Bengtsfors: Experience culture and water

When looking for a hotel in Bengtsfors, it’s worth deciding first what you want to focus on during your trip: cultural history, paths along the water and water-based activities offer different options. The municipality has 399 lakes, and a large part of the 253-kilometre Dalsland Canal runs through Bengtsfors. Its cultural attractions range from an open-air museum to exhibitions on industrial history. You can plan your stay according to whether museums, walks or longer excursions matter most to you.

Cultural history on Majberget and in the town centre

On Majberget, Halmens Hus has a permanent exhibition about the importance of straw in Dalsland. The venue also offers changing exhibitions and courses, mainly on straw, but also on birch bark, willow and reeds. As individual exhibitions and course dates change, check the current programme if you’re interested.

Also on Majberget is the open-air museum Gammelgården. Visitors are free to walk among the historic buildings. The more than 20 buildings include a prosperous farmer’s house, a crofter’s cottage, a soldier’s cottage, a miller’s room, as well as various workshops and outbuildings. This means there are two different cultural perspectives to choose from on Majberget: exhibitions and materials at Halmens Hus, or the historic buildings at Gammelgården.

In the centre of Bengtsfors, on the shore of Bengtsbrohöljen, is EKA-Miljörum, also known as EKA Park. It is considered Sweden’s first environmental area. The exhibitions explore the industrial history of the EKA area and the remediation project that transformed the contaminated site into today’s park. Children can enjoy a stone labyrinth, a water feature and a stream garden with stepping stones. The town centre is also home to a graffiti wall created by Carolina Falkholt.

Water, shores and trails

The Bengtsfors waterfront promenade runs along the shores of Lelång and Bengtsbrohöljen, as well as the Dalsland Canal. The promenade has swimming spots, boat traffic, attractive lock settings, green spaces and parks. Bengtsfors double lock is at the entrance to the canal, at the northern tip of Bengtsbrohöljen. The waterside setting therefore offers different ways to explore, from the waterfront promenade to the canal lock.

There are also various options for activities on the water. Nearly 400 bodies of water invite you to go canoeing and kayaking, using your own boat or one you rent. Sport fishing is available at hundreds of lakes and in several fisheries management areas. Paddling and fishing are two separate options that appeal to different interests in the lake landscape.

Walks and longer routes

Bengtsfors has hiking trails and walking areas, with short walks of about an hour as well as longer excursions lasting several days. This gives you a practical distinction to consider when planning: a short walk can fit into a manageable block of time, while a multi-day excursion naturally takes up more room in your itinerary.

For a named hiking route, Brända Berget starts at Vandrarhemmet Gammelgården in Bengtsfors and is 9 or 11 kilometres long. The 50-kilometre dressin route connects Bengtsfors with Kyrkerud near Årjäng. Vänerleden is also listed in Bengtsfors’s tourism offering as a signposted tourist cycling route. The distances and route types offer different points of reference if you want to include hiking, cycling or a ride on a railbike in your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Bengtsfors, Billingsfors, Bäckefors, Dals Långed, Ödskölt, Gustavsfors, Tidaholm, Svenljunga.

For the broader travel overview: Västra Götaland.