Spend a typical Swedish summer on Sweden´s West Coast! A place, totally worth visiting because of its beautiful nature and wild ocean with cliffs, juicy green grass and crisp air. The West Coast of Sweden feels like a whole different place in Sweden. If you think Sweden is beautiful then Sweden’s West Coast will absolutely make you fall in love with it. Smögen and Fjällback are especially charming and are straight out of a Petterson and Findus book. This guide is for travelers seeking scenic nature and coastal towns.
Imagine yourself sitting on the porch of your holiday rental home with fresh Swedish pastries like kanelbullar, warm sun on your skin and a good coffee looking out on the freshwater of the sea not too far away from your porch.
Me and my friends literally fell in love with the Westcoast when we visited last November. For us, this was our highlight in the whole of Sweden and let me tell you we lived in Sweden for half a year and visited so many places. The West Coast of Sweden was our Favorite so let’s dive into a whole new aesthetic of Swedish Summer.
How to get around
Our recommendation would definitely be to rent a car. You might imagine it to be very expensive because Sweden is very expensive in general but it is actually not. Especially electric cars are very cheap but also normal ones are totally in a good price range. What we also observed was that the petrol was in comparison to everything else in Sweden cheap. Don´t ask me how this makes sense but that is just the way it is. Renting a car is super easy to do, especially when you may be coming from Gothenburg. There You can rent a car for a day or two and just enjoy being flexible around the West Coast. Easier for you to also stop at other places and stay as long as you wish.
Parking is easily paid with the Easypark app everywhere you go around Sweden, which also makes it just so convenient. Trains are not a big thing in Sweden and there are not a lot of buses going up the west coast frequently. Of course, there is the other option of booking a day trip with a group of travelers to go up there. This could be a good option if you don’t have a driver’s license.
Now that you know how to get to the hidden gems of the West Coast, Let´s go into more detail:
Smögen
A cute little Fisher Village on Sweden’s West Coast. The whole village is so cute and beautiful. A must when you are in the area for sure! Straight out of Pinterest. If you have searched Sweden at least once in your life on Pinterest you will probably have stumbled upon this gem. Smögen´s famous colorful houses are used for storing fishing boats. When we visited Smögen there weren´t even too many people, but it is probably more extreme in summer. If you climb on the hill opposite the fisherboat storage houses next to the street, you will get a perfect view of the colorful houses where you can take pictures. There you have a good view over the little canal were the boats are going through to get out to the sea.
But Smögen has so much more to offer, not only the famous little houses but also the town itself is very charming and worth spending some time in a bit longer. So please not only drive to the fisher houses but also go for Swedish fika or go and get lunch in Smögen´s center.
In terms of parking, I would definitely recommend the cheapest parking spot in town, which is a bit “outside” of Smögen, but smögen is really small so just use it as an excuse to do your hot girl walk. It is infront of Smögen Outlet. Not far away you can also go into the direction of Västkustens flottservice AB so on to that small little half island not so far away from the parking lot. From there you can see Smögen from a completely different light and also Sandbogen from the seas pov. We were also lucky and saw a big pirate-looking ship from there.
If you are a seafood lover then definitely try some fish in Smögen. They have the best seafood which is directly fished from smögens fishers. The fish will not get fresher than this. Trust me.
I have to admit that Smögen, also like the other places on the West Coast, is just more special if the weather is perfect. We were very lucky and we had perfect weather with the warm sun but not it not being too hot and there were no clouds in the sky. Which, of course, is not always the case because if it is raining a lot I can only imagine how boring smögen can be.
But in our case, smögens famous boardwalk with many little cafes and seafood restaurants was full of people enjoying their Sunday. The vibrant Atmosphere was amazing and we also couldn’t resist spending some of your student money on a, very, very expensive Aperol spritz. Which is just almost impossible to buy in Sweden, because alcohol is so expensive here. But we just wanted to fully enjoy the day and be one of many people who relax while watching the boardwalk and the sea with many beautiful boats.
The boardwalk is very beauftiful and offers cute shops and charming restaurants and cafes.
Souvenir Tip:
A Store called “Made in smögen” handprinted stuff and much more. Also T-shirts and so forth. So cute designs that don’t scream souvenir and all things that you can really use in your everyday life and on top of that you help people that are really living in Sweden and owning a small business. I bought almost all of my souvenirs there and my mom still has her stuff regularly!
There is also a sweet store a bit more into town on a small town square where there are a few shops assembled. Look out for one particular with cute handmade jewelry where every girl’s heart will flatter! We were obsessed! To say the least. We also talked to the owner for a long time and she literally is the sweetest person ever!
Fjällbacka
Another Gem on the beautiful west coast of Sweden is fjällbacka. Known for being the main city of many murders… But only in criminal books written by the woman Ingrid Bergman a famous writer who was born in Fjällbacka. All of her books are played in her home town Fljällbacka. The town is also known for its picturesque scenery. The whole town including the typical Swedish houses is very sweet when walking around town but you especially have to visit because the most beautiful view you will get is by hiking up the Kungsklyftan.
It is short but not for the weak. You have to climb over many smaller and bigger stones to get to the stairs that will lead you up the hill. You even go through a tunnel out of cliffs on both sides and a big stone between them. At least from the side where the town center is. There is another option to go all the way to the back of the town and enter the stairs there, which will leave the Stone climbing part out.
Go up a few more stairs and you will get the most breathtaking views on the west coast! You can see the whole town from up there and the sea with many little islands in it. Take some Fika with you and enjoy the views!
Fjällbacka is not very exciting so to say for longer. After visiting the Kungsklyftan you are pretty much done. Fjällbacka itself is a town with charming streets and cute cafes that you can visit and take a stroll through but that is it.
I really hope I could inspire you to visit the West Coast of beautiful Sweden! Those two towns are just two beautiful places on the west coast of Sweden, but there are many more. When driving to those places we saw so many sweet towns and beautiful forests the whole time.
I chose those two towns in particular because both of them are easy to reach from Götheburg. Perfect for a day trip up the West Coast. These towns are a perfect trip for everyone who appreciates smaller towns and beautiful nature and someone who likes to relax and live in the moment like the Swedish do!
Please don´t hesitate to leave us feedback and make sure to live a life to remember!
Emma
About the Author:
If Emma were a word, she would be „daydreaming“ - the kind of daydreaming that feels more active than dreamy. No matter where she is, you’ll catch her thinking about the artsy city of Melbourne, wishing to take a walk through Central Park, dreaming of seeing the Northern Lights, and so on. The list is long. What’s adorable and also very impressive is that Emma doesn’t stay lost in the haze of her dreams; it won’t be long before the first opportunity appears, and she’ll be on her way to fulfill them.
Emma
About the Author:
If Emma were a word, she would be „daydreaming“ – the kind of daydreaming that feels more active than dreamy. No matter where she is, you’ll catch her thinking about the artsy city of Melbourne, wishing to take a walk through Central Park, dreaming of seeing the Northern Lights, and so on. The list is long. What’s adorable and also very impressive is that Emma doesn’t stay lost in the haze of her dreams; it won’t be long before the first opportunity appears, and she’ll be on her way to fulfill them.
