Kållandsö, what an island!

As is probably already clear from our previous post about Läckö Castle and Naturum, we were incredibly impressed by Kållandsö. We found a super cosy campsite, had a really good dinner at Hvita hjorten and got an interesting tour of Läckö Castle. However, Kållandsö turned out to have much more than just the castle so after the tour we went on an excursion.

Our first stop was the fishing village of Hörviken, which is smaller and quieter than the more famous Spikens fishing harbour. Here we strolled around for a while and then had lunch at the restaurant Åtta glas down in the harbour. It was a yummy burger and fries with lots of parmesan. The restaurant also has an ice cream bar with ice cream from local Klings. Unfortunately, there was no room for ice cream this time, we were also going on.

On Kållandsö, the distances are small and the farms are many, so if you don't mind walking, you can get around on foot. There are many good trails where you can avoid the car road. When we went for dinner in the evening, for example, we took a beautiful walk of almost three kilometres from Läckö to Spiken's fishing harbour. If you don't want to walk, there is also a smart idea called the Last Mile Car. It's like a cross between a taxi and public transport where you can book a journey between different tourist attractions around Vara, Linköping and the Skara area.

A trip to Spiken is a bit like a trip to Smögenbryggan but in a smaller format. There are restaurants, smokehouses, ice cream parlours, small shops and views of the water. Spiken is one of Europe's largest inland harbours and is famous for its Vänerlöjrom. Every year they even organise Löjromens dag for the really nerdy ones.

Spiken may not be a culinary mecca (except for Vänerlöjromen), but it's a nice area with many nice outdoor cafés with roof terraces or a bridge. An ice cream or a glass of rosé always tastes best with a view.

Towards the evening it had become cooler so we had dinner indoors at the restaurant Sjöboden. The restaurant was good and of the more traditional kind. No surprises but good and well cooked. As long as there is a pavlova on the menu, at least Henrik is usually satisfied. 🙂

When we had packed up our tent at Läckö and were about to head home again, we stopped at Hinden's reef. The reef goes as a narrow cape about 5 kilometres out into Lake Vänern and then continues down below the surface and reappears on the Dalsland side where the reef is called Hjortens udde. During the walk out on the headland, I was most surprised by how much forest there was, I had imagined a rocky reef out in the water. Although you constantly hear the water on both sides of you, you don't always see it. The reef is at its widest about 100 metres in places and it is quite dense forest in parts, also forest with all kinds of wood. We even saw an apple tree. The tree grew at a suitable place for a coffee break, so the question is whether a thrown apple scrap long ago could be the reason for this somewhat unexpected element in the fauna.

The further out we got on the reef, the fewer trees and more stone, now you could also see the water on both sides of you. Here we had an impressive view of Lake Vänern. A tip is to go out to the reef fairly early in the morning or morning. We were there just before ten in the morning and we were almost alone at the far end of the reef. On our way back, however, we met so many people that it was probably crowded at the end. We were therefore glad that we had left as early as we did.

Finally, I would also like to mention Kinnekulle and the large nature reserve there. Kinnekulle may remain on the list of travel destinations for a while longer, but at least we took the opportunity to stretch our legs in Hällekis, a small mill community with small shops and stalls with this and that. Are you looking for something felted? Then you have come to the right place. 🙂