Sweden
Fjällbacka
Ingrid Bergman's summer refuge — pastel cottages pressed between granite cliffs and a whispering harbour.
Fjällbacka presses itself between a granite cliff and the sea, pastel wooden houses stacked up the hillside like a drawer of sorted colours pulled slightly open. The Kungsklyftan gorge splits the cliff behind the village, passable in single file. In summer the harbour holds more masts than the village holds chimneys.
Fjällbacka is a Bohuslän fishing village of under a thousand year-round souls that summer multiplies many times over — drawn by archipelago kayaking, seafood landed metres from the table, and the granite drama of Vetteberget cliff with its cleft gorge. Ingrid Bergman summered here for decades; her square and bust by the harbour remember it. Camilla Läckberg set her crime novels in these lanes, and readers walk the locations, though the village's appeal predates every murder. Offshore, the outer skerries hold seal colonies reached by kayak or tour boat. Climb the gorge steps at golden hour and the whole coast explains itself.
Couple
Harbour, pastel houses and light on granite — coastal beauty that rewards doing very little, together.
Family
Shallow harbour water, kayak routes and a main street short enough for children to own it.
- The Kungsklyftan gorge splits the cliff behind the village — single-file drama with a view at the top.
- Ingrid Bergman summered here for decades; the harbour square carries her name.
- Camilla Läckberg's crime novels are set in these lanes — readers walk the real locations.
- Outer skerries hold seal colonies, reached by kayak or boat tour.
Shrimp salad in a harbour kiosk with the masts for company.
Local oysters and mussels from the cold Bohuslän water.
Lambert's Bay
South Africa
Thousands of Cape gannets crowd an island reached on foot from a fishing harbour.
Isla Damas (Reserva Nacional Pingüino de Humboldt)
Chile
A small boat crosses cold desert water towards protected island habitat.
Delta do Parnaíba
Brazil
Every dusk, thousands of scarlet ibis come in to sleep in the mangrove canopy.
San Juan Islands
United States
An archipelago where two nations once nearly went to war over a shot pig.
Trollskogen (Öland)
Sweden
A forest of wind-warped oaks so twisted they look like a spell interrupted.
Öland
Sweden
A windmill-studded limestone steppe reached across six unbending kilometres of bridge.
Grövelsjön
Sweden
A mountain station beside the Norway line, whose trails cross countries before lunch.
Karlskrona
Sweden
A Baroque naval city built across thirty-three islands, still home to a working fleet.