Tjorn and Orust: The West Coast's Island Heart

Tjörn is the art island, Orust the boatbuilding one, and between them sit some of Bohuslän’s oldest fishing villages. Here’s what is on each island, what’s open in which months, and the local rules visitors trip over.

When you need this

• You’re choosing between Tjörn, Orust and the rest of Bohuslän for a day or a week
• You want to know what’s open outside summer
• You’re bringing a dog, a tent or a motorhome and need the local rules
• You want the herring villages and car-free islands without a car
• You want to know whether you may pick oysters or set lobster pots

Tjörn or Orust? The islands compared

Both islands lie in southern Bohuslän, between Stenungsund on the mainland and the open sea. You drive onto Tjörn over the bridges from Stenungsund and onto Orust over Skåpesundsbron from Tjörn, or take the free Svanesund road ferry straight across. None of the bridges charges a toll. Every crossing, boat line and ticket is in our guide to west coast island ferries.

Orust is the largest island on Sweden’s west coast; the regional tourist board calls it Sweden’s fourth largest island overall.

Treat them as two days, not one drive-through. The sights are spread out, and the car-free islands each take a boat.

Tjörn: art and herring

Nordiska Akvarellmuseet (the Nordic Watercolour Museum) stands on the water in Skärhamn, about 70 km north of Gothenburg. It runs an open workshop where children and adults can try watercolour, and gives guided tours. It’s open in every season except during exhibition change-overs. When it’s shut, you can still see the outdoor art on the jetty and on a small islet beside it.

Skulptur i Pilane is the other big draw: contemporary sculpture set across an eight-hectare grazed landscape with a large Iron Age burial ground (gravfält) and views over the archipelago. Sheep graze among the works, and leashed dogs are welcome. It’s a summer exhibition only, and pays by card or Swish, never cash. A 12 km walking and cycling trail links the museum and Pilane.

Further round the island:

• Klädesholmen was a known fishing village by the 1500s. In 1950 it had 25 herring canneries, and since 1970 production has focused on pickled herring (sillinläggning), which still goes on there. Read more about the dish in our pickled herring guide.
• Sundsby säteri is a manor dating from the 1300s with five marked trails, the longest 4.8 km.
• Pater Noster, the 32 m lighthouse from 1868 on Hamneskär, marks the horizon off Tjörn.
• The car-free islands Åstol, Dyrön, Tjörnekalv and Härön sit just offshore; Dyrön has a 5 km trail round the island.

The Tjörn Bridge

The bridge you drive over has a history. On 18 January 1980, in fog, the ship Star Clipper hit the old Almö bridge and brought it down. Eight people died when six cars and a lorry drove into the gap before traffic was stopped. The cable-stayed Tjörn Bridge replaced it on 9 November 1981.

Orust: villages and boatyards

Orust has long been a centre of Swedish boatbuilding, and the yards still matter to the island. At the end of August, Ellös hosts Öppet Varv, a sailing-boat show.

The villages are the reason most visitors come:

• Mollösund, at Orust’s south-western tip, grew from the 1500s into Bohuslän’s largest fishing village. It has an 1866 church and an 18th-century windmill.
• Gullholmen is one of Sweden’s oldest fishing villages and, the tourist board says, its most densely built archipelago island. It was a crown islet (kronoholme) until 1999, and two of its houses, Stenstugan and Skepparhuset, are museums.
• Käringön is car-free and reached by boat from Tuvesvik.
• Hälleviksstrand and Stocken are the other old fishing villages worth a stop.

Nature and walking

Härmanö nature reserve, next to Gullholmen, is one of the larger reserves in Bohuslän. It has marked trails, a couple adapted for wheelchairs, the cave-riddled hill Ulkhåleberget and a swimming spot at Härmanö huvud. The reserve bans camping, fires, loose dogs, picking flowers and unauthorised motor vehicles.

Stigfjorden, the sheltered water between the two islands, is a Ramsar-listed wetland and one of the coast’s richest bird areas. Thousands of ducks, geese, swans and waders feed there in spring and autumn. In the reserve, dogs must always be leashed except on Tjörn, Orust, Mjörn and Lyr themselves.

At Sundsby, on the Tjörn shore of Stigfjorden, the trails range from easy to hard:

Solklinten, at 107 m, is the highest point in the area.

Swimming

The easiest swim on Tjörn is Gråskärsbadet, right next to the museum: a sandy beach, a diving tower and public toilets. The museum also invites visitors to dip from its jetty, but Tjörn’s ordinance bans swimming in Skärhamn’s south harbour area. We couldn’t confirm where that boundary runs, so use Gråskärsbadet.

Both ordinances ban swimming in harbours. On Tjörn that includes the ferry piers at Rönnäng, Tjörnekalv, Åstol, Dyrön, Härön, Kyrkesund and Almön. Tjörn lists 19 municipal bathing places and Orust ten, among them Mollösund’s Kattevik and Hälleviksstrand.

Inside the islands, clinging jellyfish were numerous on the eelgrass in the warm summers of 2018 and 2025. Our jellyfish guide explains what stings.

Dogs, tents and motorhomes: the local rules

Each municipality has its own order ordinance (lokala ordningsföreskrifter), and these are binding. Tjörn’s is new: it took effect on 3 February 2026, and the county board struck out two sections in March. The rules that matter to visitors:

Tjörn also bans fishing from four bridges, including Tjörnbron and Skåpesundsbron, and drinking alcohol stronger than 3.5% on Skärhamn’s square. Motorhomes follow the ordinary parking rules wherever they stop. Our guide to sleeping in your car covers the national picture.

The county board warns that a municipal camping ban can apply even where a reserve’s rules allow tents. So allemansrätten, the right of public access, doesn’t cover every rock: read wild camping in Sweden and check signs first. Nationally, dogs must not run loose where there is wildlife from 1 March to 20 August; see dogs in nature.

Oysters and lobster

You may not take oysters from the shore. Swedish law reserves oyster fishing within 200 metres of the mainland, or of an island at least 100 metres long, for the fishing-rights holder. In May 2026 police reported eight people at Mjölkeviken on Tjörn for picking oysters and mussels.

Lobster is off limits too. Only Swedish citizens and residents may fish lobster, and the “8 fjordar” area by Orust and Tjörn is closed to it anyway. The details are in west coast seafood and free fishing in Sweden.

Seasons

Visiting now, in mid-October? Pilane is closed for the season, but the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday.

Access

The museum is threshold-free, with automatic doors, a lift, an accessible toilet, a loan wheelchair and a hearing loop. Four disabled parking bays sit about 25 m from the entrance. Pets other than guide dogs aren’t allowed inside. At Pilane, the central part has easier paths; ask the entrance hosts.

Practical information

FAQ

Are Tjörn and Orust worth visiting?

Yes, if you like art, fishing villages and swimming off rocks. Tjörn has the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Skärhamn and the summer sculpture park at Pilane. Orust has Mollösund, Hälleviksstrand and the car-free islands Käringön and Gullholmen, with Härmanö nature reserve beside it. Skärhamn is about 70 kilometres north of Gothenburg, and both islands are reached by toll-free bridges.

How do I get to Tjörn and Orust?

By road over toll-free bridges: from Stenungsund to Tjörn, then over Skåpesundsbron to Orust. The free Svanesund road ferry is a short cut from the mainland to Orust. Without a car, take a direct Västtrafik bus from Gothenburg to Skärhamn, or the train to Stenungsund and a local bus. Our island-ferries guide covers every route and ticket.

Is the Nordic Watercolour Museum open in winter?

Yes. From 27 September 2026 to 11 April 2027 the museum in Skärhamn opens Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 16:00, and is closed on Mondays. It also closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. Entry outside summer costs half the summer price and is free for everyone under 26. In summer it opens daily 11:00 to 17:00.

When is Skulptur i Pilane open?

Only in summer. The 2026 season ran daily from 14 May to 27 September, 10:00 to 17:00, and the site now shows as closed for the season. Tickets are bought at the entrance by card or Swish, not cash. Under-18s with an adult go free. Without a car, take bus 367 to Basteröd and walk about 950 metres.

Can I camp on Tjörn or Orust?

Not on municipal bathing places, churchyards, playgrounds or the other listed public places: both municipalities’ ordinances ban camping there, and Orust’s also covers its listed trails. Härmanö nature reserve bans camping outright. Elsewhere allemansrätten may allow a night in a tent, but check reserve signs and local bans first. Motorhomes follow ordinary parking rules.

Can I take my dog to the beach on Tjörn and Orust?

Not to the municipal bathing places in summer. Tjörn bans dogs from its 19 listed bathing places from 1 May to 31 August, and Orust from its public bathing places from 15 May to 31 August, except at a designated spot. Dogs must be leashed at the ferry piers. Nationally, dogs must not run loose where there is wildlife from 1 March to 20 August.

Can I pick oysters on Tjörn?

Not near land unless you hold the fishing right. Swedish law reserves oyster fishing within 200 metres of the mainland, or of an island at least 100 metres long, for the rights-holder, and that covers almost every shore a visitor can reach. In May 2026 police reported eight people at Mjölkeviken on Tjörn for picking oysters and mussels.

Related guides

• West coast island ferries — every bridge, ferry, boat line and ticket for these islands
• West coast road trip — Tjörn and Orust as two days on the drive north
• Bohuslän and the West Coast — the region around the islands
• West coast seafood — what you may catch, buy and eat here
• Gothenburg day trips — the islands and other trips from the city

Facts verified 15 October 2026. Sources: Tjörns kommun and Orust kommun (local order ordinances), Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland, Trafikverket, Västtrafik, Sveriges Riksdag, Havs- och vattenmyndigheten, Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skulptur i Pilane and Västsverige — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.