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Aspö kursgård

The island and the lake

You're staying on an island in Båven

There's nothing built between here and the shore, and below the meadow the lake begins.

Three people sit side by side on the jetty with their backs to the camera, looking out over Båven. Reeds on both sides and evening sun on the water.
The jetty, late in the afternoon.

Down by the water

The ground slopes all the way down to the water

At the shore there's a place to swim, a jetty, and a wood-fired barrel sauna standing on land.

Old oaks grow on the slope in between, and that's where you go when a session has finished and it's still too early to go back inside.

The swimming spot one evening. Sand and grass down to still water, a rock at the water's edge and a pink sky over the forest on the far side.
The swimming spot, one evening.

Between sessions

Down by the water there are places just to sit

A hammock hangs between the birches down by the water, and the canoes are kept by the shore. On the oak slope you can sit and do nothing at all.

A striped hammock slung between two birches at the water's edge, with someone lying in it and Båven open beyond the reeds.
The hammock down by the water.

The lake

The islands lie close together

Båven lies between Flen and Gnesta and branches into bays and channels, and the shoreline is more than five hundred kilometres long.

The lake has zander and crayfish, the birdlife is rich, and several stretches of it are bird sanctuaries. The water itself is a Natura 2000 site, and the land around the course centre is subject to nature reserve regulations.

Båven seen between pines and junipers from a rocky outcrop. Open water, a wooded headland in evening sun and blue sky above.
Båven from the shore.
A green canoe pulled up on the shore, with the lake like glass and a wooded horizon behind.

The canoes

They're kept down by the shore.

A path through tall pine forest one morning, with the sun shining through the trunks and the lake glimpsed beyond the trees.

The forest

The paths run through the pine forest, and a trail is marked out with signs.

The sun sits low over the forest across the lake and lays a golden path over the water, with reeds in the foreground.

The evening light

The sun sets behind the forest on the far side of the lake.

Going out

If you want to go further there's a marked trail

Signs in the forest mark the way, and the trail goes through the pine forest and down towards the water. It takes a little over half an hour to walk.

If you'd rather stay near the buildings, the oak slope is walk enough, and it runs all the way down to the shore.

A wooden signpost in the forest. The upper sign points to a circular trail, the lower to a car park 700 metres away.
The signpost in the forest.

Early in the morning the lake lies still and the mist lingers over the meadow. Whoever is up then has the shore entirely to themselves. You don't need to do anything in particular. Standing there a while before breakfast is enough.

The seasons

In the morning the mist lies on the meadow

In autumn it goes quiet here, and the sun comes up red through the haze while the grass is still wet.

Summer stays light late into the evening, and winter puts ice on the bays. Which season you come in mostly decides how warmly you'll need to dress.

Outside the main building there's a fire pit with a roof over it.

Mist lying low over the meadow, with a low red sun behind pines and juniper bushes in silhouette and a fence in the foreground.
Mist over the meadow early in the morning.
A fire burning in a fire pit with a metal roof, on the gravel in front of the black clad facade.
The fire pit outside the main building.