Inside a getaway in Sweden set on a small rocky island – with a 19th-century lighthouse
A young boy with bright red hair and perfect English gives me two big rocks. “Here, use these to break down the claws,” he says.
I pick them up and start rushing off in search of the prized meat.
There are eight of us sitting around a long wooden table filled with plates of ice-cold crayfish, prawns and crab claws, along with bowls of aioli, seaweed mayonnaise and cubes of hard, salty local cheese.
Remote: Harriet Sime lives on the island of Pater Noster (pictured), off Sweden’s west coast, which has a 19th-century lighthouse and a new hotel
The top-rated boutique hotel has been opened by a group of local entrepreneurs who lease the island
Pictured on the left is one of the bathrooms on the island, with a mix of modern and antique furniture. On the right is a selection of goodies in one of the hotel’s common areas
My friend and I are the only Brits. The other guests, all Swedish, roll up their sleeves and poke in, bashing, twisting, peeling and scooping with a precision that says they’ve done this a couple of times before.
It’s dirty business (I even manage to cut myself and, embarrassingly, have to rush out for a Band-Aid), but we quickly forget our British reserve and, with the help of our new friends, gobble down loads, the salty juices running down in our wrists and by our chins.
We live on Pater Noster, a small rock island (only 250 meters long and 120 meters wide) three miles off the west coast of Sweden, which has a lighthouse from the 19th century and a newly opened hotel with nine beds.
For more than 150 years, the lighthouse guided sailors through the dangerous waters that destroyed 900 boats before it was built in 1868.
The Pater Noster lighthouse was decommissioned in 1977, leaving the island deserted for several decades
The hotel at Pater Noster opened in summer 2020. Above is one of the stylish guest rooms
Most guests travel to the island for “one night to play in fantastic isolation,” says Harriet
The island hotel is reached via a short boat ride from the mainland
Guests on the island dine communally in the old wooden boathouse which is ‘filled with bright orange fishing waders’
Harriet and her friend are the only Brits on the island during their stay – all other guests are Swedish. “It’s a joy to be stranded on an island with six exceptionally friendly natives,” she says
Harriet enjoys a seafood platter piled high with ice-cold crawfish, shrimp and crab claws
All the lighthouse keeper and his staff had was the sea; their lives were dictated by the storms and wind that threw salt spray more than 80 feet into the air, often leaving them stranded for months on end.
The families survived on a diet of seals, crab and boiled seawater; the salty, windswept terrain too tough to keep livestock or grow anything.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1977, leaving the island deserted until a group of local entrepreneurs signed a lease with the government and opened what is now one of Sweden’s best boutique hotels in the summer of 2020.
Most guests, like us, come for one night to play in fantastic isolation. Quick, icy swims in the seven-degree sea are followed by steamy dips in the saltwater hot tub that looks out towards Denmark.
We eat together in the old wooden boathouse with bright orange fishing waders and sleep in the red main house, which was once home to the lighthouse keeper, the watchman, the servant and their families.
It’s a joy to be stranded on an island with six exceptionally friendly natives.
The original inhabitants at the lighthouse “survived on a diet of seals, crab and boiled seawater”, but now the hotel offers more comfort, with plush furnishings and delicious local delicacies
The Pater Noster is only 250 meters long and 120 meters wide
For over 150 years, the lighthouse guided sailors through the dangerous waters that destroyed 900 boats
Over a four-course dinner, we swap stories and learn how Swedes love coffee (10 cups a day is the norm for some), how every other Swedish family has a boat and how their obsession with cinnamon buns is genuine (one guest brought a bag with her ).
Anders — one of the entrepreneurs (they make sure there’s always one of them on the island) — dishes up the floral riesling, fire stories and seafood with passion, starting with delicious deep-fried bright green seaweed that the chef picked on the island just minutes earlier.
As the sun sets and the sky turns pink, the boy with bright red hair appears and plays a violin. We sit in silence, with only the wind interrupting his dizzying performance. Some on the table are reduced to tears.
Anders tells how he practices in the lighthouse during his breaks, but only plays for guests when he feels like it.
“He likes us, we’re a good bunch,” says one woman. We smile and nod in contented silence.
During Harriet’s stay, one of the entrepreneurs who run the island’s hotel dishes up “fire stories and seafood with passion”
“Brisk, icy swims in the seven-degree sea are followed by steamy dips in the saltwater hot tub,” writes Harriet
Regent Holidays offers a five day Gothenburg & Pater Noster Lighthouse Retreat from £2,395pp
The next morning we reluctantly say goodbye and join the short boat ride back to the mainland, passing dozens of chubby seals sunbathing on a nearby small island.
A 40-minute drive to Gothenburg takes us through the beautiful archipelago; the red and yellow clapboard homes appear with more regularity in the green, flat landscape until we reach the cobbled center of the city.
We are determined to experience “fika” – a tradition where Swedes meet friends over coffee and cake – so we quickly head to Haga, the city’s old boho district. Thrift stores and leather shops pop up on every corner, and doughy cinnamon buns the size of our heads beckon weary shoppers.
The afternoon is spent exploring, stopping for cake and coffee that turns into an Aperol Spritz and then wine with salted almonds at one of the many trendy bars.
The city (population 500,000) is best explored on foot, but for tired legs, historic blue trams rattle along the streets and past the pretty canals and parks with exact regularity (Gothenburg has the largest tram network in northern Europe).
After leaving the Pater Noster behind, Harriet continues to explore Gothenburg (above)
While in Gothenburg, Harriet takes a stroll through the Haga neighborhood (above), where she finds thrift stores, leather shops and “doughy cinnamon buns the size of our heads”
Seafood is serious business even in Sweden’s second city, thanks to the frosty, salty west coast that is packed with seafood.
On our last evening we take the tram to Brasserie Lavette, a fish and grill restaurant in the south of the city. We almost order the crayfish so we can show off our new shell-bashing skills.
But instead we choose to reminisce over fish gratin, steak and chablis and take the precious memory with us.