On the island of Pite-Rönnskär there are about 30 small red cottages. In the past, fishermen’s families used to live in these cottages. They don’t any longer. Today, these are privately owned summer houses far out in the archipelago of the Gulf of Bothnia.
And not without good reason, because in a way, Pite-Rönnskär captures the very essence of Swedish summer. In addition to the red cottages, you will also find a chapel dating back to 1771 and a coast pilot’s cottage. This cottage was built in 1849 and currently serves as a hostel.
The hostel lies at one end of the cottage, with four rooms and eight beds. The other end hosts a picturesque summer café. The popularity of the café does of course have something to do with its delightful surroundings, but it’s also great in its own right, serving home-made Swedish fika (light treats) and light lunches inspired by the sea.
In the middle of the island there is also a lighthouse. It is a so called Heidenstam lighthouse with a structure of pipes and angled braces surrounding a central iron pillar. The Pite-Rönnskär lighthouse is the next tallest lighthouse in Sweden and actually by far the tallest of its kind. The lighthouse came to the island in the early 1900s, all the way from Skåne in southern Sweden, from the island Sandhammaren to be precise. When it arrived, two metres were missing for the lighthouse to fully serve its purpose and today it towers 37 metres above the sea.
Calling Pite-Rönnskär anything but an idyllic summer spot would be nothing short of an extreme understatement.
If you would like to experience the Skellefteå archipelago, the tour boat operated by Kinnbäcks skärgårdsturism is a good place to start. It will take you to Pite-Rönnskär, amongst other places, in just 15 minutes. How long will you be staying? Well, that’s up to you but there’s always a risk that you will want to stay for a very long time. www.kinnbackskargardsturism.se