Kosta – Glass History and Nature

Kosta combines a rich glassworks history with contemporary glass art. It also offers hiking trails, a mountain bike route and wildlife viewing at Kosta Safari Park. When planning your trip, it is worth distinguishing between these different attractions: the gallery and glassworks offer different ways to explore glass, while the routes vary in type and length.

Glass Art and Glassworks History

Kosta is Sweden’s oldest continuous glassworks complex, with preserved buildings and artefacts spanning four centuries. The town is also considered one of Sweden’s most significant examples of an early glassworks community and its development into a modern industrial and business community. Kosta’s character is thus shaped by both its long glassworks history and its present-day industrial and business profile.

The Kosta Boda Art Gallery in Kosta hosts contemporary glass art exhibitions; at Kosta Glassworks, you can experience the glass production of Kosta Boda and Orrefors up close. These offer different perspectives on glass: exhibitions at the gallery and the production process at the glassworks. Kosta Glassworks is Sweden’s oldest active glassworks.

Hiking and Trails

The Kosta 8 km hike mostly follows forest paths along a lake. Conditions can vary in wet sections; where water poses a risk, non-slip boardwalks are provided. The hike is accessed via a footpath of about 300 metres from Kosta Lodge; from there, the route follows red markings. Check the trail access and markings locally before setting out.

The Visjön Nature Reserve lies north of Kosta. A marked path of about eight kilometres circles the lake. Although the distances are similar, the hikes mainly differ in their routes: Kosta 8 km mostly follows the shore of a lake, while the path in the nature reserve goes around it.

Mountain Biking and Wildlife Viewing

The Kosta Safari Trail is an 11-kilometre mountain bike route with built obstacles and sections ranging from Green to Black difficulty. It therefore differs from the roughly eight-kilometre hiking options both in activity and length.

Kosta Safari Park offers a nature experience for the whole family. Visitors can safely drive through the large enclosure and observe moose, bison, red deer, mouflons, fallow deer and wild boar. A weekend train also runs through the park, allowing visitors to see these animals up close. The car and train offer two different ways to view wildlife.

Planning Activities

Kosta Rentalcenter rents out bicycles, fishing equipment, boats and canoes. It also provides maps of local fishing waters and cycling and hiking trails. The maps complement the rentals, helping visitors find their way around cycling and hiking routes as well as fishing waters.

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