The Öland Bridge is 6.07 kilometres long, which made it the longest bridge in Europe when it opened in 1972 and still makes it the longest bridge in Scandinavia. It crosses the Kalmar Strait to connect the mainland to the island of Öland, replacing a ferry service that had limited tourism and economic development on the island for generations.
The bridge is a functional piece of infrastructure but also a landmark in its own right. You can walk or cycle across it — the round trip takes about 2–3 hours on foot — and the views from the middle, with the Baltic stretching in both directions and the flat outline of Öland ahead, are the best introduction to the scale of the strait.
Crossing the bridge is practically obligatory on a visit to Kalmar, since Öland's windmills, Viking sites, flower meadows, and long beaches are the main reason many visitors choose Kalmar as a base in the first place.