Holiday apartment in Skövde – Hiking, Nature and Culture at Billingen

Skövde combines Billingen, the 57-kilometre Billingeleden hiking trail and species-rich natural areas with bathing facilities, sports activities and a diverse cultural scene. Between quiet forest paths, lakes, historic extraction sites and exhibitions, very different impressions unfold – from active hours outdoors to art and urban history in the centre.

Nature

The Billingeleden runs around Billingen along the mountainside and passes pastureland, forests on the slopes and a limestone plateau. The trail is divided into eight stages. Information boards with maps are located at the beginning and end of each stage; parking is available in the immediate vicinity in each case. Another longer route is the 19-kilometre Bergaklivet circular hiking trail, which runs through flowering meadows, lush wild garlic forests and gently rolling green hills. Bergaklivet can be reached by bus route 613 to the Karlsfors stop.

The four-kilometre Karlsforsrundan runs through the Silverfallet-Karlsfors and Melldala nature reserves. It also passes Silverfallet and runs through an area with remains of historic alum shale and limestone extraction, including red ochre heaps and lime kilns. The Nohlmarken nature reserve has parking and a trail and can be reached from the centre of Skultorp after a walk of about one kilometre. Nohlmarken is considered the most species-rich natural area in the Skövde region and is home to around ten orchid species in summer. Garpaparken has a bird pond where ducks and other birds gather in winter. Boulognerskogen is Skövde’s largest park and includes beech forest, tall pine forest, a playground and a bathing lake.

Activities

At Billingen, Billingebacken offers a 400-metre ski slope with a vertical drop of 100 metres, two lifts and a fun park. There are also various options during the warmer season: The MTB trails range from easy-to-ride flow trails to technically challenging downhill trails and are suitable for beginners as well as experienced riders. Billingens MTB Arena is the starting point for the MTB trail system and has short training trails rated Green, Blue and Red by difficulty. Billingens pump track park consists of two tracks with different difficulty levels and is also suitable for skateboarders, scooter riders and inline skaters.

Trollstigen is a circular hike with three variants measuring 2.6, 8.1 or 12.4 kilometres. The route starts and ends at the viewpoint on Billingen and can be reached from Resecentrum by bus routes 8 or 9. Killingarundan is a five-kilometre hiking trail around an active quarry. It runs through older extraction areas and along a former railway embankment.

At Hållsdammen, rainbow trout that have been stocked can be fished every year from 1 April to mid-November. There are a total of ten barbecue areas and shelters around Hållsdammen. The Karstorps fritidsområde recreation centre has a bathing area at Karstorpssjön with jetties, a small sandy beach, barbecue areas and green spaces. There is also a disc golf course directly by the lake, with open, park and forest courses. Billingebadet has a heated 50-metre pool, a children’s pool and a paddling pool.

Bathing Facilities and Culture

Arena Skövde combines a water park, relaxation areas, a swimming pool, bowling and event venues. The Aqua Vitalis area at Arena Skövde includes a warm-water pool, a hammam stone, saunas, an outdoor pool and experience showers. This gives Skövde a range of options for active, playful and more relaxing hours side by side.

Skövde Kulturhus is located in the city centre and is Sweden’s first cultural centre. Its facilities include, among other things, a theatre, cinema, library and art institutions. The Konstmuseet presents permanent and temporary art exhibitions throughout the year. Around two-thirds of the works in its collection were created by women. The permanent exhibition at Skövde stadsmuseum shows how Skövde has developed over the past 600 years. Admission to Skövde Kulturfabrik and the city museum’s exhibitions is free.

Getting Around Skövde

Skövde Resecentrum in the city centre is a regional hub for trains and buses. From there, Trollstigen can also be reached by bus routes 8 or 9, while bus route 613 to the Karlsfors stop leads to Bergaklivet. Thus, the hiking trails described here stand alongside the natural and cultural attractions as destinations in their own right in and around Skövde.

Discover Places

For further orientation within the immediate local network, the links lead to Lerdala, Skövde, Timmersdala, Väring and Tidan.

For the higher-level travel overview: Västra Götaland.

More Destinations

More places within the same destination:

Töreboda, Mark, Tranemo.