Somehow I think we don’t do Karlskrona full justice on this website. I had a hard time captivating the story behind this WHS too. I spent two nights here but was away for a full day during that period visiting the WHS of Southern Öland. I should have spent more time preparing, although the Karlskrona tourist office doesn’t make things easier either. The guided tour to Kungsholmen which looks pretty interesting can only be pre-booked (they want to see your passport as it is still an active navy location), but the hours to do so are limited. And not many people would allow two days for this town of 35,000 inhabitants.

As with Frederik (see his review below), my view of the central square and its monumental buildings was spoiled. In this case, the large structures of a fair were in the way. And when I went back the day after, a cleaning operation was underway to get rid of all the mess the visitors had left behind. I roamed around the city center for an hour or so, map in hand to find the most interesting places. Most of the buildings are closed to visitors. A walking tour around town would have been nice. I did find a great Indian restaurant called PM in the main shopping street – went there twice, and spicy food in a pleasant ambiance.

What I did enjoy was the harbour cruise by the Gåsefjärden ship. This is a regular 2-hour boat tour that leaves several times a day, and tickets can be bought at the point of departure at the Fishmarket. I was able to get a seat on the outside deck. The sea around Karlskrona is full of little islands, some are inhabited and others are or were in military use. After 1.5 hours I got off the boat at the Marine Museum (it’s a kind of hop-on-hop-off boat) – the museum is modern but you have to love your ships to really like it.

On my drive back to The Bridge to Copenhagen I passed a sign for Skarva, a mansion that is part of the WHS too. Maybe a future reviewer could check this out?