I drove to Öland from Karlskrona, which takes about 1.5 hours. The bridge from the mainland to Öland was fairly busy with tourist traffic, and lots of caravans and campervans. The north of the island is said to be a popular holiday destination. I had come for the south of the island of course, as that's where the WH lies. The core zone however comprises about 1/3 of the island, so just after leaving the bridge and turning to the right, I started seeing WH signs.

I had no clear plan of what to see and did not know what to expect of it either. "Looks like Holland" is not why I came all the way down here for a Saturday. But already from the beginning, there were lots of cute little windmills by the side of the road. They are much smaller than their Dutch counterparts. 62 have been preserved, though none of them are in use anymore.

Other iconic sights in Öland are the bronze age and iron age burial sites. Just like the mills, they are conveniently close to the main road southwards down to Ottenby. Every site has a small parking lot and an information panel, most of the time in Swedish, German and English. The most impressive burial site that I visited was the Gettlinge burial ground, which is an example of the "stone ship" burial custom where stone slabs surrounding a grave are laid out in the outline of a ship.

After an hour or so (including several short stops) I reached the southernmost town, Ottenby. From there I went to the best-known sight in Öland, the Eketorp fortress. It has a large car park and even a souvenir shop. The entrance costs a whopping 120 SEK (13 EUR). They probably use all that money to pay the actors in the open-air museum, which covers the inner area of the fortress. The ring shape of the fortress is the most interesting part, from afar it looks like an amphitheater. It's mostly a reconstruction though. I was done with it in 10 minutes.

The southern tip of the island is covered by the Ottenby Bird Reserve, which surely is the prettiest area of all. It's a popular stop for migrating birds, and today also for itinerant birders. Dozens of them were scanning the bird crowds via their telescopes or heavy cameras. The number of larger birds such as the barnacle goose is certainly impressive. The reserve also holds a large lighthouse and a restaurant where I had my (again expensive) lunch.

There are some short walks that start from this area, but unfortunately, it had started to rain. So I just drove back northwards again, to the bridge. I made one last stop on the way, at Vickleby Alvar. This is one of the zones where the typical Stora Alvaret landscape is preserved. I walked around for a bit on this flat grassland and met some grazing horses.

I am a bit puzzled why some other reviewers declare this as one of the most interesting WHS in Sweden. It might be because there's little competition, Sweden clearly lacks any outstanding sites. Having now visited 12 out of 15 Swedish WHS, my vote for the best Swedish site would go to Falun.