Hano

Hano rises steeply out of the bay that carries its name, wooded and rocky, with a white lighthouse of 1906 on top, its light reaching about forty kilometres across the bay; there has been a light on the island since 1869. The Royal Navy used the anchorage from 1810 to 1812, when it could no longer use Sweden's larger harbours, and the men who died of illness there are buried in a small cemetery in the woods that the British still maintain - an unexpected thing to find on a Swedish island. Only a handful of people live on Hano year round - eight in a recent count, against 234 in 1946 - and the state bought the island in 2016 and made it a nature reserve. There is a beach on the eastern side, a stone field called the Jungfrustigen on the shore, paths over the island and a couple of places to eat in season.

What you'll find

• A lighthouse of 1906 - with a light on the island since 1869.
• A British naval cemetery - fifteen graves from 1810-1812, still tended.
• A steep wooded island - rising out of Hano bay.
• A beach and shore stone field - on the eastern side.

When to go

June to August, when the ferry runs frequently. A full day.

Good to know

Ferries are reduced sharply outside summer. The climb to the lighthouse is steep. Services are seasonal and few. Accommodation is very limited.

Nearby

Nogersund is on the mainland; Solvesborg is west.

Key facts