Harstena

Harstena lies well out in the Gryt archipelago and was inhabited from the sixteenth century by families who fished and hunted seal - the seal hunts ran into the twentieth century and are the thing the island's museum records. The village is a cluster of red cottages and boat sheds round a small harbour, with fields and juniper heath behind and bare rock at the edges. There are no cars. A few people live here permanently, more in summer, and there is a shop and a cafe in season. Paths cross the island to the outer shores. Boats run from Fyrudden on the mainland, on a schedule that thins outside the summer.

Background

Harstena belongs to Valdemarsvik municipality and lies toward the north of the Gryt archipelago. It appears as Hargstenö in Gustav Vasa's land register of 1543, though burial sites show people lived here in the Iron Age. The population peaked in the 19th century at 70 to 80, living from fishing and seal hunting, and seal catches stayed the main income until the price of seal fur fell in the 1940s. The seal blubber boilers, built in 1911, were restored in 1999 and protected in 2011, and they now serve as a museum. The island got a telephone in 1930 and electricity in 1945, and its freshwater tarn is known for red water lilies.

Source: Wikipedia, "Harstena"

The main sights

• Red cottages and boat sheds - round a small harbour.
• A seal hunting history - recorded in the island museum.
• Juniper heath and bare rock - the interior and the edges.
• No cars - paths and tracks only.

When to go

June to August, when boats and services run. A full day.

Before you go

Boat schedules are limited and weather dependent. Services close outside the short season. There is no shelter if the weather turns. Accommodation is very limited.

Nearby

Fyrudden is the mainland pier; Sankt Anna archipelago is north.

Key facts