Bohuslän Coast Road Trip from Gothenburg: Marstrand, Smögen, Fjällbacka and the Tanum Rock Carvings in 3 Days

Bohuslän is the strip of Swedish west coast between Gothenburg and the Norwegian border: bare granite islands, fishing villages packed into the rock, and bridges and short ferries that link them. This loop starts at Gothenburg Landvetter Airport, where you pick up the car, and runs north through car-free Marstrand, over the Tjörn Bridge to Skärhamn and Orust, then on to Lysekil, Smögen, Fjällbacka and the Bronze Age rock carvings at Tanum, and ends the second evening in Strömstad. On the last morning you take the boat to Kosterhavet National Park, then drive back. It makes about 522 km in three days.

Why back to Landvetter and not on to Oslo? From Strömstad, Oslo is 138 km away and Landvetter 189 km, so a one-way trip saves only about 51 km of driving, while dropping a Swedish rental car in Norway costs an international one-way fee that you have to ask the rental company about. For most people the loop is simpler. Sweden has no vignette and no motorway tolls; the only road charge on this route is the Gothenburg congestion tax, explained under Costs.

Day 1 — Landvetter, Marstrand and Tjörn to Orust (164 km)

Pick up the car at Landvetter and take road 40 and the E6 north through Gothenburg, then road 168 to Koön. Cars are not allowed on Marstrand island: park on Koön (the nearer to the ferry, the higher the fee; in winter most car parks are free, but read the signs) and take the passenger ferry across. It sails about every 15 minutes in the daytime and takes about 2 minutes; buy the ticket at the machines by the terminal, and the return is included.

Walk up through the wooden town to Carlsten Fortress (Carlstens fästning) on the island’s highest rock. Karl X Gustav ordered it built after the Peace of Roskilde in 1658 made Bohuslän Swedish, and it was finished in about 1860. Much of it was built by prisoners; the best known, the thief Lasse-Maja, served 26 years here before the king pardoned him in 1839. In 2026 the fortress opens daily from June to August and at weekends in spring and September; adult entry is SEK 120. Outside that, call ahead.

Drive back to the E6 and north to Stenungsund, where the Tjörn Bridge (Tjörnbron) carries road 160 over the sound. It opened in 1981. It replaced the Almö Bridge, which collapsed on 18 January 1980 when the ship Star Clipper hit its arch at night; eight people drove off the broken end before the road was closed. Continue across Tjörn to Skärhamn and the Nordic Watercolour Museum (Nordiska Akvarellmuseet), right by the water at the south harbour. From 27 September 2026 to 11 April 2027 it shows the watercolours and drawings of the Sámi artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00–16:00 (closed Mondays). Then cross the Skåpesund to Orust and sleep in Henån.

Day 2 — Lysekil, Smögen, Fjällbacka and Tanum to Strömstad (169 km)

Drive north off Orust and take the free Gullmarsleden road ferry from Skår to Finnsbo over the Gullmarsfjord: 1,850 m and about 10 minutes. In Lysekil, Havets Hus is an aquarium of the fish and animals of the fjord and the North Sea. In 2026 it opens daily 10:00–16:00 until 30 December (closed 24, 25 and 31 December).

Continue to Smögen and walk the Smögenbryggan, the long pier along the harbour with its cafés, restaurants and shops. It is above all a summer place: outside the season only some of the restaurants and cafés stay open, so check before you plan lunch there.

Drive on to Fjällbacka. From Ingrid Bergman’s Square (Ingrid Bergmans torg) by the harbour, steps lead up Vetteberget. Through it runs Kungsklyftan, a cleft roofed by jammed boulders; it takes its name from King Oscar II, who visited in 1887 and signed the rock wall at its northern end, and scenes from Ronja Rövardotter were filmed here.

A short drive inland, the Tanum rock carvings became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994: more than 600 carving sites in about 41 km², made some 3,000 years ago. At Vitlycke the main panel holds about 500 figures, among them the “bride couple”. The carvings are free and open round the clock all year, but in winter some panels are under ice or snow. Vitlycke Museum opens from April to the end of October; in winter it has opened only on a few Advent weekends, so check the dates. Then drive up the E6 to Strömstad.

Day 3 — Kosterhavet and back to Gothenburg Landvetter (189 km)

Leave the car in Strömstad and take the morning Koster boat from the harbour. The boats are part of Västtrafik’s public transport (line 899), run all year and take about 45 minutes to Ekenäs on Sydkoster; the timetable is on the Västtrafik website. Kosterhavet became Sweden’s first marine national park in 2009: 98% of it is sea and only 2% land, and it is home to about 12,000 species, some 300 of which have been found nowhere else in Sweden. By the jetty at Ekenäs is the park’s main entrance, naturum Kosterhavet; it keeps set opening hours from February to October, so check its page before you go. The park can also be reached from the mainland at Saltö, Rossö and Resö (entrances). Walk on the island, then take an early-afternoon boat back.

From Strömstad the drive back to Landvetter is a straight run down the E6, about two and a half hours. If you go on to Norway instead, the Svinesund Bridge at the border has been toll-free since 15 March 2021.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your dates. There is no vignette and no motorway toll in Sweden. The Gullmarsleden ferry is free; you pay for the Marstrand ferry and the Koster boat. Budget for accommodation, fuel for about 522 km, car rental, parking on Koön and in Strömstad, and entry to Carlsten Fortress, the Nordic Watercolour Museum (adults SEK 80 in the 2026 winter season, under-26s free) and Havets Hus.

The Gothenburg congestion tax applies on weekdays from 06:00 to 18:29 at stations around the centre, including the E6 and E20: SEK 9 to 22 per passage by time of day, at most SEK 60 a day, and one charge if you pass several stations within 60 minutes. It is not charged on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, days before them and in July. Cameras read the plate; the owner of a foreign-registered car gets a monthly bill by post through EPASS24, and late payment adds SEK 500. With a rental car the bill goes to the rental company, so check how it passes it on.

From 1 December to 31 March cars, including foreign ones, must have winter tyres whenever there is snow, ice, slush or frost on the road, with at least 3 mm of tread; studded tyres are allowed from 1 October to 15 April.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.