Sweden

Hällsnäs

In Meenu's words, 2019Although Gothenburg is a big city, there is a wonderfully located, idyllic spot in nature where we stayed.

Our car came from a machine. Hertz at Landvetter ran its pick-up through an automated kiosk, and working it out straight off the plane was a puzzle. As Meenu put it, "it wasn't the best time to be solving puzzles with a machine." We drove off in a Volvo V60 just after midnight on 24 August.

Our first night was at Hällsnäs, by a lake outside the city. Its cabins have jacuzzis, for unwinding and forgetting everyday life, and we celebrated a birthday there with a cake on a table by the water.

In the morning the lake was still. Lily pads covered the shallows, and the white cabins and the trees stood mirrored in the water.

Fjällbacka

In Meenu's words, 2019This cute little town is filled with alleyways that are lovely to explore.

On 24 August we drove north to Fjällbacka, the farthest point of the trip, and spent the night at Marinan Richters. In the morning we walked the lanes. White and yellow wooden houses with red-tiled roofs line the slope, with flowers by the steps and the church spire above them, and a wall of bare granite rises behind the town.

Fjällbacka is a good place to stay for the Weather Islands, and that's where we went next. From the water we could see the whole town at once, strung along the shore below the cliff.

The Weather Islands

In Meenu's words, 2019This is a must visit with a boat trip, to let go and forget the stress of everyday life.

On 25 August, Meenu's birthday, we took a boat out to the Weather Islands, the rocky islands off this coast. They sit low in the sea, rounded and bare, with only a little green in the hollows.

In a sheltered harbour, red boathouses and white cottages stood at the water's edge, and sailing boats were moored between the rocks. The water was calm enough to mirror them all. On the way back we passed Fjällbacka's yellow harbour buildings under the cliff, and later that day we drove south to Tjörn.

Tjörn and Klädesholmen

In Meenu's words, 2019Klädesholmen has some of the best views overlooking the islands.

Tjörn is within easy reach of Gothenburg. We spent two days exploring it by road, over the bridges that link the islands, and had two nights in an Airbnb apartment on Klädesholmen.

On our second evening we watched the sun go down into the sea between the low islands. As the sky turned deep blue, the village lights came on and doubled in the still water, with the red boathouses dark below the rocks. The next morning we sat out on the rocks and looked back across the water at Klädesholmen.

Pilane

In Meenu's words, 2019Unlike other sculpture parks, this one has a unique setting, with wildlife in the scenery.

On the afternoon of 26 August we went to Skulptur i Pilane, a sculpture park on a rocky hillside. High on the granite stands Anna, Jaume Plensa's giant white head with its eyes closed. We could still see her from across the fields below.

Sheep grazed the long grass and the heather between the rocks. Meenu went up to Anna and waved from the foot of the sculpture, tiny beside it.

Marstrand

In Meenu's words, 2019The island is car free, and free to explore at leisure.

Marstrand was our last stop, a short ferry ride across the water. There are no cars on the island. We walked up to Carlsten fortress through lanes of wooden houses painted pale blue, yellow, white and orange, with café tables and pots of flowers outside. At the fortress we stood on the wooden bridge at its stone gateway.

From Marstrand we drove back to Landvetter and returned the car at 18:58. In four days it had covered 450 km.