One Stop-over: Varberg, A Charming Summer Place

From Marstrand, we moved down to Varberg ( read about the place here ), another one of those "gems" that grace the western coastline of Sweden. There we hired a small cottage in one of the several camping sites, named Trelovsläges Camping, and slept  for two nights. It was a fine and comfortable camping place with cute little cottages and grass-carpeted grounds already occupied with campers and big tents.

Judging from the number of camping sites and the vacationers that filled them, this town is obviously a popular summer destination.

Driving and walking around the city the following day made it clear for me that Varberg deserves its epithet as  a "charming summer place". Indeed, many tourists/vacationers roamed about, sightseeing, visiting interesting spots, doing summer activities. The place has much to show and to "boast" about.

The imposing Varberg Fortress ( information here )

Its neigboring Bath House, an arabic/moroccan wooden structure rising from the sea

Breakwaters

Powdery white sandy beaches

Bird sanctuary

Attractive fishing harbors

Deligthful seaside meadows

Wind and kite surfing, sailing

Towering lighthouse

And many, many more....

...some of my pictures will tell the rest of the story about the charm and marvels of Varberg.

It's another stop-over that turned out to be a refreshing holiday in a truly enchanting town.  Another gem that filled in the mosaic of my precious memories that's continually in the making.

Next episode will cover my journey to Silkeborg, Denmark.

Have a great week!

Gems in the West Coast

Fringing the southwestern coastlines of Sweden are the multitudinous islands and capes with terrains quite unlike most parts of the country. Three of these places came to be our travel destinations last June: the cape town of Lysekil, and the islands of Smögen and Marstrand, but we spent most of our time in Lysekil, and only a few hours in Smögen and Marstrand.

Our arrival in Lysekil was greeted by unpleasant weather, being cloudy and a little rainy. We found a camping site where we set up our tent on a damp grass carpet, and where several campers from other places had been there days ahead of us. That evening after our dinner was still rainy, and there was nothing to do but drive around the center and take a brief survey of the place. We slept that night with the  rain tapping gently on our tent.

On the following day, the weather cooperated with us as we set off on a tour around the town. Lysekil is a pictureque coastal place where small fishing villages juxtapose with shopping centers and year-round fun. The cape juts out to the North Sea. For more information about the place, you may visit this link: Lysekil (Wikipedia)

What stunned me most are the smooth cliffs of pink granite in fantastic shapes and contours where one can easily walk around, stand or sit on top of them, especially in Stångehuvud which offers a superb view of the sea and all the islands strewn all over.

Amazing too are the flora and fauna thriving among the cliffs and pebbles. Oh, what a delight to walk toward the cliffs and beaches with all the verdant vegetation and lovely flowers along the way! 

Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took, some scenes and things that caught my eyes.

After two nights in Lysekil, we moved on to the islands of Smögen and Marstrand just to have a glimpse of them. The best view of Smögen could be seen from the bridge, but I could not capture it on account of the rain that pounded hard as we reached the bridge. I have only a few pictures of this place.

And Marstrand.

After Marstrand, we kept driving southward along the west coast, passing other coastal "gems", until we came to our last stop before going down to Denmark for our convention.

Another coastal treasure awaited us: the city of Varberg. This will be the next episode to my summer travelogue this year.