Ales Stenar is Scandinavia's largest preserved stone ship — 59 sandstone boulders arranged in the outline of a Viking-era ship, 67 metres long, perched on a windswept cliff above the Baltic at Kåseberga, about 20 kilometres east of Ystad. The site is much older than Vikings — radiocarbon dating from the 1990s suggests the early 7th century. Locals once believed the boulders marked the grave of a king named Ale.
The site is free, open at all hours, and unusually atmospheric in low season when the wind off the sea is loudest and few visitors are about. Park at the harbour in Kåseberga and walk up the steep hill — about 15 minutes. There is a smokehouse at the harbour for fresh smoked herring before or after.