Holiday apartment in Boxholm: Lakes, nature and Östgötaleden

Boxholm combines the glittering, legendary inland archipelago landscape of Lake Sommen with extensive forests, marshes, species-rich rocky meadows and pastures. There are also lakes and waterways where fishing or swimming is possible. The varied landscape for visitors thus ranges from tranquil natural areas to waterways and historic sites.

Nature and water

The Boxholm nature guide provides an informative orientation through the landscape. It presents 50 of the municipality’s most beautiful natural areas and combines texts, photos, maps and route descriptions. Particularly valuable areas include the Lillån Nature Reserve in the municipality of Boxholm. It serves to protect and enhance particularly valuable aquatic habitats, has very high natural value and includes valuable and rare terrestrial and aquatic biotopes. Several protected species are found there, including trout, freshwater pearl mussels, freshwater pearl mussels and otters.

The Idebo Nature Reserve provides habitat for woodpeckers, insects, mosses, lichens and fungi. At the Idebo steamboat landing, there is a car park for five cars and a picnic table. In summer, the steamboat S/S Boxholm II provides a connection to and from the steamboat landing. Another distinctive landscape in this municipality is the Göstrings urskog Nature Reserve: From the car park, a two-kilometre marked circular trail leads through the area. From there, you can also reach a small, equipped barbecue area at Lake Trehörningen. The Östgötaleden runs directly through the nature reserve.

Hiking and paddling

The 23.4-kilometre section of the Östgötaleden between Boxholm and Blåvik is rated easy and offers opportunities for swimming along the route. On the Strålsnäs–Bleckenstad section, there is a shelter with a fire pit at Uvberget after approximately four kilometres; Svartån offers a scenic place to take a break. From the Boxholm–Trehörna section, a 650-metre detour leads to the remains of the medieval Mosseboborg castle.

In the Idebo Nature Reserve, you can walk from Björkbacken along the forest path towards Bockudden. There you will find a deep rock fissure surrounded by heights rising up to 80 metres above Lake Sommen. For water-based activities, the municipality offers opportunities for paddling on natural canoe routes and cycling around Lake Sommen. The municipality’s maps also show opportunities for paddling on the waterways of Svartån, as well as the Kinda Canal and Stångån.

Culture and history

The Boxholm Industrial Museum is housed in an old mill building dating from 1777, the oldest building in Boxholm. The museum presents the history and development of Boxholm through numerous objects from the ironworks era, films and guided tours. The municipality’s cultural heritage reaches even further back: it includes more than 800 known archaeological sites with traces from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages dating from around 10,000 BC to AD 1050. Later periods are also represented, with links to forestry, ironworks communities and croft settlements. The sites show how people used the landscape, where they lived and how they exploited natural resources.

The Boxholm Pastoral District offers virtual tours and guided tours of its churches, as well as information about their history. Ekeby Church dates from the Middle Ages, possibly from the 13th century. Its original fieldstone nave walls are integrated into the present-day nave. The church also contains a Romanesque sandstone baptismal font from the Arcadius group and a 14th-century triumphal cross.

In Åsbo Church, the rib vaults in the nave and chancel feature ribbon and plant motifs. The altarpiece in Rinna Church depicts the Ascension and was painted by Pehr Hörberg. Malexander Church and cemetery are situated high on the shore of Lake Sommen, while Rinna Church and cemetery lie between Lake Rinnasjön and the open Rinnaslätten plain. Blåvik Church and cemetery offer views of the waters of Lake Sommen.

Connections

In Bleckenstad, on Road 32, there is a bus connection to Mjölby and Boxholm. Thus, in addition to routes through forests, reserves and shore landscapes, local connections between the places mentioned are also available.

Other destinations: Vadstena, Valdemarsvik, Vikbolandet, Linköping, Mjölby, Motala

To the main travel overview: Östergötland.