Billingen offers hiking trails of very different lengths: the Billingeleden circles the mountain for 57 kilometres, while Trollstigen offers three shorter circular walks to choose from. The scenery also changes along the way—from pastureland and hillside forests to a limestone plateau. If you want to explore Skövde on foot, you’ll find routes of varying lengths and landscapes, without having to commit to a single trail.

Hiking on Billingen: Stages and Circular Trails

The Billingeleden runs along the mountainside, circling Billingen. Its eight stages each start and end at information boards with maps; parking is available nearby. This makes it easier to plan individual sections and find your way. Another circular route is the 19-kilometre Bergaklivet. It passes through flower-filled meadows, lush wild garlic forests and gently rolling green hills. Bergaklivet can be reached on bus 613 to the Karlsfors stop; check the service before you travel.

For a shorter walk, the four-kilometre Karlsforsrundan passes through the Silverfallet-Karlsfors and Melldala nature reserves. It goes past Silverfallet and through an area with remnants of historic alum shale and limestone extraction. These include heaps of ochre and lime kilns: this route combines nature reserves with traces of earlier resource extraction.

Trollstigen is a circular walk with route options of 2.6, 8.1 or 12.4 kilometres. All start and finish at the viewpoint on Billingen. The trailhead can be reached from Skövde Resecentrum, a regional hub for trains and buses in the city centre, on bus routes 8 or 9. Killingarundan offers a different focus: the five-kilometre trail runs around an active quarry, through older quarry areas and along a former railway embankment. Here, the route length goes hand in hand with a trail that passes sites of both current and past quarrying.

Art, City History and Churches

In the city centre, Skövde Kulturhus houses a theatre, cinema, library and art venues. It was Sweden’s first cultural centre. Konstmuseet hosts permanent and temporary art exhibitions throughout the year; about two-thirds of the works in its collection were created by women. The collection offers a distinctive perspective, while the temporary exhibitions add further artistic viewpoints.

Skövde stadsmuseum is located in a former textile factory in Norrmalm. Its collections of objects, texts and photographs tell the city’s varied history. The permanent exhibition explores Skövde’s development over the past 600 years. The open storeroom displays thousands of objects from the Skövde area, including Stone Age boats. Admission to Skövde Kulturfabrik and the city museum exhibitions is free.

Churches also offer different ways to explore history. Våmbs kyrka was built in the mid-12th century and is one of Sweden’s best-known Romanesque churches. Inside are medieval wooden sculptures and a 13th-century baptismal font that is still in use. The church is open during the day in summer; visits can be booked at other times. S:ta Helena Kyrka stands on medieval foundations. The present building was constructed in the late 18th century, after the great city fire of 1759. An iron grille dating from the 15th century and a glass panel in the floor are among its notable features: through the panel, you can see the stairs leading to a crypt vault associated with Saint Elin.

Green Spaces and Rural Heritage

For a change of scenery within the city, Boulognerskogen, Skövde’s largest park, offers beech woodland, a tall pine forest, a playground and a bathing lake. Ducks and other birds gather around a pond in Garpaparken in winter. Nohlmarken Nature Reserve is about a kilometre’s walk from the centre of Skultorp and has parking and a trail. It is considered the most species-rich natural area in the Skövde region; around ten orchid species grow there in summer, although flowering can vary from year to year.

In Tidan, Vallby Sörgården Cultural Reserve preserves a 19th-century farmstead with outbuildings in a living agricultural landscape. Traditional activities such as haymaking, scything and tying oat sheaves are demonstrated there in summer. A signposted circular trail leads through the historic surroundings; free information leaflets are available at the parking garage. The trail can be walked year-round, at any time of day or night. Skövde and the places mentioned offer different discoveries, with city history, nature and rural heritage side by side.

Discover more destinations: Lerdala, Skövde, Timmersdala, Väring, Tidan, Gullspång, Öckerö, Kungälv.

For the broader travel overview: Västra Götaland.