Franciskusleden, St. Birgitta Ways South

St. Birgitta Ways runs along the Franciscus Trail. For more detailed information about the route, visit the Franciscus Trail website.

Byarum - Måsarp, 17.9 km

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

Walks on gravel roads, forest paths and along Lake Vederydssjön.

This is the old church road. The church road leads you through a beautiful, open agricultural landscape past the farms Ammelund, Köpet, Tröjebo and N Kulhult and the Ekeryds mission house with the possibility of overnight stays, rest and cooking.

Månsarp - Jönköping, 20.2 km

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

St. Birgitta Ways runs here on the Franciscus Trail. Here you hike in varied terrain with a nice swimming stop at Lake Åsasjön/Sörsjön. By the church in Månsarp there is a carefully landscaped savior's wreath park. In Taberg there is an old mining pit with its history written on information signs.

Jönköping - Kaxholmen, 16.2 km

Difficulty level: green - easy

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

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

Feel free to start your hike in Jönköping at one of the churches that receive and send off pilgrims; Kristine Church or St Francis Catholic Church, where there are Franciscan brothers. (visible on the map as a church)

Follow Norra Strandgatan to cross the railway via the viaduct and come out onto the beach promenade along Vättern. At the end of the beach, continue up the stairs to Flädergatan. Keep left and continue the footpath through the forest to come out onto Rosenlundsbankarna and then the stairs down to Sannabadet. Take Särla vägen and left onto Burgatan and then follow the beach on foot and the cycle path between Vättern and the motorway. 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 genebank for fruit trees. Then you leave the vicinity of Vättern and walk through a beautiful rolling landscape with fruit orchards.

For those who are energetic, take the path via Vista Kulle and enjoy the view. Here it is a bit steep in places.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE:

An alternative route to Kaxholmen is via the John Bauer trail. It is a slightly tougher hike but very scenic. Then choose the John Bauer trail at Brunnstorps gård and follow it to Gestra. Deviate from the trail and follow the road or nature trails to Kaxholmen Landsjöskyrkan.

Kaxholmen - Ölmstad, 14.2 km

Difficulty level: Green easy

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

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

St Birgitta Ways follows here along the Franciskusleden and the Biosfärsleden, which go through an undulating landscape with fruit orchards that bring to mind Provence. From Kaxholmen there are two choices.

OPTION 1: Either continue along the country road by the football fields to Lyckås, and turn right there.

OPTION 2: Or go right up into the heights via Kaxholmen's deciduous forest and Jordstorp.

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

The Östra Vätterbranterna Biosphere Reserve - one of five biosphere reserves in Sweden.

Ölmstad - Gränna, 16.0 km

Difficulty level: Blue medium

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

This day stage is one of the absolutely most beautiful of the St. Birgitta Way. The route is very varied in terms of both nature and terrain. It is steep in parts, so take care, especially if it is wet. Sometimes the markings are sparse and the trail coincides with several other trails with other markings, so stick to the digital map to find it.

The Franciscuskus Trail has some alternative stretches along the beach a bit after Wettershus that are very beautiful, but really steep, so here too the advice is to stick to the trail on the digital map if you want to avoid too many steep sections.

You hike along the Franciskus Trail, which goes through a very beautiful landscape near Vättern. Here you can hike in a living countryside with room for the soul and an interesting history. The trail also goes through the Östra Vätterbranterna 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 then you have to book in advance. Röttle harbor is a beautiful rest area and Röttle waterfall is an experience that is hard to leave.

Gränna - Stava, 15.5 km

Difficulty level: green easy

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

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

It is 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 the road, often an alternative is steeper but with beautiful views or nature. Feel what you can handle.

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

Girabäcken is a gem along the trail and worth a detour. A nice stream ravine full of wild garlic in the 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 Franciskusleden trail and the Jönköping municipality's nature map.

Stava - Ödeshög, 15.4 km

Difficulty level: red demanding

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

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

Here, the St. Birgitta Ways continues along the Franciskusleden trail, first on asphalt, but soon you can choose paths and the Östgötaleden trail all the way to Hästholmen. The main attraction of the route is the beautiful nature, the nature trails and the nice picnic areas along Lake Vättern. The landscape is somewhat hilly, where you sometimes go higher up with a nice view out towards Lake Vättern and sometimes you come all the way down to the water.

The trail goes through the Kråkeryd nature reserve, where natural forest on the slopes down towards Lake Vättern will preserve values ​​and structures that are characterized by untouched nature. If you choose to stay on the gravel road, you will instead find older cultivated landscapes with open calcareous grasslands and tree-covered pastures that will be maintained and developed through tradition. The natural values ​​in Kråkeryd's Natura 2000 area contribute to the area being included as part of the Vättern Slope, which is designated as of national interest for nature conservation. At Stockseryd there are some well-maintained pastures and deciduous forest stands with oak and hazel, among other things. The landscape is beautiful, a kind of Sweden in miniature with meadows, lush deciduous forest and red cottages with white knots.

The next stage is quite demanding as it is a hilly nature trail, but very scenic. A good resting place is the SMU summer home. The trail has breathtaking views of Vättern and follows the Vättern edge, but it can be difficult to get all the way down to the water due to the steep cliffs. In parts, the trail goes 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 is marked with a passage over fences to avoid asphalt roads and traffic. The Östgötaleden goes through the nature reserve and the Natura2000 area Stora Lund all the way to Hästholmen harbour at the foot of Omberg.

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

You can also read about the Byarum-Ödeshög route on the website of the Franciskusledens vänner.

Ödeshög - Alvastra 12 km

Difficulty level:

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

Here the Östgötaleden starts and runs parallel to the Franciscusleden to its final destination, the Alvastra monastery ruin. This stage is fabulously beautiful, but demanding. It is hilly and can be slippery on the rocks if the weather is wet. You can enjoy views of Vättern and Omberg and the rich nature in Stora Lunds nature reserve. Alvastra is a beautiful ruin of the monastery that Saint Birgitta often visited.

Lunch can often be purchased at Ombergs Golf Resort.

Check if there is dinner available where you are staying overnight as there are no grocery stores along the way.

GRAZING ANIMALS MAY OCCUR.