Sauna, Hiking and Island Hopping on Beautiful Dyrön, West Sweden

Dyrön is one of the most popular islands to visit in the southern bohuslän archipelago. Located just north of Gothenburg, visiting the island makes for a great day trip from the city. The island of Dyrön, also known as Stora Dyrön, is a classic West Sweden landscape. A rocky coastline covered in small pink flowers and stark cliffs leading down to the sea. Dyrön is located in the northern part of this little archipelago inlet. This means the island has amazing views over other islands such as Tjörn, Åstol and Marstrand. Because of its amazing location, it is one of the best islands for island hopping around the archipelago. The option to stay the night, try out the sauna, or simply take a beautiful hike through the unique landscape make it even better.

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How to get to Dyrön

Travelling to Dyrön by car

Dyrön is a car-free island but you can definitely travel by car to the ferry terminal to save a bit of time. The ferry leaves from two ports – one on the north and one on the south of Dyrön. These are called Rönnäng and Rörtången. Rönnäng is located to the north of the island of Tjörn. It is a great place to catch the ferry if you are visiting Stora Dyrön as a part of a West Sweden road trip! If you want some more road trip inspiration you can read my blog post itinerary here! It is only a 5-minute drive from the popular town of Klädesholmen. The ferry trip takes 10 minutes to reach Dyrön norra. You can find more information on the timetable here (Line 361)!

If you are visiting Dyrön from Gothenburg then the best option is to drive to Rörtången. This takes about 40 minutes from central Gothenburg. There is a lot of parking here and the ferry to Dyrön södra takes just over 1 hour. This ferry is great for island hopping as it stops at other popular islands along the way such as Älgön, a beautiful nature reserve. You can find the timetable from Rörtången to Dyrön here (line 326).

Travelling to Dyrön by public transport

The best way to plan your trip to Dyrön by public transport is to look at Västtrafik, West Sweden’s public transport service. When planning set the destination as either Dyrön södra or Dyrön norra. The trip usually takes around 2 hours. The timetable changes depending on the day and the season so I will not give any specific tips here. I will say though, it is usually a relatively easy trip with one or two transfers in total between Gothenburg and Dyrön.

Sailing to Dyrön

Sailing around West Sweden’s coast is one of the best adventures you can do in the summertime. The archipelago lends itself to spending weeks on the water, island-hopping between little fishing villages and spending nights docked by uninhabited islands. Sailing into the island is relatively easy and you have two options when it comes to visiting the island.

The first is to sail into Dyrön Guest harbour (or gästhamn in Sweden). To park your boat here you must pay a little bit of a docking fee. This can be paid through swish or at the boat club. You can leave your boat here for several hours, or overnight if you wish!

The second option is to leave the boat by the side of one of the rocky cliffs and disembark onto the cliffs. All around the island, small metal rings are attached to the rocks meaning you can moor the boat wherever you want. Just be careful as it can be quite windy in the archipelago. In the summer there can be a lot of boat traffic so the oceans are not always smooth.

island hopping sailing to dyrön west sweden

Read about more great day trips from Gothenburg!

Top things to do on Dyrön, Sweden

Dyrön is a relatively small island that lacks a lot of the more commercial aspects of its neighbours such as Marstrand. However, this in no way makes it a less worthy island to visit! In some ways, Stora Dyrön is my favourite island in this section of the bohuslän archipelago as it is a bit less quiet and almost more authentic.

Here are the best things to do on Dyrön:

Hike the Dyrönleden

The Dyrönleden, or Dyrön trail, is one of the best things to do on Dyrön. The hike takes you from the harbour at Dyrön södra around the island to the port of Dyrön norra. Along the way, there are signs which tell you about the history of the island and the coastline. You also pass by some of the best places to stop for a swim, and some beautiful views! The Dyrönleden is about 5km in total and takes around 75 minutes to walk without stopping.

Have a fika

The landscape of Dyrön lends itself to picnics, with so many perfect nooks nestled into the rocks where you can sit and get some sun or wind shade and take a pause. There are no cafes or coffee shops along the Dyrönleden. So you are best to pack some coffee and snacks from home or stop at the local ICA for your walk.

Hire the sauna / bastu on Dyrön

Dyrön has one of the best saunas in the southern Bohuslän archipelago. A small electric run sauna with a changing room, small kitchen, outdoor area and dock to swim from. Hiring the sauna on Dyrön is one of the best activities all year round, but in the colder months, it is definitely a special experience to have in Sweden. In Swedish, the word for sauna is Bastu so look out for that on the signs as you walk around the island. You can hire the sauna from this page, and additionally if you want catering you can arrange it with the local ICA. The sauna costs 70kr per person if you want to hire it at a public time. Otherwise it is 450kr to hire the sauna privately for 1 hour. The sauna fits 12 people and is one of the best things to do on Dyrön.

sauna bastu on dyrön west sweden archipelago

Stay overnight in a cozy home

Dyrön is a great place for a small weekend away from the city, with a very relaxed island atmosphere, some good places to eat out and low key activities. You can spend the day island hopping to the nearby Åstol, or finding your own secret swimming spot.

There is not much accommodation on Dyrön, but my favourite of the few has to be Holiday Home Hamnvägen. It is a very fresh and cosy holiday home located centrally in the little village on Stora Dyrön, making it the perfect place to enjoy a little summer in Sweden. It is close to the water, the hiking trail, and has a beautiful outdoor terrace which is great for summer barbecues.

You can book it here!

Take a swim

Being an island, obviously one of the best things to do on Stora Dyrön is taking a swim. There are several organized swimming spots around Dyröns coast but as well as these you can often just walk down to the cliffs and swim wherever you want. When looking out for a swimming spot you should look for the phrase Badplats, which translates into bathing place.

The two main beach areas on Dyrön are at the north harbour (norra hamnen) and the south harbour (södra hamnen). The badplats in the north is a small sandy beach with a pier leading out into the water. This is a great swimming spot for families, with a small picnic area behind. The south harbour is called Hala, and there is a sandy beach here too. By the beach, you will find a jetty and diving board as well as a diving platform that is 3m high. This is more of an adventure swimming area great for those who want to have the ability to jump off the cliffs.

Swimming on Dyrön is always made better by using the sauna, so don’t forget to look into swimming here too!

Island hopping from Stora Dyrön

The southern part of the Bohuslän archipelago is one of the best places to go island hopping from Gothenburg. From Stora Dyrön you can take the ferry south towards the island of Marstrand. Alternatively, you can travel north towards the nature reserve of Älgon, or the very small fishing village island of Åstol. If you have your own boat, this section of the coastline is perfect for spending a few days out on an uninhabited island or heading up to other great islands like Käringön.