Splendid isolation on an autumnal break in Sweden

Lobster fishing, sea dipping and going off-grid far from the madding crowd makes for the ultimate autumn retreat, says Justine Gosling

The Hermitage at Swedish Country Living offers spartan luxury (Justine Gosling)

It took less than two hours to drive from Gothenberg airport to Hamburgsund, where we met the passenger boat taking us to the little archipelago of Väderöarna, in the Kosterhavet marine National Park. 

The most westerly islands in Sweden, Väderöarna is the last outpost; the final frontier. Originally home to sea pilots and their families until the mid-1960s, the island is now open year-round to a maximum of 36 guests per night to enjoy the sea breeze and isolation.  

And isolation really is Sweden’s specialty – 95 per cent of its massive land mass of 450,295 square kilometres, 3.5 times the size of England, is uninhabited.