Around lake Roxen

Lake Roxen is just north of Linköping. It's a popular site for fishing, swimming, skating and nature excursions - depending on your mood and the season.

You have plenty of options for getting to Roxen: By land you can take a bus, car or bike past the Tornby shopping area; you'll soon see the water. Keep it on your right side for the 12 kilometers or so to Berg, which is a great point of departure.

The Berg locks are the greatest sight on the Göta Canal, attracting swarms of tourists each year. The area is surrounded by restaurants, cafés, miniature golf, youth hostels, bicycle rentals and a place to swim along the Roxen shore.

By boat

You can also take the boat from Linköping to Berg. If you don't have one of your own, on nice summer days you can take the steamer at the Nykvarn lock, which makes two trips a day unless the weather is bad. Make the most of sunny days - ride out on the first run and home on the second.

You can also book an evening dinner cruise with boat operator Linköpings Ångfartygs Sällskap. Another option is to go ashore for some smoked Roxen fish or a barbecue. But if shrimp is more your bag, try an evening cruise with a seafood buffet and music on the M/S Wasa Leijon.

Perhaps you'd like nothing more than to go fishing yourself. Licenses are sold in several locations. The lake has populations of perch, pike, zander, asp, burbot and more.

On the ice

New ice on Lake Roxen is reputed to be excellent, and because the lake is never more than 8 meters deep, the ice tends to form fairly early. If you go skating on the western parts of the lake you can see Linköping on the horizon. Along the southern shore the ice can be difficult, with pressure ridges and water holes. The eastern side is a bit like an archipelago, and if you're lucky you may see a white-tailed eagle!

The lake has three tributaries. The mouth of the Stångån River is always open, while at the mouth of Motala Ström you have to expect the ice to be thin for over a kilometer out into the lake. The Svartån River is a bit better, but do still be careful around its mouth.

Suitable starting points are Sättuna By, where you can swim in the summer; near Linköping for shorter tours; and near Sandvik on the north shore for longer ones. Other possible starting places are the birdwatching tower by the mouth of the Svartån, the swimming site by the Berg locks, or at Stjärnorp manor.

A few gems

The Svartåmynningen Nature Reserve, about five kilometers north of Linköping, is a waterside meadow landscape with dense reedy areas and open shores where you can encounter most of our wetland birds, including the rare black-tailed godwit. If you're interested in plants, you may find some rarities like the fen violet, sand bittercress and threepetal bedstraw. The reserve is a great place to visit year round. The bird towers at Nybro and at Sättunaviken are popular attractions where you can often see birds up close. Both sites are adapted for the disabled.

If you're headed to the Stjärnorp Ravine, a good place to park is by the church, next to the ruins of a 17th-century manor, which burned down in 1789. Only the wings still stand. The paths down into the ravine lead you into an exotic landscape. Stjärnorpsbäcken is a creek surrounded by giant ostrich ferns, which often grow in ravines. Birds abound here, and you're almost sure to hear a nightingale.

Our third gem is a bit further away; turn off towards the village of Bjäsätter, which has medieval roots. It's a fascinating experience - driving through the woods to suddenly see a valley open up right in front of you, with a charming little village of closely built red houses and barns nestled into it. Park by the mill to the right and wander along the lovely Bjänleden trail, which circles a lake by the same name.