Jönköping - Vadstena, St Birgitta Ways South

Difficulty level: green - easy

Trail marking: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

Jönköping is a perfect place to start a week-long hike to Vadstena along the Saint Birgitta Ways.

Start your walk in Jönköping in one of the churches that receive and send pilgrims; Kristine Church or St. Francis Catholic Church, where there are Franciscan friars (shown on the map as a church).

Follow Norra Strandgatan to cross the railroad via the viaduct and come out on the promenade along Lake Vättern. At the end of the beach continue up the stairs to Flädergatan. Keep to the left and continue the walkway through the forest to get out to Rosenlundsbankarna and then the stairs down to Sannabadet. Take Särla vägen and left on Burgatan and then follow the beach on the pedestrian and cycle path between Vättern and the highway. After Huskvarna river continue along the water. Do not cross the highway on the footbridge. Cross the highway via the viaduct first at Brunnstorps gård. It is a perfect stop for lunch or coffee. Don't miss the beautiful path through the fruit tree gene bank. Then you leave the vicinity of Lake Vättern and walk through a beautiful rolling landscape with fruit orchards.

For those who are fit, take the road via Vista Kulle and enjoy the view. Here it is a bit steep at times.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE:

An alternative route to Kaxholmen is via the John Bauer trail. It is a little tougher hike but very scenic. Choose the John Bauer trail at Brunstorp farm and follow it to Gestra. Deviate from the trail and follow the road or nature trails to Kaxholmen Landsjöskyrkan.

Difficulty level: Green easy

Trail marking: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

This stage is mostly on gravel road in varied nature. A small part (after Bäckanäs) goes on a busy road, so be careful.

St Birgitta Ways follows the Francis Trail and the Biosphere Trail, which runs through a rolling landscape with orchards reminiscent of Provance. From Kaxholmen there are two choices.

ALTERNATIVE 1: Either you continue along the road by the soccer fields to Lyckås, and turn right there.

ALTERNATIVE 2: Or you go right up the hills via Kaxholmen's deciduous forest and Jordstorp.

After Skärstad in Flättinge there is a nice summer café and lunch place. Just after that live Björn and Inga, who are very involved in the Francis Trail. They are happy to receive you if they are at home. If you choose to spend the night in the fantastic Franciscan cottage at Wettershus, you continue a bit further after Ölmstad. But remember that you need to bring your own food. There is a shop in Ölmstad.

The East Vättern Scarp Landscape Biosphere Reserve - one of five biosphere reserves in Sweden.

Difficulty level: Blue medium

Trail marking: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

This day stage is one of the most beautiful St. Birgitta Ways. The route is very varied both in terms of nature and terrain. At times it is steep so take it easy, especially if it is wet. Sometimes it is sparse between the markings and the trail coincides with several other trails with other markings, so stick to the digital map to find your way.

The Fransicuskus trail has some alternative routes along the beach a bit after Wettershus that are very beautiful, but really steep, so again the advice is to stick to the trail on the digital map if you want to avoid too much steep parts.

You walk along the Francis Trail, which runs through a very beautiful landscape near Lake Vättern. Here you can walk in a vibrant countryside with room for the soul and an interesting history. The trail also runs through the East Vättern Scarp Landscape Biosphere Reserve - one of five biosphere reserves in Sweden. At "Öland" you can turn left down to Wettershus, a retreat farm in a nice location. You can also stay overnight here, but you have to book in advance. Röttle harbor is a beautiful resting place and Röttle waterfall is an experience that is hard to leave.

Difficulty level: green easy

Trail markings: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

This stage is mostly on road, initially on asphalt and then gravel, with the possibility of swimming and many scenic detours.

Good to bring a packed lunch from Gränna and also provisions for the evening and the next day if you are staying in Stava mission house. In several places you can choose a route, often an alternative is steeper but with beautiful views or nature. Feel what you can handle.

The St. Birgitta Ways meet here with both the Francis Trail and the Biosphere Trail. A day trip with no less than five nature reserves near the trail. From the road you can see Brahehus, which is one of Sweden's most famous landmarks. (For those who want to make a detour to Brahehus, it takes 1 hour on a partly difficult trail.)

Girabäcken is a gem along the trail and worth a detour. A nice stream ravine full of wild garlic in summer. You can also take a detour down to Vättern and the rocky beach there. Good swimming opportunities.

You can find more information on the Franciskus Trail and Jönköping municipality's nature map.

Difficulty level: red demanding

Trail markings: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

This stage is quite demanding as it is hilly, but very scenic.

Here, the St. Birgitta Ways continue along the Francis Trail, initially on asphalt, but soon you can choose paths and the Östgötal Trail all the way to Hästholmen. The main attraction of the route is the beautiful nature, the nature trails and the nice resting places along Lake Vättern. The landscape is somewhat hilly, where you sometimes go higher up with nice views out towards Vättern and sometimes come all the way down to the water.

The trail goes through Kråkeryd Nature Reserve, where natural forests on the slopes down to Lake Vättern will preserve values and structures characterized by pristine nature. If you choose to stay on the gravel road, you will instead find older agricultural landscapes with open limestone grasslands and tree-covered pastures that will be maintained and developed through management. The natural values in the Kråkeryd Natura 2000 area contribute to the area being part of the Vättern Scarp Landscape, which is designated as a national interest for nature conservation. Stockseryd has well-kept pastures and deciduous forest stands with oak and hazel. The landscape is beautiful, a kind of Sweden in miniature with meadows, lush deciduous forest and red cottages with white knots.

The stage after that is quite demanding as it is hilly nature trail, but very scenic. Good resting place is SMU summer home. The trail has breathtaking views of Lake Vättern and follows the edge of Lake Vättern, but it can be difficult to get all the way down to the water due to the steep cliffs. In places, the trail runs through the forest's cow pastures.

Before Ödeshög, you can choose an alternative, more scenic route via the Orrnäs farm. A shortcut to the Östgötaleden trail is marked with passage over fences to avoid asphalt roads and traffic. Östgötaleden runs through the nature reserve and Natura 2000 area Stora Lund all the way to Hästholmen harbor at the foot of Omberg.

Those who want to go to the center of Ödeshög instead follow the 500 m long avenue east to Turistvägen. Take the opportunity to look at Svämbroarna, three bridges next to each other from three different centuries. At the fork in the road, turn left and follow Turistvägen / the old national road into the center of Ödeshög.

You can also read about the Byarum-Ödeshög route on the website of the Friends of the Francis Trail.

Difficulty level:

Trail marking: red and white lines and/or the Saint Birgitta way symbol

The Östgötaleden trail starts here and runs parallel to the Francis trail to its final destination Alvastra monastery ruins. This stage is fabulously beautiful, but demanding. It is hilly and can be slippery on the rocks if the weather is wet. You'll enjoy views of Lake Vättern and Omberg and rich nature in Stora Lund Nature Reserve. Alvastra is a beautiful ruin of the monastery that St. Bridget often visited.

Lunch is often available at Ombergs Golf Resort.

Check if there is dinner food where you stay as there are no grocery stores along the way.

GRAZING ANIMALS MAY BE PRESENT.