Sweden 92
Eating and entertainment
befits a resort town, there is no shortage of places to eat and drink, most of em easily found by just wandering around near the harbour areas, a valid bn h tlaholmen on the promontory of that name serves 50kr cold S P® Skolgatan.
alike 4kNorra Hamngatan, caters to vegetarians and omnivores times Ы lunches for around SOkr and reasonably priced food at other
к"®' buildings in town, by Sodra Hamnen, houses
v?iththep H features live music. In the same area. Strand also comes up goods fiom time to time, and spills outside on long summer nights.
If you're here at the end of July and beginning of August, take the chance to see Domardansen, a theatrical dance directed by the choreographer Ivo Cramer. The twohour performance, inspired by 3000уеагч)И rock carvings takes place at dusk in the forests of Blomsholm, 10km away. Tickets (60kr) booked through the tourist office, include transport there and back, and though you may not catch all the nuances without knowing Swedish, the spectacle should make it worthwhile.
The Koster Islands
Ferries run all year from Stromstad to the offshore Koster Islands, but departures are more frequent in summer. The trip takes thirty to sixty minutes (oneway fares 80kr plus), depending on which of the halfdozen main islands you visit. Pick up information about them, including the Kosterbladet paper in English, froni Stromstad's tourist office.
No cars are allowed on the islands, so bicycles (available for rent when you arrive) are the easiest way of seeking out the best swimming and sealviewing spots, the waters here warmed by the North Atlantic drift.
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There are several campsites on the island of NordKoster and a youth hostel on SydKoster (AprilSept; =052620 125), 1500m from the ferry stop at Ekenas. Before you get there though, you will be inundated by people with luggage carrying mopeds prepared to rent out their apartments for about 250300kr a night; great value if there are three or four of you.
South down the coast
Just a few kilometres south of Stromstad, off the E6, is SKEE, visited in 1795 by Mary Wollstencroft, who remarked; "The town was built on, and under [rocks]. Tbree or four weatherbeaten trees . . . shrinking from the wind. The steeple . .. wisely placed on a rock at some distance, not to endanger the roof of the church." That pretty much sums it up today, so it's barely worth the effort, even with your own transport although buses #893 and #894 will take you there from Stromstad.
It's better to make for the coastal resorts and islands further south, though again this is difficult by public transport. From the small tovra of DINGLE on the E6 (and on the rail line), a frequent bus service (#872) runs to Fjallbacka and HAMBURGSUND, the latter a workaday town with a short ferry crossing to the much prettier island of Hamburgso, which has its own campsite. FJALLBACKA is a more rewarding stop pictureperfect, snuggled under and squeezed between granite cliffs.