Many people set up base with a motorhome at a campsite or motorhome stopover and work through the route at their own pace over several days. You can keep to the ride between the two towns or build it out into a full loop, whichever suits you.
“We’ve seen cycling tourism grow, and the joint Säffle–Åmål cycle map is our way of meeting those visitors. The nature, the conditions and the attractions here are made for a cycling holiday, whether you want short day trips or a longer tour, staying in different places along the loop,” says Helena Karlsson of Säffle Municipality.
Along the water
You might start at Åmål guest harbour, where the sailing boats lie moored below one of the country’s best-preserved 18th-century town centres. From here Vänerleden takes you on towards Säffle, part of the way along the lake and part of it inland through the forest. In Tveta you’ll find Linhagen, a farm shop and café with home baking and grazing Gotland sheep. For many, Duse Udde is the highlight of the trip, with a bathing beach, a campsite, a restaurant in the old lighthouse and a sweeping view over Lake Vänern.
“If you get the chance to stay at Duse Udde and watch the sun go down over Lake Vänern, that’s something I really recommend,” she says.
A pleasant pause by the canal
In Säffle you can sit by the canal with an ice cream and watch the boats pass through the lock, and at Stortorget, the main square, the smell of fresh baking drifts from the venerable Holgers Konditori, a patisserie that has been going since 1933. If you fancy a detour off Vänerleden, there’s fine cycling out onto the Värmlandsnäs peninsula, and from there you can even take your bike by boat to Lurö, one of Lake Vänern’s loveliest islands, with a monastery ruin, a lighthouse, restaurants and places to stay the night.
Turn it into a loop
The stretch between Åmål and Säffle is just as good ridden there and back, but the area is crossed by two national cycle routes, so you can also link them into a full circuit. Vänerleden follows the water, while Unionsleden takes you through the interior, a different landscape of forest, lakes and small villages such as Svaneholm and Edsleskog. Where the two routes meet, you can close the loop.
Good to know for cyclists
The trip works fine on an ordinary touring bike, though e-bikes are becoming more and more common for those who want to take it easy, and the inland sections are hilly. You can split the route and take one stage at a time, and along the way cafés and places to stay have adapted to cyclists, with somewhere to charge an e-bike, dry your clothes or stock up on provisions. And if you’d like a bit of fun along the way, there’s a GPS quiz to follow between the main squares of Säffle and Åmål.
Fancy more cycling?
There are more cycle routes to discover around Säffle and Åmål.