Guided tours

Welcome to a journey through one of the Cold War’s largest and most secretive facilities.

A tour inside the facility takes just over an hour, during which you’ll experience a journey from the Ice Age and our World Heritage Site to another, in a way, cold period, the Cold War.

– The tour begins on the surface by the giant 15.2 cm turret double guns that crown the mountaintop. There, you’ll learn about the history that led to the construction of the 89 coastal artillery sites, which, like a string of pearls, adorned the northern Swedish coast from Gävle in the south to Luleå in the north, of which Hemsö Fortress was by far the largest. After about 20 minutes, you then descend 40 meters into the bedrock. No helmets or overalls are needed as both the climate and standard are the same as when 340 soldiers lived and housed there not more than 25 years ago. Photography is not only allowed but encouraged.

– Inside the mountain, you’ll see not only how people lived and spent their leisure time but also kitchens, workshops, hospitals, and command centers, etc., like an entire little community inside the 5000 sqm mountain.

– The tour goes through the entire mountain and ends directly on the porch of the newly built restaurant. If, for any reason, you have trouble walking the 300m back to the parking lot, there is transportation available on-site that will gladly shuttle visitors. This should be arranged upon arrival.

– The facility is more or less fully accessible, and everything from wheelchairs to strollers can move around without any issues. All vehicles of this kind are available for loan at the facility.

The well-equipped facility includes workshops, large kitchens, a medical ward, accommodations, its own power plant, fire control centers, heating boilers, radar installations, dining halls, mess halls, showers, command centers, mechanical workshops, and gun turrets. The environment is untouched and uniquely preserved, both internally and externally. The Hemsön Barrier Battalion consists of three facilities; Storråberget (HÖ1), Havstoudd (HÖ2), and Kläffsö measurement station for Storråberget heavy artillery. The establishment of the light battery at Havstoudd took place between 1961-1963, Kläffsön between 1967-1968.

Conscripts at KA 5 in Härnösand spent 5 months of their military service on Hemsön until 1989 when the facility was finally decommissioned and converted into a training facility. Hemsö Fortress was permanently closed in 1992.