Bengtskar Lighthouse

Bengtskar stands on a bare granite skerry in the outer archipelago south of Hanko, built in 1906 after a shipwreck the previous winter, and at fifty-two metres it is the tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries. The tower is stone rather than steel, with the keeper's quarters built into the base and a chapel inside, and the light still operates. It was damaged in fighting during the Second World War and restored from the 1990s, since when it has been open in summer as a museum with a café and a small number of rooms for overnight guests, which is the only way to see the island empty. Seals and seabirds use the surrounding skerries.

What you actually see

• A fifty-two metre stone tower - the tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries.
• The chapel inside the building - the room within the lighthouse base.
• The lantern and the view - the outer archipelago from the top.
• Bare granite skerries - the rock and sea around the island.

When to go

June to August only; boats do not run outside the summer. A day. Crossings are cancelled in wind and swell, sometimes at short notice. Book ahead.

Honest expectations

The crossing takes over an hour each way in open water and is frequently rough or cancelled. There is no shelter on the island beyond the buildings. The tower stairs are steep and narrow. Time ashore is fixed by the boat.

Nearby

Hanko is north-east; the Archipelago Sea lies north.