Why go
The Gothenburg Archipelago is the city’s beach day: a scatter of granite islands off the west coast that you reach on an ordinary public transport ticket, not a tour. It comes in two halves. The southern islands belong to Gothenburg Municipality and are car-free, so from the jetty you walk or cycle. The northern islands make up Öckerö Municipality and hang off a free road ferry, which makes them the easier pick if you are driving or short on time.
Choose one half per day. Both offer the same ingredients, flat rock for sunbathing, small sandy coves, harbours with a café or two and nature reserves to walk through, but they suit different plans. The southern side is for a slow day of island-hopping on foot; the northern side is for a harbour lunch, a swim and a walk you can finish before the last bus.
What you will see
Southern archipelago
The ferries fan out from Saltholmen and call at the islands roughly in order of distance. Asperö is the first stop and has plenty of swimming spots. Brännö has cafés and restaurants, the beaches at Ramsdal and Gröna Vik, and an uninhabited neighbour, Galterö, whose nature reserve you reach on foot; on summer Thursdays the island keeps up its tradition of pier dances. Köpstadsö, Kössö to locals, is the smallest of the group with around 100 full-time residents and about 300 in summer; the only vehicle allowed is the wheelbarrow.
Styrsö is the hub, with a post office, shops, cafés, hotels and several restaurants spread over the villages of Byn, Tången and Bratten, plus sandy beaches, piers, flat cliffs and the Stora Rös viewpoint. A bridge joins it to Donsö, one of Sweden’s more important ports, where the Radarberget viewpoint gives you the whole spread of islands at once. Vrångö is the last stop south, home to around 380 year-round residents, with nature reserves, sandy beaches and a former pilot lookout that faces the Vinga lighthouse. Vinga itself, Gothenburg’s westernmost point and the childhood home of the singer Evert Taube, is not served by public transport; boat tours leave from Hönö.
Two quieter options sit on their own ferry line. Knarrholmen, once the holiday colony of the Götaverken shipyard workers, has beaches, rocks and an archipelago restaurant. Stora Förö is calm and gets few ferries, so check the return before you land.
Northern archipelago
Hönö is the busy one. Hönö Klåva harbour has a fishing museum and places to eat, Ersdalen is a nature reserve for walking, and Hästen beach combines sand, cliffs and jetties. Kayaking and diving are on offer around the island. Fotö, reached by island bus from Hönö, has coastal paths on the archipelago walking trail, swimming areas, diving towers and a guest harbour. Rörö, at the top of the chain, is mostly nature reserve: open moorland, heather, shingle fields, bird watching and the viewpoints at Fyrvala and Grevens Vale.
Visiting
There is no entrance fee and no opening hours. What you pay is the fare, so the admission figure in the facts box is the price of a Västtrafik Zone A single ticket, not a charge for the islands. Zone A covers Gothenburg, Mölndal, Partille and Öckerö, boats included, so one ticket takes you by tram to Saltholmen and on by ferry. A single is valid for 90 minutes, which covers the trip out but not the way back. Two singles cover a plain out-and-back; a day ticket pays off once you island-hop or use the tram again in town: the 24-hour version costs 125 kr for an adult and 95 kr for a youth, and the 72-hour version 250 kr and 190 kr. These prices took effect on 9 June 2026.
Buy in the Västtrafik To Go app, at a sales agent or by tapping a bank card on board within Zone A. On the ferries you can also buy from the ticket machine or the deckhand, and most vessels take cards. Nothing needs booking; you turn up and board. The road ferries to the northern islands are free. The autumn boat timetable runs until 12 December 2026, so check the current sheet at Styrsöbolaget before a winter trip.
Getting there
Southern islands: Saltholmen
The ferry terminal is Saltholmen, at the western end of the city. Tram 11 runs there year-round from the centre in about 35 minutes, and tram 9 joins it in summer. Bus 114, the “Ö-snabben”, takes about 25 minutes but runs only in peak hours. If you drive, the Saltholmen car park is reserved for disabled-permit holders; visitor parking is at Långedrag and, in summer, Hinsholmen, and from the Långedrag tram stop it is about 1.3 km, or 15 minutes on foot, to the boats.
Styrsöbolaget runs four lines from Saltholmen. Line 281 serves Köpstadsö, Styrsö Bratten, Donsö and Vrångö; 282 serves Köpstadsö, Styrsö Bratten, Styrsö Tången and Brännö Husvik; 283 serves Asperö and Brännö Rödsten; 284 serves Knarrholmen and Stora Förö. On the autumn timetable a weekday boat on line 281 reaches Styrsö Bratten in 14 minutes and Vrångö in 38 minutes; line 282 takes 39 minutes to Brännö Husvik, and line 283 18 minutes to Brännö Rödsten. The Sjumansholmen jetty is not served for the time being while its pier is repaired.
A few boats also start at Stenpiren in the city centre, which saves the tram ride but not the time: on weekdays there are only two departures, at 08:44 and 16:55, with a change of boat at Saltholmen, and the whole run to Vrångö takes about 1 hour 35 minutes.
Northern islands: Lilla Varholmen
The northern islands start at Lilla Varholmen, north-west of the city. Bus X6 runs from the Central Station to the ferry, and bus 290 from Järntorget goes the whole way, riding the ferry across to Hönö. The Hönöleden road ferry, run by Trafikverket, crosses 2,500 m of water in 13 minutes and costs nothing, for cars and foot passengers alike. A second free ferry, Björköleden, crosses to Björkö in 5 minutes, and the Nordöleden from Burö links Knippla, Hyppeln and Rörö. On the islands, bus 1 runs Hönö–Öckerö–Hälsö, bus 2 Hönö–Fotö and bus 294 around Björkö.
Nearby
Saltholmen is the end of the line, so pair the islands with the rest of Gothenburg rather than with another sight. The same tram network takes you back to Liseberg and Universeum, which stand next to each other, for an evening in town. For trains and buses beyond the city, see the Sweden transport guide.