Västtrafik

Seven companies sail the boats, each on its own patch of coast

Västtrafik procures every service it runs — in its own words, "vi upphandlar all trafik som körs" — and drivers, conductors and ticket inspectors are employed by the partner companies, not by Västtrafik. On the water that work is split between seven operators, and which one you meet depends entirely on which islands you are heading for:

• Styrsöbolaget — Göteborg's southern archipelago (Styrsö, Donsö, Vrångö, Brännö, Asperö, Köpstadsö)
• Öckerö kommuns färjerederi — the Öckerö islands, including the Hönö–Lilla Varholmen crossing, which is the busiest boat link in our Västtrafik data
• Koster Marin — Strömstad to the Koster islands
• Käringötrafiken — Orust
• Gunnars Båtturer & Charter — Lysekil and Dyrön on Tjörn
• Tjörns hamnar — Åstol on Tjörn
• Dyngö Sjötaxi — Fjällbacka in Tanum

The Öckerö entry is worth pausing on: the ferries there are run by the municipality's own ferry company under contract to Västtrafik, which is a different arrangement from the state-run Trafikverket Färjerederiet ferries found elsewhere in Bohuslän.

Zones decide the fare, not distance

Västtrafik prices by zone rather than by kilometre, and the region splits into three: A, B and C. The detail that matters for archipelago travel is that Öckerö sits in zone A alongside Göteborg, Mölndal and Partille — so a standard Göteborg city ticket already covers the Öckerö boats. Tjörn, Stenungsund, Kungälv and Kungsbacka are zone B; the long Bohuslän coast — Lysekil, Orust, Sotenäs, Tanum, Strömstad, Uddevalla — is zone C.

Published fares for an adult: a single ticket in zone A costs 38 SEK and is valid for 90 minutes; a 24-hour ticket covering all three zones is 375 SEK; a 30-day ticket in zone A is 445 SEK, and the annual version is 8,900 SEK. Some stops near a zone boundary belong to two overlapping zones at once, which works in your favour rather than against it.

Bikes: the rules change from line to line

The general rule is generous — bikes and e-bikes travel on deck at no charge, up to 190 cm long and 70 cm wide, with the deck crew having the final say if the boat is full. Electric vehicles must carry CE marking and cannot be charged on board. But four lines break the pattern, and the exceptions are the kind of thing that ruins a day trip if you find out at the jetty:

• Lines 281–284, Saltholmen to the southern archipelago: bulky bikes such as cargo bikes and tandems travel as freight, at 30 SEK per bike per journey, paid to the deckhand.
• Line 381, Tuvesvik–Gullholmen–Käringön: e-bikes count as dangerous goods and are not carried at all. Käringön bans cycling outright; Gullholmen does not.
• Line 879, Fjällbacka–Dyngö — the Fjällbacka mail boat: no bikes.
• Line 899, Strömstad–Kosteröarna: 100 SEK return or 60 SEK one way, paid to the deckhand. Nordkoster bans cycling.

Dogs travel free — on the starboard side

Animals travel at no extra cost, on a lead or in a carrier. On boats specifically, Västtrafik asks that pets stay on the starboard side — the right-hand side relative to the direction of travel, which keeps the rest of the deck predictable for passengers with allergies. Guide dogs and assistance dogs may always board, even when other animals are already aboard, and may sit anywhere. Venomous or dangerous animals are not carried.