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Aerial view of Norrby village outside Sigtuna, with fields, woods and Lake Mälaren.

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Nature, swimming, fishing and hunting around Sigtuna

Lake Mälaren is one of five lakes in Sweden where you may fish with a rod without a licence. The woods start where the housing ends. And hunting happens on private land, so it pays to know the right farmer.

Photo: Pymouss

Fishing

On Mälaren, Vänern, Vättern, Hjälmaren and Storsjön, hand-tackle fishing is free for everyone by law. That means rod, jig or similar from shore or boat, with no fishing licence. Nets, longlines and traps require permission from the owner of the fishing rights. Sigtunafjärden, Garnsviken and Skarven are the home waters.

  • Pike everywhere along the reeds and shallows, best in spring and autumn. Many of the bigger ones are caught from the waterfront and the jetties in the evening.
  • Zander in the deeper parts of the bay, summer and early autumn, usually from a boat.
  • Perch by jetties and rocks, all year. What the children catch.
  • Ice fishing when the ice holds, normally January to March. Check the ice yourself. The bay has currents at the narrows.

Minimum sizes and closed seasons apply even to free fishing, above all for zander. The anglers' association has clubs in the region.

Shore path with a jetty at Munkholmen.
Munkholmen. Photo: Ulkl
Gravel road in Rävsta nature reserve.
Rävsta. Photo: Hanno Böck
Stream and greenery in Steningedalen nature reserve.
Steningedalen. Photo: Ulkl
Jetty with benches out into the lake.
The jetty on the waterfront. Photo: Arild Vågen

Outdoors all year

  • Rävsta nature reserve, 257 hectares between Sigtuna and Märsta, a nature reserve since 1974: wooded hills, pasture and farmed valleys down to Sigtunafjärden. A beach, an exercise trail, a ball field and the riding centre are inside it, and Rävstaleden runs eight kilometres past burial grounds and barbecue spots. Bilberries in July, mushrooms from August.
  • Hällsboskogen, 54 hectares two kilometres north-west of town between Billby and Hällsbo, a nature reserve since 1997. Hundred-year-old conifer forest, beard lichen and wintergreen, pygmy owl and hazel grouse. The Hällsbo track is 2.5 kilometres and floodlit from Hällsbostugan at Prästängsvägen 2, and Hällsbostigen four kilometres through the forest.
  • Embarsboda, Friluftsfrämjandet's walkers' cottage in Rävsta at Rävstavägen 170, serves on Sundays from 11 to 14 from January to May and September to the end of November or December, with sausages you grill yourself and coffee. The barbecue spot is open all year.
  • Garnsviken north of town, with a bird tower and a cycle path towards Wenngarn.
  • Skating. When the ice settles on Sigtunafjärden a track is sometimes ploughed from the harbour. Long-distance skating on Lake Mälaren is big in the region: Friluftsfrämjandet Märsta-Sigtuna leads tours. Never go alone. When the ice does not hold: the Pinbackshallen ice rink in Märsta.
  • Skiing. The municipality grooms tracks in Märsta and at Rävsta when there is snow, which there is not always.
  • The right of public access (allemansrätten) applies: walk, pick berries and mushrooms, camp one night. Not on private gardens, not in the reserve's protected parts during nesting.

Beaches

The municipality looks after the bathing places and tests the water through the season. the beaches and test results are on sigtuna.se.

  • Sjudargårdsbadet, on the lake west of town below Sjudarhöjden. Sandy beach, jetties, grass, barbecue spots, toilets and a kiosk in season. The town's beach for families. Cycle path and parking.
  • Munkholmsbadet, rocks and a jetty on Munkholmen south-east of the harbour. Quieter, and nearest for those living to the east.
  • The bathing jetties along the waterfront, in the middle of town. No sand, but two minutes from the square.
  • Steningebadet by Steninge Palace and Rosersbergsbadet by Rosersberg Palace, for a change of scene.
  • Sigtuna Fritidscenter, the pool on Rektor Cullbergs väg 10, the rest of the year. Swimming lessons for children, lane swimming in the morning.

Hunting

Hunting rights go with the land. Around Sigtuna the land is owned by farms, foundations, the municipality and the National Property Board, and almost all hunting is done by hunting teams that lease or own the rights. There is no public hunting ground where you can buy a day permit. The way in is to contact a landowner or a hunting team directly, ideally through someone who already hunts.

Updated 2026-10-26