Borgholm: Castle History, Townscape and Coastal Landscape

The Borgholm excursion area brings coast, forest and alvar landscapes close together.

Castle and Residence

The history of Borgholm Castle dates back 900 years. The site is the ruin of a Baroque palace that Charles X Gustav had built in the mid-17th century. Its oldest structure began in the 12th century with a core or defensive tower surrounded by a ring wall. Guided tours of Borgholm Castle are included in the admission price.

“Children’s Castle Adventure” is also part of the experience on the castle grounds: children complete ten different castle challenges and are then knighted as protectors of Borgholm Castle. The programme includes, among other things, a knight’s course, archery, board games with a knight, puzzles, drawing a sword from a magical stone and searching for the unicorn’s gold. Solliden was built as a summer residence for the future Queen Victoria of Sweden and completed in 1906.

Townscape and Culture

Borgholm’s historic townscape features a town plan dating from 1817. A central axis with squares and public buildings, as well as commercial courtyards in the so-called Borgholm style, define these urban-planning features.

Borgholm City Museum contains period interiors as well as collections of Öland art and handicrafts. Visitors can also learn more there about Borgholm as a seaside resort and about Öland’s industrial, shipping and railway history. Borgholm City Museum has been a protected historic building since 1985 and is protected under Sweden’s Cultural Environment Act.

Borgholm Church was built from 1872 onwards, inaugurated in 1879 and designed in the Neo-Romanesque style. Borgholm Bio was inaugurated on 23 April 1920 and is the oldest cinema built in the countryside that was constructed as a cinema building from the outset. Throughout the year, Borgholm Bio hosts film screenings and other events.

Nature Between Forest and Sea

In the Borga Hage nature reserve, also known as Slottsskogen, you can walk through lush deciduous forest, past flowering meadows and along the sea. More than 100 rare species have been recorded in Borga Hage. The nature reserve borders Solliden and the castle ruins of Borgholm.

Solliden’s park invites visitors to take walks and explore along winding paths. Along Strandvägen, you pass representative villas from Borgholm’s time as a seaside resort, with views of the Kalmar Sound.

Walking Paths and Guided Hikes

The “Borge Hage och Slottsområde” hiking trail is 4.2 kilometres long. From Borgholm, there is also an approximately 1-kilometre walking path through Slottsskogen to Borgholm Castle. Another approximately 1-kilometre footpath leads from Viktoriagatan or Road 136 via Näktergalsstigen to Borgholm Castle. The different trail lengths help distinguish mentally between short walks and a longer loop.

The guided walk “In Borgholm Town and Castle” leads from Borgholm harbour through parks, past squares and historic sites, to Borgholm Castle. It then continues through Slottsskogen in the Borga Hage nature reserve on the way back. This walk starts and ends in Borgholm.

Bathing History and Getting Around

Borgholm Kallbadhus was first inaugurated in 1882 and is located on Badhusgatan in Borgholm. There, you can fika, that is, take a coffee break. There is a public bicycle pump in Societetsparken in Borgholm.

With Kalmar länstrafik (KLT), you can travel by public transport within Borgholm Municipality, across the municipal boundary and over the Öland Bridge. Other places on Öland include Borgholm, Räpplinge, Djupvik, Källa, Köpingsvik, Löttorp, Rälla and Byxelkrok.

To the higher-level travel overview: Kalmar.