Discovering Swedish castles: Trollenäs, Trolleholms, Bosjökloster and Skarhult (Skåne's castles)


Here is an idea of a day trip to 4 of Skåne’s most beautiful castles. This summer was a pretty cold and rainy, so far, here in Sweden. So I have decided to go out and explore the surroundings no matter how the weather is.

They all have some history behind them and as I don’t want to bore anyone I will say just a few words about them and then let you enjoy the pictures and hope to inspire you to visit them.

We visited: Trollenäs, Trolleholms (private property), Bosjökloster and Skarhult castles. Below you can see the route we took. We had the chance to enjoy the beautiful villages, the farms and the grain fields of Skåne. The scenery between Höör and Skarhult via Gudmuntorp is amazing. Here is the map with our tour:




1. Trollenäs castle was the first one visited.

Trollenäs, previously known as Näs dates back to the 1300s and has been owned by only two families, Thott and Trolle. 

The current architecture of the castle is the result of a Danish architect’s work that turned the old building into a French inspired renaissance castle in the late 1800s (but still… keeping the late medieval Skåne-Danish brick architecture). The interior (from what I have read on the Trollenäs castle website, because I haven’t visited the inside) was inspired from the Drottningholm Palace.

Near the castle is a beautiful medieval church and a newly renovated building, which in the 1700s was a distillery and today is a Café shop. As you look at the castle you will notice a decapitated troll. It symbolizes the Trolle family coat of arms. 


2. Trolleholms castle was the second stop.

Built in the 1500s by the Thott family, the castle was previously known as Erik Holm and at that time Skåne belonged to Denmark. 

The castle is private property and we also couldn’t enter the garden. We managed to capture some pictures from the outside. Since it was pretty close to the first one we considered that was worth just to see it from the outside. It’s a really beautiful castle.

From what I have read on the Trolleholms castle’s website it contains one of the largest private libraries in the Northern Europe.


3. Bosjökloster castle


For the next stop we have wondered the beautiful villages and the grain fields of Skåne towards Bosjökloster castle (the castle between the lakes).

The history of Bosjökloster castle goes back to the year 1080 when here was a Benedictine monastery for women and at that time the peninsula of today was an island in the middle of the lake. The abbey was transformed into a castle in the 16th century, and only parts of the original building have remained. And actually Bosjökloster means live by the lake monastery (bo sjö = "live by a lake" + kloster = "monastery"). More about the history of the castle can be found on the official website of Bosjökloster.

The property includes a church, a rose garden, a garden terrace and herb garden. The castle is worth the visit as it’s hosting besides the museum an art exhibition, a restaurant and you can easily spend a whole day here enjoying the sights and the beautiful view over the lake.


4. Skarhult castle was the last stop.


We scheduled it to be the last because of the picturesque road from Höör to Skarhult (not the E22 road as you can see on the map but the one that we took). Skarhult castle is one of Sweden’s best preserved renaissance castles as the official website promotes it. The castle was originally built to withstand resistance against enemies – a precaution that proved itself useful during the Danish-Swedish wars. 

Today the castle and the entire estate is run by Alexandra and Carl Johan von Schwerin who inherited Skarhult in 1988. On the Skarhult castle website you can find the whole history of the castle and all the details you need for the visit. You will be impressed by the castle, the garden, the café shop and the amazing view. It’s definitely worth the visit.


 And by the time we finished our tour the sun came out (but only for 2 short hours).