If you came to stay on the tiny island of Styrsö (steer-shuh) in the Gothenburg archipelago in the late 19th or early 20th century, there was a good chance it was because you had tuberculosis. The island had already begun to appeal to city folk who came here for fresh air, sea baths and peace, but the sanatoriums set up by the renowned Dr Peter Silfverskiöld gained such a positive reputation that the isle became known as a health resort. Those glory days have long since faded but Kusthotellet, a new hotel dedicated to wellbeing, aims to tap back into the restorative vibe.
The conditions that first drew health-seekers to the island still pertain. It’s tucked away and protected from winds, but the lack of high ground nearby means the sun shines on its southern coast from dawn to dusk, and there’s no pollution. “This island is such a peaceful place – you can really relax and recharge your batteries,” Malin Lilton, manager of Kusthotellet, told my companion and me. “As soon as you get on the ferry your pulse rate goes down and you start breathing in the good air.”
In the spirit of slowing down, we had come by train from the UK with Interrail passes, stopping for the night in Hamburg. Arriving in the late afternoon in Gothenburg, we wandered the old town before heading to Styrsö via tram to Saltholmen harbour and speedy catamaran ferry. City centre to island hotel in just under an hour.
Right on the coast with views across to neighbouring Donsö island, the 40-room, 10-suite hotel is a sleek creation, decorated in the cool, calming colours beloved by Scandinavians, with a light-filled restaurant, wellness area and outdoor heated pool. Our room, one of the 20 with sea views – is a spacious, uncluttered affair with a balcony.
The hotel is designed with sustainability in mind – there are ground-source heat pumps and water-based underfloor heating – and it’s aiming for Green Key sustainability status. And everything has been kept as local as possible, from the staffing and food ingredients to the seaweed and salt used in the spa.
That spa – named Havskuren (“The Sea Cure”) – is split into two areas. The Salt Source offers foot baths, facial treatments and an area for relaxing. The Heat Source contains a sauna, steam bath and plunge pool. There’s also a small gym. “We’re planning to offer massages soon as well,” Malin said.
Malin also explained that cycling, walking, sea swimming and eating are also important elements in guests’ wellbeing, and presented us with two shiny new hire bikes. The 0.6 square mile (1.5 sq km) island is virtually car-free and as we explored over three days, the only vehicles we met on the smooth narrow roads were bicycles, golf carts and three-wheeled mopeds that resembled motorised wheelbarrows.
One morning, having stocked up at the island Co-op, we pedalled off for a picnic lunch on Lilla Lyngnskär, a tiny islet accessible from Styrsö by footbridge. We still somehow had room for fika – coffees with a cinnamon bun and a mighty chokladbollar (Swedish chocolate ball) – at Café Öbergska, formerly an inn owned by pickled herring barons.
Our walks on the island’s wooded southern side included a memorable crepuscular hike on a footpath to a bronze age cairn at Stora Rös, the island’s highest point with a 360-degree vista across the southern Gothenburg archipelago. We shared the path down in the dark with scores of frogs, some no larger than our fingernails. Doubtless many would find their way into the stomachs of the herons we had seen hunting during the day.
Back at the hotel, we dined in the high-ceilinged restaurant with views over the water. The menu features Nordic-influenced seafood dishes such as scallops, cured halibut, plaice and hake, as well as wholesome vegan options using locally farmed vegetables. We tucked into beetroot, chanterelle and oyster mushroom starters followed by charred cabbage and toasted hazelnuts over a mouthwateringly creamy potato base – all delicious.
One evening, after dinner we tried out the spa. Malin handed us a nose-pleasing set of creams and lotions she had made herself, and we luxuriated in the foot-baths, sauna and steam room, suffered in a freezing plunge pool, and relaxed again in the heated outdoor pool with a view across the ocean to the sparkling lights of Donsö.
A bridge has joined Styrsö with this neighbour for just over 50 years, so the next day we cycled over it for an al fresco lunch at the harbourside Popsicle cafe, owned by Donsö-born sisters Kristin and Klara. Their mixture of ingredients grown by friends, tasty bread and cakes made by Klara’s mother-in-law and weekly live music has proved a hit. We returned to the harbour for a delicious dinner featuring jerusalem artichokes, butternut squash and a cauliflower sauce at Isbolaget, a high-ceilinged building that was once an ice store for fishing boats.
Our final slow day was dedicated to a seaweed safari (£118pp) with potter-turned-naturalist Karolina Martinson. We began with a historical cycle tour of the northern part of the island, home to most of Styrsö’s 1,600-strong population. Karolina led us leisurely up and down miniature hills sprinkled with well-kept detached wooden houses, no two alike.
Arriving at Karolina’s chosen beach, we slipped into wetsuits and clambered over rocks into the pleasingly clear and even warm-ish seawater. So followed our introduction to finger kelp, sugar kelp, fork weed, dulse, mermaid’s necklace and good old bladderwrack – all of them good for us or the planet or both. We snorkelled around, watching as Karolina showed us how she picks the plants sustainably.
Our exploration done, we helped to prepare a homemade feast on the beach – traditional bread thins cooked on a stove, tofu wrapped in crispy mermaid’s necklace, light-as-air biscuits made with foraged meadowsweet, sweet bites of sugar kelp and much more besides. When we said our goodbyes, many hours later, we felt like old friends.
All too soon we found ourselves at the dockside waiting for the ferry back to the reality of the outside world. After a few minutes, a woman joined us – bare-footed and apparently clad in nothing but a Kusthotellet spa robe. For all our newfound relaxed state, we clearly still had a lot to learn from the Swedes about how to be laidback.
The trip was supported by the West Sweden tourist board and Kusthotellet Styrsö (double rooms from about £130). Rail tickets were supplied by Interrail; a Global Pass (four days of travel in a month) costs £187 (ages 12-27), £249 (ages 28-59), £224 (60+).
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