Kivik: Discover Art, Nature and Apple Culture

Those who choose Kivik as a destination combining nature, art and local history will find several clearly distinct reasons to visit. The Stenshuvud National Park lies immediately south of Kivik and can be reached by car as well as by public transport. A section of the long-distance Skåneleden trail runs through the national park. Guided tours can be booked for nature and cultural experiences in the area around Kivik.

Nature and trails around Kivik

The Marknadsfältet in Kivik is part of the area’s distinctive landscape character. Because of the high natural value of its sandy areas, it is classified as a Natura 2000 site. Thus, alongside the national park, sand-dominated areas with their own protective classification are also central to the way the locality is perceived. Those who wish to combine nature experiences and culture when planning their trip will find a suitably oriented offering in the guided tours of the area around Kivik.

Art, museums and historical traces

The Kivik Art Centre is a sculpture park and art gallery that combines three-dimensional art, architecture and landscape. The Kivik Art Centre’s art gallery presents contemporary art in an architecturally designed setting; each exhibition enters into a dialogue with the space and the surrounding landscape. This makes a visit an engagement with art and its specific environment, not merely with individual exhibits.

The Kiviks Museum also offers different ways to explore the area. It accepts bookings year-round and can open for individual visitors as well as groups. Nearly all guided tours at the Kiviks Museum can be booked year-round. In the open storage facility, visitors can also see the open collections. For local history, the older parts of the town, with their half-timbered houses along narrow, winding lanes, are another point of interest.

Kiviks kapell was built during the Second World War as a church and community hall and was inaugurated in June 1941. A gravel path lined with a birch avenue leads visitors to the chapel. Older history can be encountered at Kiviksgraven: the tomb is approximately 3,000 years old, has a diameter of 75 metres and is Sweden’s largest circular burial mound. Bredarör in Kivik is considered one of Sweden’s most remarkable archaeological monuments because of its Bronze Age carvings, including images that are unique in the Scandinavian rock-art tradition. Kivik's Market had its royal rights confirmed as early as 1623.

Apple culture and local flavours

Kivik’s identity is closely connected with apples. In 1888, Henric Åkesson planted the apple trees in Kivik that became Sweden’s first professional orchard; this laid the foundation for Kiviks Musteri. Äpplets Hus was founded in 1996 as a knowledge centre about the history, cultivation, harvesting, research and processing of apples. At Bistro Kärnhuset at Kiviks Musteri, visitors can sample most of the house’s beverages, including juice, cider with and without alcohol, and other drinks.

Bus connections in Kivik

Kivik has good bus connections in both northerly and southerly directions.

More about the destination

Relevant information for planning your trip: Mellby.

Simrishamn Kivik.

Other destinations

Other places within the same destination:

Simrishamn V, Vik, Rörum, Gladsax, Sankt Olof.

To the overview of the main destination: Simrishamn.