Craftsmanship, cultural history and a human-shaped forest landscape define the character of Emmaboda municipality. The area ranges from glass from Glasriket to traces of the writer Vilhelm Moberg and routes that cross several municipalities. You can tailor your stay to your interests: would you like to discover art and history, explore on foot, or focus on nature and water?

Glasriket and glass art

Emmaboda municipality is part of Glasriket. In the region, visitors can see glass being made and buy glass directly from the producers. Erikshyttan is also one of the two glassworks in the municipality that make and sell glass on site. This offers a firsthand look at the craft while highlighting the broader role glass plays in the region.

The Glass Factory is an interactive glass museum in Glasriket. Its collection includes around 40,000 glass objects by about 50 artists. These include collections from the Boda, Kosta and Åfors glassworks. The program ranges from exhibitions and lectures to happenings and glass shows, as well as theatre performances and workshops; individual offerings may vary. If you are particularly interested in contemporary art, historical collections or demonstrations, this range of topics offers several different ways to explore glass as a material.

Moberg’s literary traces and historical sites

Duvemåla is associated with Vilhelm Moberg’s grandmother, who was born in 1833. The place inspired Moberg to create the character Kristina in his emigrant novels. A visit to Rundqvistagården in Duvemåla offers a glimpse of an earlier era, when self-sufficiency was part of everyday life. Opening is seasonal; check visiting options before your trip.

Other places also preserve connections to literature and film. Moshultamåla gamla skola is now a museum with a furnished classroom and a collection about Moberg’s literary work. Klasatorpet was a filming location for Jan Troell’s adaptation of “The Emigrants”; Kristina’s swing from the shoot is in the barn. Together, these places offer different insights: into Moberg’s literary work, its film adaptation and the historical everyday life conveyed by Rundqvistagården.

Emmaboda Hembygdsgård on Bökön preserves a 19th-century dwelling and other historic buildings that have been moved here. These include a hay barn, an 18th-century barn, a mill building, a log cabin and a lockup. Långasjö kyrka retains the remains of a medieval stone church dating from the 13th century; a small museum displays objects from the former church and the old parish library.

Routes for different itineraries

Hälsans stig is an easy-to-walk loop of about 5 km through Emmaboda and Lindås. Signs mark the kilometres, and overview maps help you find your way. Walkers and runners can start and finish anywhere along the route. Its scale sets it apart from the longer routes that cross several municipalities.

KulTuren is a scenic route of 14 Swedish miles through the municipalities of Emmaboda and Lessebo. Utvandrarleden is about 120 km long and runs through Emmaboda, Lessebo and Tingsryd. It can be travelled on foot, by bicycle, car or motorcycle. Multi-day packages with accommodation and bicycle rental can be booked for Utvandrarleden; check current offerings when planning. The different route lengths help you gauge your plans without treating the routes as equivalent: from a loop of about 5 km to a route that crosses municipal boundaries.

A mosaic of forests, hay meadows and water

The municipality’s landscape includes forests, lakes, wetlands and farmland. It is a changing forest mosaic shaped by human use. Three state nature reserves represent valuable cultural landscapes, hay meadows and valleys. In Lidahult Nature Reserve, a traditionally managed hay meadow is mown every year. This mowing supports flowers, butterflies and other small animals—an example of how maintaining a cultural landscape can also preserve habitats.

Numerous inland lakes and the Lyckebyån offer opportunities for swimming in the Emmaboda area. A swimming spot at Ubbemålasjön is outside central Emmaboda and has toilets, picnic tables, a swing set and a barbecue. If you would rather combine a hike with landscape history, descriptions of the nature reserves introduce other topics: hay meadows and valleys, as well as landforms shaped by the last ice age.

Emmaboda is served by train and bus; air travel is also accessible within a radius of 60 km. This makes it possible to consider cultural sites, longer routes and landscape experiences as different focuses for your trip, without having to combine them into a fixed itinerary.

Discover more destinations: Eriksmåla, Emmaboda, Långasjö, Torsås, Oskarshamn, Vimmerby, Hultsfred, Borgholm

For the main travel overview: Kalmar.