Traveleriences
Three wooden post windmills on the grassland of southern Öland

Öland, Sweden

Ideal: 3–5 daysBest: May–SepPrice: Moderate
OverviewSeeEatHidden gemsAreasStayPracticalHistoryNearby

In 60 seconds

Öland in 60 seconds

Öland is a long, narrow limestone island off the coast of Småland, joined to Kalmar by a six-kilometre bridge and blessed with more sunshine than almost anywhere in Sweden. Its south is the Stora Alvaret, a treeless steppe of thin grass, orchids and stone walls, listed by UNESCO with the farming villages around it; wooden post mills stand on every ridge. The island is dense with history — the ring forts of Eketorp and Ismantorp, Iron Age graves, and the great ruin of Borgholm Castle above the island's only town. Go south to Långe Jan, Sweden's tallest lighthouse, for the birds at Ottenby; go north for beaches at Böda and the twisted trees of Trollskogen. Swedes holiday here in July; June and September are calmer, and the harvest festival closes the season.

IslandCountrysideBeachesUNESCO

Best for

  • History
  • Nature

Known for

  • Stora Alvaret
  • Windmills
  • Borgholm Castle
  • Kroppkakor

Skip if

You want drama and mountains — Öland is flat, open and quiet, its beauty is in light and space, and it is very busy in July.

Your match

Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Öland fits them. Choose interests

See

Must experience

The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.

Stora Alvaret

Limestone steppe · UNESCO World Heritage

A vast, almost treeless plain of thin soil on bare limestone, bright with orchids in early summer; the farmed landscape around it is listed by UNESCO.

Southern ÖlandFreeNature

Borgholm Castle

Moderate

Baroque palace ruin above the town

A medieval fortress rebuilt as a baroque palace, burned in 1806 and left roofless; its huge shell is the island's landmark.

BorgholmHistoryRuin

Eketorp

Moderate

Reconstructed Iron Age ring fort

A stone ring fort rebuilt on its original foundations, with houses, animals and summer re-enactments inside the walls.

Southern ÖlandFamiliesIron Age

Solliden

Moderate

The royal family's summer residence

Its Italian, Dutch and English gardens open to visitors in summer; on 14 July the island celebrates the Crown Princess's birthday nearby.

BorgholmGardensSummer
Official site for Solliden (opens in a new tab)

Eat

Where to eat

A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?

More places to eat

Too few picks yet for their own heading, so they share this list.

Sandviks Fisk & Hamnkök

Moderate

Harbour kitchen

Smoked fish, grills and Öland kroppkakor beside the windmill at Sandvik's little harbour.

SandvikHarbourKroppkakor

Beyond the obvious

Hidden gems

Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.

Ismantorp fortress

Ring fort with nine gates in the forest

Unlike Eketorp it is unrestored: a ring of grey stone in the woods, with the outlines of nearly a hundred houses inside.

Central ÖlandFreeIron Age

Byrums raukar

Limestone sea stacks on the west coast

Strange pillars of rock worn by the sea, best at sunset over Kalmarsund.

Northern ÖlandCoastFree

Trollskogen

Wind-twisted forest at the northern tip

A short trail through gnarled pines and oaks bent by the wind, past an old shipwreck on the shore.

BödaForestWalks

Orientation

Neighbourhoods

How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.

Southern Öland

Alvaret, ring forts and the lighthouse

The open, UNESCO-listed half of the island, best explored by bike or car on the quiet roads.

Northern Öland

Pine forests, sand and sea stacks

Böda's long beaches, campsites and summer cottages, and the wilder coast at the tip.

Stay

Where to stay

Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.

Borgholm

Expensive

The island's one town

Hotels, the best food and an evening stroll by the harbour; central for both halves of the island.

RestaurantsSummer

Färjestaden

Moderate

Near the bridge, facing Kalmar

Handy for buses from Kalmar and for sunsets over the strait.

PracticalSunset

Practical

Know before you go

Getting in
Trains run to Kalmar from Stockholm and Copenhagen with a change; buses cross the Öland Bridge, but a car or bike is far more useful on the island.
Getting around
Cycling is perfect: the island is flat and the roads are quiet outside July.
When to go
May and June for flowers and birds, September for the harvest festival. July is crowded and needs booking.
Skördefest
At the end of September farms, workshops and cafés open across the island for the harvest festival.
Taste locally
Kroppkakor with lingonberries, Öland's brown beans, smoked fish and spit-roast lamb.
Combine with
Kalmar across the bridge, and Glasriket's glassworks an hour inland.

Plan this trip — useful links

Öland — official visitor guide (opens in a new tab)

Context

History in 5 minutes

Enough to make what you are looking at legible.

  1. 300s–500s

    Islanders build some twenty stone ring forts, among them Eketorp, Ismantorp and Gråborg.

  2. 1650s

    Borgholm's fortress is rebuilt as a baroque palace.

  3. 1806

    Fire guts Borgholm Castle, leaving the ruin that stands today.

  4. 1972

    The Öland Bridge opens, linking the island to Kalmar.

  5. 2000

    Southern Öland's agricultural landscape is added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Further out

Nearby escapes

Worth a day if you have one to spare.

Kalmar Castle

Renaissance castle on the mainland

One of Sweden's finest castles, where the Kalmar Union was sealed in 1397, beside a pretty old town.

20 min by car over the bridgeCastleHistory

Blå Jungfrun National Park

Granite island in Kalmarsund

A bare, rounded granite island of caves, boulder fields and legend, reached by summer boats from the north of Öland.

1 hr by boat from ByxelkrokNational ParkSummer