Far out in the Baltic, 171 kilometers (106 miles) from Copenhagen, lies the Ertholmene Archipelago, Denmark’s most remote islands. More commonly called Christiansø, after the largest island, the archipelago has been administered by the Danish Ministry of Defense since 1684, when King Christian V had a naval fortress built here during a period of conflict between Denmark and Sweden. The original fortress consisted of the two towers and four batteries that can still be seen today.
In the province of Ångermanland, between Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik, lies one of Sweden’s most stunning stretches of coastline, known as Höga Kusten, or the High Coast. Thanks to its dramatic and varied landscape of mountains, forests, bays, and islands, the region was voted Sweden’s most beautiful natural area in a 2016 poll organized by Naturskyddsföreningen (the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation).
The Danish island of Bornholm is known for its four round churches built in the 12th and 13th centuries — four of only seven such churches in all of Denmark.
Stefan and Helena von Bothmer have lived in the Koster Islands, the westernmost inhabited islands in Sweden, for more than two decades. They run Kosters Trädgårdar (Koster Gardens), an organic garden, permaculture center, and restaurant on South Koster Island. Much of the Koster archipelago is part of Kosterhavet National Park, which was established in 2009.…
