Hindås - Götene

Today is a wonderfully sunny day. We have breakfast in the morning sun on the balcony and Annina keeps reading until we have to check out. After three nights in Hindås we say goodbye to our very friendly host and drive on northeast, further inland. Our next Airbnb is in Götene, near Lidköping. On the way we stop to shop at an ICA and plan to visit Läckö Slott, a baroque castle from the 17th century. From Hindås it is about 140 kilometres to the castle by road.

The castle’s history goes back even further, to the 13th century. In 1298 the Bishop of Skara, Brynolf Algotsson, built a fortified castle here, probably just two or three simple houses within a defensive wall. The castle only received its baroque style in the 17th century. In between it was rebuilt a few times, partly because of a great fire in the 1470s that destroyed the whole castle. Afterwards Bishop Brynolf Gerlaksson had it rebuilt as a castle with four wings and two corner towers in the north, and this is the core of the castle today.

After the Reformation in 1527 Läckö was no longer a bishop’s castle. With Gustav I Vasa a king took over the castle for the first time, and according to written sources he came here twice. Otherwise various noble families lived there. In 1615 the military commander Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie received Läckö as a fief. His son Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie expanded it from 1654 into the baroque castle that stands here today: Four wings of four storeys, three corner towers and a separate wing with the castle church, 248 rooms in all.

Through a vaulted, cobbled passage we see a white portal with red-framed windows, and in a white wall niche stands the statue of a bearded man with a spear.

Today the castle belongs to the Swedish state. It is a visitor attraction and an opera venue, and since 1997 opera has been staged in the great courtyard in summer.

We take a lot of photos, because the castle is also beautifully situated on Lake Vänern. It stands on a point of Kållandsö, an island in the south of the lake. Only the narrow straits of Björnsund and Ullersund separate it from the Kålland peninsula. We already know the lake from Åmål, where we spent the night five days ago. Flowers bloom all around, with daisies in a meadow in front of the castle, and there is a harbour with a sailing boat moored at a jetty. During our visit there is scaffolding on one of the towers with their red roofs.

We picnic at the end of a jetty on the lake with a view of the castle. After looking around the castle we drive to our new accommodation. It is just under 50 kilometres by road to Götene, and we are staying here for three nights. It is a modern loft with its own sauna built into the bathroom and a small balcony. In the evening we cook Indian food in the small but well-equipped kitchen and plan our journey home in more detail. Since the day before yesterday we have known that we will have to quarantine for ten days after arriving in Switzerland. Of course we have a sauna before going to bed. It really does us good, this is the life!

The castle is signposted from Lidköping and lies about 25 kilometres north of the town. According to Läckö Slott, visitors park in the large gravel car park, which costs 60 kronor for the whole day (as of October 2026). In summer bus 132 runs from Lidköping to the castle.