Varberg Fortress

The fortress began as a thirteenth-century castle and was rebuilt with Italian-style bastions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when this coast was Danish, then became Swedish in 1645 and served as a prison into the twentieth century. The county museum inside holds the Bocksten Man: a body found in a bog in 1936, dated to the fourteenth century, staked through with three poles, and still wearing a complete set of medieval clothing - hood, tunic, hose and cloak - which is the only surviving full outfit of its kind in Europe. The ramparts are open to walk, there is a bathing house on the rocks below, and the sea is immediately in front.

What you actually see

• The Bocksten Man - a fourteenth-century body in complete clothing.
• Italian-style bastions - the sixteenth and seventeenth-century work.
• A prison history - into the twentieth century.
• Ramparts over the sea - open to walk, with a bathing house below.

When to go

May to September for full opening. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

Museum hours are reduced in winter. The Bocksten display is a single room and can disappoint after the build-up. The ramparts are exposed and windy. Guided tours are mainly in Swedish.

Nearby

Varberg's cold bathhouse is on the shore; Getterön is north.