The most beautiful places in Småland
A lake made of countless little islands – and one of the quietest vacation corners in Småland.
Arriving
Some lakes are one single grand gesture. Bolmen is many small ones.
When you first come to its shore, down at Bolmsö or somewhere between Ljungby and Unnaryd, all you see at first is a lot of water and a lot of sky. Yet Bolmen is the second-largest lake in Småland, right after Vättern, and one of the ten largest in Sweden. And it breaks up into countless small parts: they say it has 365 islands, one for every day of the year. Locals suspect there are even more.
I've loved this thought ever since I first heard it. Not one big island where everything happens, but lots of small ones, scattered across half the lake. That's sometimes how arriving at myself feels, too: not one single big breakthrough, but many small, unremarkable days that at some point come together into something whole.
When I stand here, I don't really count the islands. I simply let them be – just like the small, unfinished days that in the end make up a whole life.
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Second-largest lake in Småland, after Vättern.
Clear, cool and 37 meters deep at its deepest point.
One for every day of the year – the largest is called Bolmsö.
Ljungby, Hylte, Gislaved and Värnamo share its shoreline.
Access to the island of Bolmsö via the bridge at Tannåker in the east
What you should see
18 kilometers long, with plenty of forest for hiking and sandy beaches that are never far away. Reachable via a bridge at Tannåker in the east or with the free car ferry Bolmsöleden from Sunnaryd in the northwest. There's a canoe and kayak rental on the island.
Bolmsö was once the meeting place of the local assembly and, so the story goes, even a place of worship in pre-Christian times. More than 500 archaeological sites are scattered across the island: burial mounds, stone circles, an Iron Age stone ship.
In the middle of the lake lies this nature reserve made up of several small islands – a refuge for a rare species of cormorant and an especially quiet area for anyone out in a canoe.
One of the most beautiful swimming islands in the western, central part of the lake. Soft sand, shady spots, a barbecue area – and above all, peace. Everything a summer afternoon needs.
Beneath the surface, an 82-kilometer-long tunnel begins here, built in the 1970s and '80s. It carries drinking water far to the south and to this day supplies more than a million people who have never seen the lake.
A stretch of the Bolmenmarschen trail, shortly before the sun goes down. Fishing boats slowly come in, the water turns golden, and somewhere between the islands your gaze gets lost. This is the stretch I love walking most every time – all alone, very slowly.
My little ritual
Bolmen is big, but it doesn't impose itself. It simply waits. Here, too, arriving works best for me in three small steps.
Sit on the shore, on a jetty or one of the benches by the water, without a goal. Let go of the drive before your eyes even start looking for something.
Walk a short stretch of the Bolmenmarschen, without any clock at all. Over the sand, through a bit of forest, until the water appears again.
In the end, simply look. Count the islands for as long as you can, and then stop counting. That's exactly where the real calm begins.
Here, too, Allemansrätten applies – the Swedish right of public access. It allows you to rest on the shore, to swim, to walk a stretch cross-country. In return it asks for just one thing: consideration for nature, animals and the people who live here. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.
Good to know
Getting there: Bolmen lies on the E4 and Route 25, about 65 kilometers from Halmstad and about 180 kilometers from Malmö via the E4.
Best time: Summer is best for swimming, when the many sandy beaches beckon. The Bolmenmarschen loop trail can be walked almost all year round – in autumn it gets especially quiet.
On the water: On Bolmsö there's a canoe and kayak rental that lets you reach many of the small islands. If you'd like to fish, you'll find more than 20 species of fish in Bolmen – mainly pikeperch, pike and perch.
Nearby: In Unnaryd, a small local history museum and the Tiraholms Fisk fish farm await. The Smålandet moose and bison safari park in Markaryd is about an hour's drive away. And if you'd like to travel on, you'll find both the quiet Åsnen and the fire of Glasriket not far from here.
Current information on ferry times, hiking trails and swimming spots is available at visitsmaland.se.
Why this place
You can't tell by looking at it, but beneath the surface Bolmen keeps flowing – through an 82-kilometer-long tunnel to the south, quietly, invisibly, for decades. More than a million people drink its water without ever having seen it. I really love this thought: that you can carry and give without anyone noticing. The lake stays calm, the shore stays empty, and yet it reaches further than you can see from here.
♥ ♥ ♥
The journey continues
Discover the other stops on my journey through the land I long for – place by place, with heart.
