you’d love it and it’s so nice to be off the tourist track when visiting 🙂

      Like

  16. It looks so cozy. Perhaps a perfect place to recharge. Beautiful!

    Like

Leave a comment

About the author

Hi! My name is Hannah, I’m a travel blogger from the UK who fits travel around a full time (and full on) job. In this blog I share my adventures around the world and hopefully help you to find some inspiration for destinations, things to do or places to stay. Thanks for stopping by – stay safe and happy travelling.

You can also follow me on Instagram!

Type your email…