Blekinge Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Blekinge is a province in southern Götaland, with approximately 155 000 inhabitants. Its borders are identical to Blekinge County, Blekinge län. Blekinge is known as the garden of Sweden, the area where Olofström Municipality borders Scania is also referred to as being the southernmost wilderness in Sweden.

• 56.1922115.6308421 Karlskrona, county seat and home port of the Swedish Navy. The old shipyard, the naval base's oldest constructions, and the three churches on Trossö island are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
• 56.174814.85822 Karlshamn, is one of Sweden's busiest cargo harbours. The old town is a many centuries old planned town at the natural harbour.
• 56.27648314.5283013 Olofström , next to Ekopark Raslången, Sweden's southernmost wilderness.
• 56.20685315.2790784 Ronneby, known as a spa town. It features some historical streets in the town centre, a series of ornate guest houses along the river, and the spectacular parkland of the Brunnspark.
• 56.02991814.574175 Sölvesborg, with roots in the Danish Middle Ages. The old town with architecture like Danish towns at the Baltic Sea. Also home to Sweden Rock festival.

• Blekinge archipelago

Just as the neighbouring Scania, Blekinge was part of Denmark, though ceded to Sweden in the Roskilde treaty of 1658. In 1680, the Swedish navy built a base at Karlskrona, soon making the city Sweden's third largest.

Blekinge can be divided into three geographical distinct areas: The archipelago, the lowland by the coast and the highland in the northern inland. Most of the inhabitants in Blekinge live in the five main cities and in the coastal lowland. The rest of Blekinge is sparsely inhabited, which means there is hardly any public transport besides school buses.

Outside the cities and villages most of the buildings are either farm houses or dwellings of considerable age (an outhouse and no tap water).

The dialects of Blekinge differs from standard Swedish, and are a bit similar to the Scanian dialects.

By bus

• Skånetrafiken, Route 561 from Bromölla, Scania either southbound to Sölvesborg or northbound to Olofström. Route 562 from Älmhult, Småland to Olofström.
• Blekingetrafiken, Route 682 from Ryd, Småland via Kyrkhult ending in Olofström.

By plane

• Ronneby Airport in Kallinge outside Ronneby. Only flights from Stockholm Arlanda International Airport.
• The closest international airport is Copenhagen Airport in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Øresundståg arrives every hour.

By train

• Öresundståg, trains from Copenhagen, Denmark, stopping at Sölvesborg, Mörrum, Karlshamn, Bräkne-Hoby, Ronneby, Bergåsa ending in Karlskrona.
• SJ, trains from Stockholm with change in Alvesta, Småland, and with trains from Gothenburg, both with change in Emmaboda, Småland, ending in Karlskrona.
• Snälltåget, trains from Malmö and Stockholm with connecting dedicated bus service from Alvesta, Småland, with stops in Karlshamn, Ronneby ending in Karlskrona.

Resrobot is a search engine for all public transport inside Sweden.

By boat

• DFDS Seaways runs a ferry line between Klaipėda, Lithuania and Karlshamn. The ferry line is mostly directed towards trucks and car drivers, but it is possible to book tickets for cyclists and pedestrians.
• Stena Line runs a ferry line between Gdynia, Poland and Karlskrona. The ferry line is mostly directed towards trucks and car drivers, but it is possible to book tickets for cyclists and pedestrians.

Public transport tickets are single fare and valid for a certain time period, during which all modes of transport can be utilized for the same ticket.

By bus

• Blekingetrafiken. There is city bus traffic in the five cities and a coastline bus (kustbussen) connecting the five cities. Outside of the cities there is scheduled bus traffic on working days 2-4 times between 06:00 and 18:00 (not in the week-ends or on national holidays).

By train

• Blekingetrafiken. Train stations are along the coastline railway, from the east coming from Bromölla in Scania (Öresundståg), stopping at Sölvesborg, Mörrum, Karlshamn, Bräkne-Hoby, Ronneby, Bergåsa and Karlskrona. There is also a train going from Karlskrona to Emmaboda, Småland (krösatågen) to the north, it stops in Bergåsa and Holmsjö.

By boat

• Blekingetrafiken. There is a quite comprehensive public boat traffic within the Blekinge archipelago, but mostly in the summer season. Eight lines within the Karlskrona archipelago, three lines within the Ronneby archipelago, five lines within the Karlshamn archipelago. There is also one public boat line between Nogersund and the island of Hanö.

• The Mörrum Kronolaxfiske is known for its salmon, sea trout and pike-perch fishing. It lies 950 meters from Mörrum railway station when following the Parkvägen street to the north (Mörrum river upstreams).
• Harasjömåla put and take fishing to the west of Olofström. Salmon trout, rainbow trout, pike, bream, perch, eel and roach. Only accessible by own transport.

• Ekopark Raslången is Sweden's southernmost wilderness. The 1,300 hectare large ecopark was inaugurated 2011 by Sveaskog, the state forestry, around the oblong Lake Raslången. The lake has virtually no settlements along its shores, which is very unusual for the south of Sweden. The forest is mixed coniferous and deciduous with the latter being at its northernmost latitude. The ecopark is also excellent for paddling canoe and fishing.

• 56.45313215.2353681 Räntemåla Gård, Räntemålavägen 18, Eringsboda. Open from 1 July to 31 August. All days: 16:30-18:30. Didn't see a moose on your holiday? Well, here you've got the chance. Quite off the beaten track, so you need your own transport. Adult: 200 kr, Child (3-15 years): 120 kr, Child (less than 3 years): free. 

• The Sweden Rock Festival is a hard rock festival outside of Sölvesborg. The festival offers the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres. First week-end of June.

Most eateries outside the five cities are only open during the summer season.

Blekinge