Holiday accommodation in Kinda – lake landscapes, hiking trails and culture

Kinda is a distinctive lake landscape: Åsunden and Järnlunden are among its defining lakes, while the Kinda Canal winds through the municipality. At the same time, Kinda offers year-round opportunities for outdoor activities, including hiking, swimming, paddling and nature experiences. Between water, trails, caves and historic sites, this creates a diverse picture of the landscape.

Nature

One notable nature experience can be found in the Trollegater nature reserve. It is home to one of the largest systems of primeval rock caves in Sweden. The main cave is 110 metres long in total and contains passages that require crawling. An approximately 200-metre-long orange-marked hiking trail leads from the car park to the caves. The car park at Trollegater has space for about 15 cars; buses have a separate parking area.

Hackelboön also combines a shoreline landscape with clearly defined trails. The first 300 metres of the shoreline trail run along a wide, level path with fine gravel and are suitable for prams or walking frames. There is also an approximately 500-metre-long path from the car park to a shoreline with a natural sandy beach, inviting visitors to swim. Children aged 8 to 12 can take part in five Nature Agent activities on Hackelboön.

At Lake Järnlunden, the Hallstad ängar nature reserve has a natural sandy beach. Klevberget offers views of Borgarmon’s deciduous forests, Hallstad’s meadows and the broad expanse of Lake Järnlunden. The Östgötaleden trail leads up Klevberget, whose summit is about 50 metres above Lake Järnlunden, and continues as an approximately three-kilometre circular route. Another section of the hiking trail runs through the 800-metre-long Humlehög ravine.

Hiking

The Östgötaleden trail passes through the area’s varied nature and diverse cultural landscape around Kinda. It connects Kinda with Linköping, Åtvidaberg, Ydre and Boxholm; from Kisa, there is also a southern connection to the Sevedeleden trail in Småland. The Kisa–Horn stage is marked in green and rated as easy. After Horn, the trail continues for another 14 kilometres on an easy hike to the border of Småland, where the Östgötaleden joins the Sevedeleden.

A special variant is the Kisa–Pinnarp summer route. It includes a hand-operated cable ferry across Lake Övre Fölingen. In the Idhult area, there is also an approximately two-kilometre-long orange-marked circular route.

Water and activities

The bathing beach at Åsunden has a sandy beach, jetties, a diving tower, a toilet and an accessible ramp. Day trips, evening cruises and shorter boat trips with a passenger boat are offered on the Kinda Canal. For cycling, Kisa MTB Park offers mountain-bike trails ranging from blue flow trails to black tracks.

Culture and history

In Kisa, the Kisa Emigrant Museum tells the story of the town’s emigration history. It is located in one of Kisa’s oldest cultural buildings, dating from the 18th century and associated with Sundius’ emigration agency. In May 1845, Peter Cassel led the first organised emigration of 21 people to North America. Exhibitions and sound installations convey the stories of individual emigrants; the museum also displays photographs, letters, documents and objects from the local area.

In addition, Kinda’s local history archive at Torggatan 3 in Kisa preserves documents, photographs and films from associations, businesses and private households in the municipality. It also contains an extensive collection of letters from emigrants from Kinda, primarily to America.

Historic evidence can also be found outside Kisa. Tidersrum Church is the oldest wooden church in Östergötland and dates from the 13th century. It features High Gothic paintings, early medieval sculptures, an altarpiece from 1695 and an image of Saint Olaf from the 13th century. Tidersrum Local Heritage Museum displays a collection of objects from the local area. Horn Church was inaugurated in 1754.

At Björkfors Arthouse in Lindgården in Björkfors, Madeleine van Nigtevecht paints colourful pictures and makes ceramics. The cultural range therefore extends from emigration history and church architecture to local arts and crafts.

Other places

For further exploration of the places within Kinda, you can visit Kisa, Rimforsa, Västra Eneby and Horn.

For the wider travel overview: Östergötland.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Finspång, Ödeshög, Valdemarsvik, Vikbolandet.