Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL
HÖGBONDEN
By boat
Sailing from the mainland village of Bönhamn,
M/S Högbonden
makes the 10min trip out to Högbonden
(May to early Oct up to 4 daily; 150kr return;
W
hkship.se).
By bus
To get to Bönhamn on public transport from
Härnösand, take the 11.20am bus to Ullånger, where you
change for a connection to Nordingrå and once there,
change again for Bönhamn (check times at
W
dintur.se).
By car
To reach Bönhamn by car, turn off the E4 at Gallsäter
onto the minor road leading there via Nordingrå.
ACCOMMODATION
Ì
Youth hostel
In the former lighthouse
T
0613 230
05,
W
hogbonden.se.
The hostel's main building houses a
kitchen, two bathrooms and several small dorms (with
creaking floorboards) located over three floors. Two more
rooms are in the building in the garden. To add to the
novelty of sleeping in a converted lighthouse, the building's
clifftop vantage point affords sweeping sea views from the
kitchen an
d the d
orms. Breakfast costs 90kr. Open May-
Oct. Dorms
300kr
Ulvön
ULVÖN
, 20km northeast of Högbonden and 12km southwest of Trysunda, is really
two islands, Norra and Södra Ulvön, their combined area making it the largest in
the High Coast archipelago. The southern island is uninhabited, separated from
its northern neighbour by a narrow channel, Ulvösund, which provides a well-
protected harbour. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Ulvön
became home to the High Coast's biggest fishing community, as fishermen from
Gävle came here to exploit the rich fishing grounds off the island; in subsequent
centuries, though, many islanders moved to the mainland, especially after World
War II, when the industry started to decline. Today, there are only around fifty
permanent residents.
Ulvön is famous for its production of
surströmming
, fermented Baltic herring (see
box opposite); two of the firms involved, Söderbergs Fisk and Ruben Madsen, are
based in the main village of Ulvöhamn (see below) and it's possible to buy the locally
produced stuff in the island's shop.
7
Ulvöhamn
All boats to the island dock at the main village,
ULVÖHAMN
, a picturesque one-street
affair with red-and-white cottages and tiny boathouses on stilts snuggling up eave to
eave. Walking along the waterfront, you'll pass the pretty
fishermen's chapel
, dating
from 1622 and now the oldest wooden building in Ångermanland (mid-June to
mid-Aug daily noon-3pm; free); inside, its walls are covered with flamboyant
eighteenth-century murals. The chapel was established by Gävle fishermen, who
began summer fishing forays up the Baltic coast in the sixteenth century. Its detached
bell tower was once used to signal that it was time to assemble for the daily fishing
trip. To get to the
beaches
, follow the sign marked “Strandpromenad Söder” from
the tourist office (see opposite); it's about twenty minutes on foot past small sandy
coves to the harbour entrance and a promontory of red rocks, Rödharen, beyond
which lie several pebbly stretches. The unusual red rock here is a granite known by its
Finnish name,
rappakivi
.
ARRIVAL
ULVÖN
From Härnösand
To reach Ulvön from Härnösand, take
the 8.55am bus to the village of Docksta (50min) and alight
at the jetty, from where the
M/S Kusttrafik
leaves at 10.15am
(June-Aug daily;
T
0613 105 50,
W
hkship.se; 140kr one-
way, 195kr day return), arriving in Ulvöhamn, on Ulvön, at
11.30am, heading back to the mainland at 3pm.
From Köpmanholmen
Ulvön is easily reached from the
north, too. From Köpmanholmen on the mainland (just
south of Örnsköldsvik) there are sailings to Ulvöhamn,
which sometimes go via Trysunda. Timetables change
according to the time of year but can be found at
W
ornskoldsvikshamn.se.
