The Classical Tour 5-6 days

The tour begins at the west coast where we also visit the islands and spend the night overlooking the sea from the hotel room. Next we travel east, passing the Falls of Trollhättan, towards Lake Vänern and the 17^th century Castle of Läckö. Further north we arrive at Göta Canal and for a couple of hours we change transport from bus to canal boat until we reach Lake Vättern. In Karlsborg, once the central of defense in Sweden, we visit the fortress.

We continue the tour towards the area surrounding the 11^th century town of Skara. Christianity arrived early to these parts which hundreds of small churches as well as the Skara Cathedral give evidence of. At Varnhem Monastery church there are several royal tombs and it may well be that the oldest larger Christian burial sight in Sweden is situated here. Next stop is nearby Honborgasjön, a bird-lake that is the resting-place of thousands of cranes in springtime but the bird-life is extremely plentiful all the year round.

We now head south to the rural landscape surrounding Falköping and Ulricehamn which offer ancient monuments as well as more recent country-houses. We visit several of these estates to admire the gardens, stables and historical interiors. The tour comes to an end in Göteborg.

Theme Tours

Gardens
On this tour we visit a variety of gardens of different sizes and meet the people who have devoted their lives to the floral beauty. Naturally we visit the well-known sights; The Botanical Gardens  and Gunnebo Castle in Göteborg and the garden designed by Simon Irvine at Läckö Castle. West Sweden also has quite a few hidden treasures that we have included in the tour such as market gardens, private gardens and allotment-gardens where citypeople rent a small plot just off the centre of the town.

Country-houses and Castles
A beautiful and bountiful landscape have attracted affluent people throughout the centuries and inspired them to build beautiful country-houses and castles. Today this enables us to experience amazing architecture, beautiful gardens, historical surroundings and  not least many interesting life stories. Some of these country-houses and castles are museums, some are hotels while others still are private homes that allow visits from smaller groups.

Nature
Here we take a closer look at the diversity of the nature in Western Sweden. The deep forests, the plateau mountains, the sea and the great lakes. How has nature influenced mankind? And what influence does it have on us today? We encounter fishermen, go bird-watching and listen to the silence in the vast forests. The tour can be arranged with bus as the only means of transport or it can be combined with activities such as hiking, cycling or riding.

Culinary
The proximity to the countryside has played an important part to the locally produced food in Western Sweden. Local produce is served at gourmet restaurants as well as at the farms where you can buy it directly at the farm-shops. On this culinary tour we meet the people who are passionate about food and local produce. The farmer who makes his own cheese, the fisherman who squeezes out the roe from the bleak and the chef who works his magic in the kitchen.

The Middle Ages – Arn the Knight Templar – Film Tourism
Western Sweden played an important part in the birth of the nation of Sweden. Remains from the 12^th and 13^th centuries, mainly churches and monasteries in scenic surrounding, still bear witness of this period in history. At the turn of the year a Swedish film will open at screens all over Europe: Arn the Knight Templar. It tells the story of crusaders and adventures in the Holy Land but above all it tells the story of the country in the north, Western Sweden, which is where the film mainly was shot. The theme tour of the Middle Ages takes you to the historical sights as well as to the actual locations from the making of the film.