Skövde on Billingen: Hiking, Nature and Culture

The approximately 57-kilometre Billingeleden hiking trail runs around Billingen along the mountainside, passing pastureland, forests on the slopes and a limestone plateau. Billingeleden is divided into eight stages; at the beginning and end of each stage, there are information boards with a map, as well as parking facilities in the immediate vicinity.

Hiking and Landscapes

Bergaklivet is a 19-kilometre circular hiking trail through flowering meadows, lush wild garlic forests and gently rolling green hills. The four-kilometre Karlsforsrundan runs through the Silverfallet-Karlsfors and Melldala nature reserves. It passes Silverfallet and runs through an area with remains of historic alum shale and limestone mining, including spoil heaps and lime kilns.

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

Nohlmarken Nature Reserve has parking facilities and a path and can be reached from the centre of Skultorp after walking approximately 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. Boulognerskogen is Skövde's largest park and includes beech woodland, mature pine forest, a playground and a bathing lake. Garpaparken has a bird pond where ducks and other birds gather in winter.

Activities on Billingen

Billingebacken is a 400-metre-long ski slope with a vertical drop of 100 metres, two lifts and a fun park. The MTB trails on Billingen range from easy-to-ride flow trails to technically demanding 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. Billingens Pump Track Park consists of two tracks with different levels of difficulty and is also suitable for skateboarders, scooter riders and inline skaters.

Water and Leisure

Every year from 1 April to mid-November, rainbow trout are stocked in HÃ¥llsdammen for fishing. There are around ten barbecue areas and shelters in total around HÃ¥llsdammen.

Arena Skövde combines an adventure pool, relaxation areas, a swimming pool, bowling and event spaces. The Aqua Vitalis area at Arena Skövde includes a warm-water pool, a hammam stone, saunas, an outdoor pool and adventure showers. Billingebadet has a heated 50-metre pool, a children's pool and a paddling pool.

The Karstorps fritidsområde leisure centre has a bathing area at Karstorpssjön with jetties, a small sandy beach, barbecue areas and green spaces. Directly by the lake, the leisure centre has a disc golf course with open fairways as well as park and forest courses.

Culture and City

Skövde Kulturhus in the city centre is Sweden's first cultural centre and houses, among other things, a theatre, cinema, library and art facilities. Konstmuseet presents permanent and temporary art exhibitions all year round. Around two-thirds of the works in Konstmuseet's 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 There and Local Districts

Skövde Resecentrum in the city centre is a regional hub for trains and buses. Bergaklivet can be reached by bus route 613 to the Karlsfors stop.

The directly associated localities include Skövde, Timmersdala, Lerdala, Väring and Tidan.

For the higher-level travel overview: Västra Götaland.

More Destinations

More places in the same destination:

Tibro, Dals Rostock, Svaneholm.