Svanninge Bakker is a place where Funen suddenly gains elevation. The paths run through forest, open hills and grassland, and from the area by the tower behind Restaurant Skovlyst, the view stretches far across the South Funen landscape. In clear weather, both Als and Aabenraa are mentioned as points on the horizon.
The area is connected with Svanninge Bjerge and Sollerup Skov and forms Funen’s largest continuous forest and nature area. There are marked hiking trails, the Archipelago Trail and routes for cyclists, so the trip can be short, long or quite hilly. The grazing Galloway cattle and goats are part of the nature management; keep your distance, do not feed them, and keep your dog on a leash.
The landscape is not only nature. The hills contain traces of earlier use, including dikes, sunken lanes, ridge-and-furrow fields and small raw-material pits. The open hills have also caught the eye of artists: Fritz Syberg found the subject here for Evening Play in Svanninge Bakker, which today belongs to Faaborg Museum. This gives the place a special duality: a walking landscape shaped by the Ice Age, wear, forest planting and the painter’s eye.
