Visit Sweden wants to make your castaway fantasy a reality.
The country’s tourism board this month announced a new global contest: Five winners will each get their “own” island in the country for a year.
The campaign, called Your Swedish Island, is open to international applicants. It’s designed to spotlight the country’s vast natural landscapes and its famously generous public-access laws by awarding a certificate granting the winners the right to use a designated, uninhabited island for 12 months.
While the lucky ones won’t receive ownership, development rights, or exclusive access, they’ll receive a round-trip flight to Sweden for themselves and a guest, and flexible visitation rights to a specific island.
The initiative is equal parts sweepstakes and savvy tourism branding. At a moment when many European destinations are grappling with overtourism and introducing new visitor restrictions, Sweden is taking a different approach by spotlighting its wide-open landscapes and its long-standing Right of Public Access (more on this below).
Here’s what you need to know.
With an estimated 267,570 islands—more than any other country—Sweden is turning its vast archipelago into an opportunity through a new contest that awards five winners yearlong island access.
Visit Sweden
The five Swedish islands
The five islands were selected in partnership with the National Property Board of Sweden, the government agency that manages state-owned historic buildings and natural lands.
“Our ambition was to reflect the extraordinary geographical and ecological diversity that defines Sweden—and to showcase that ‘luxury’ can mean very different things depending on where in the country you are,” Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden, told Afar. “Each island is truly its own universe.”
The cross-section of Swedish landscapes represented in the contest stretches from inland lake country to the outer Baltic archipelago.
- Tjuvholmen: Situated in Lake Vänern near Lidköping, Tjuvholmen sits within Sweden’s largest lake system. Expect freshwater swimming, an evergreen forest, and prolific birdlife. The nearby mainland offers easy jumping-off points, including small harbor towns and attractions such as Läckö Castle, making it one of the more approachable entries in the lineup.
- Medbådan: Farther north, near Umeå, Medbådan lies in calm brackish waters shaped by the last Ice Age. The island is ringed by spruce and pine and seems remote despite being reachable from the mainland archipelago.
- Skötbådan: Situated in the Stockholm Archipelago, the island of Skötbådan represents a more exposed Baltic environment. It is largely rock—low, open, and defined by smooth stone shaped by salt and wind. Historically tied to fishing, it offers wide sea views and little in the way of shelter.
- Storberget: Closer to Nynäshamn, south of Stockholm, Storberget is a pale granite island shaped by open-sea conditions. Its proximity to Nynäshamn makes it one of the easier islands to reach from the capital, but once you’re ashore, you’ll see the coastline is wild.
- Marsten: On the west coast near Falkenberg, the island of Marsten offers another fully marine environment, marked by pale stone, sparse vegetation, and open skies.
“What unites them is their rawness and simplicity,” Andersson said.
A quiet island moment captures the spirit behind Sweden’s latest initiative: an invitation to slow down, reconnect with nature, and rethink what modern luxury really looks like.
Visit Sweden
What a year on a Swedish island entails
The most eye-catching detail—for a year—comes with limits. The islands are intentionally undeveloped, with no electricity, plumbing, or accommodations. Winners are not permitted to build or alter the land, and they are not expected to reside there full-time.
“It’s absolutely about flexible access, not residency,” Andersson said. “Winners will receive a certificate granting a personal right to use the island for one year, which is a symbolic and emotional form of custodianship, not a requirement to move there. These islands are uninhabited and intentionally left wilderness-pure. We do not expect full-time stays. Instead, the idea is to let people visit the island on their terms, for short and meaningful visits.”
Though the island is “theirs” for a year, winners can’t restrict other people’s visits to the locations under allemansrätten, Sweden’s Right of Public Access. The law allows anyone to roam and temporarily camp on most land, including many islands, provided they respect the land and wildlife.
The tourism board is also clear that winners won’t be tasked with maintaining or managing their islands.
“Custodianship, in this context, is intentionally light-touch,” Andersson said. “Winners aren’t responsible for maintenance, development, or management—and they are certainly not expected to solve infrastructure issues or ‘run’ the island. It’s a symbolic gesture that invites people to slow down, reconnect with nature, and reflect on what truly feels valuable in a world full of noise.”
How to enter
To enter, hopeful island custodians must submit a video (no more than one minute long) via an online application on Visit Sweden’s website, explaining why they want their own Swedish island and how they would use the opportunity over the course of a year. The emphasis is less on survival skills and more on intention—how the island would serve as a place for creativity, connection, reflection, or adventure.
A selection panel will review submissions and choose five winners; each will be matched with one of the five islands based on their proposal and the character of the location. The winners will receive a formal certificate granting them usage rights for one year, beginning later this season. Depending on the country you visit from, if you intend to stay in Sweden for more than 90 days, you may need a special visitor’s residence permit.
While travel to and from Sweden is bundled into the prize (in the form of one round-trip journey for two people), transportation within the country—specifically to their island—is not. Similarly, accommodations aren’t included; however, Visit Sweden’s website shares practical information about nearby places to stay on the mainland or in surrounding archipelagos. Suggested options include local hotels and guesthouses that can serve as a base before or after island visits.
The application window is open now through April 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m. CEST (4:59 p.m. ET), with winners to be announced in May 2026. The full terms and conditions are available on Visit Sweden’s website.
