Sweden
Kosterhavet National Park
Sweden's only coral reef hides beneath the surface of its westernmost archipelago.
The Koster Islands sit at Sweden's westernmost edge, two car-free granite outcrops ringed by the country's only marine national park. Beneath the surface, cold-water coral and kelp forests hold life that belongs to the Atlantic rather than the Baltic. Above it, the islands run on bicycles and ferry timetables.
Kosterhavet became Sweden's first marine national park in 2009, protecting some 390 square kilometres of unusually salty, unusually deep sea. Its headline resident is Lophelia pertusa — Sweden's only cold-water coral reef — anchoring a cast of thousands of marine species, the richest waters in the country. Grey seals breed and haul out across the outer skerries; marked snorkel shallows trace the reef edges; and the Koster islands themselves are all bicycle paths, meadows and fishing hamlets, served by ferry from Strömstad with no private cars at all. It is Sweden doing the Atlantic in miniature — and doing it slowly, which is the point.
Couple
Car-free cycling, skerry horizons and harbour seafood — a coastal pace that turns a weekend into a reset.
Family
Snorkel trails, seals and flat bicycle paths — a nature-dense day that never becomes a lecture.
Friends
Kayaking, snorkelling and shellfish-rich harbours give active groups a full salty agenda.
- Sweden's first marine national park, created in 2009 around its saltiest, richest sea.
- The country's only cold-water coral reef anchors thousands of marine species.
- Grey seals breed and haul out across the archipelago's outer skerries.
- The Koster Islands are car-free — bicycles, meadows and ferry timetables set the pace.
Koster shrimp and langoustine at the island's harbour tables.
A cinnamon bun after a lap of the cycle paths — fika is mandatory equipment.
Outer Banks
United States
Wild horses roam a sandbar where two thousand ships lie wrecked beneath the surf.
Kerama Islands
Japan
Water so clear the reef casts shadows on white sand far below the boat.
Capitólio
Brazil
A dam flooded the canyons, so you sail inside them, and the boatmen cut the engines.
Cânion do Xingó
Brazil
Sixty-five kilometres of canyon, a hundred and seventy metres deep, and a dam filled it.
Åre
Sweden
Scandinavia's alpine capital — a lakeside village beneath a World Championship mountain.
Icehotel (Jukkasjärvi)
Sweden
Sleeping in a hand-carved ice suite at minus five, rebuilt from the river every winter.
Öland
Sweden
A windmill-studded limestone steppe reached across six unbending kilometres of bridge.
Riksgränsen
Sweden
Spring skiing on the Norwegian border, where the season outlasts winter itself.