Page 213 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden

SWEDEN AREA B Y AREA  211

WESTERN GÖTALAND

Spanning four provinces – Dalsland, Bohuslän, Västergötland
and Halland – this attractive and immensely diverse part of
Sweden borders Norway to the west, touches on the great
forests in the north and reaches to Lake Vättern in the east.
Sweden’s largest lake, Vänern, lies at its heart. The waters of
the Kattegat and Skagerrak wash the rocky shores and
sandy beaches along the coast.
Dalsland in the northwest of Western of many coastal communities doubles
Götaland is one of Sweden’s smallest in summer. Bohuslän’s main city is
provinces and is relatively unknown Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest
even among Swedes. The landscape is metropolis (see pp194–209).
hilly and it is often said that the border Västergötland lies between lakes
with Norrland starts here with the Vänern and Vättern. The area has been
mountain area of Kroppefjäll as its inhabited since ancient times and has
southwestern outpost. From the plains many prehistoric remains. It was the first
of agricultural Dalsland this border can region in Sweden to be converted to
be seen rearing up like a dark forest-clad Christianity and has an abundance of
wall to the west, while the blue expanse early churches. The country’s first
of Lake Vänern glistens to the east. Christian king, Olof Skötkonung, is
The area is sparsely populated, but has thought to have been baptised at
a huge variety of wildlife including Husaby in 1008 (see p38) and two of the
many species of birds and fish. medieval royal dynasties had their roots
In the southwest, Dalsland borders in Västergötland. Some claim that this
Bohuslän, a coastal province where the was indeed the cradle of Sweden.
smooth bare rocks are dotted with Halland, the coastal region south of
brightly painted little wooden houses. Gothenburg, is also a summer paradise,
Here fishing and the stone industry have with its long sandy beaches. There are
been the backbone of the economy several towns for shopping and some of
since the Middle Ages, but today tourism southern Sweden’s most interesting
is the chief money earner; the population castles and manor houses.

Gunnebo, a wealthy merchant’s 18th-century manor house near Gothenburg, now a museum
Sailing past a typical West Coast settlement in Bohuslän, with fishermen’s huts and boats

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