Vacant lots (in Swedish)
Homes in Vara (in Swedish)
Private landlords (in Swedish)
Homes for sale (Hemnet, in Swedish)
Vara is bold! Vara is where you’ll find the good life, everyone’s welcome; we see a little further here. We’re building for the future! Everyone enjoys living and working in Vara municipality.
- Number of residents
16,066
- Towns
Arentorp, Emtunga, Jung, Kvänum, Larv, Stora Levene, Tråvad, Vara and Vedum
- Neighboring municipalities
Lidköping, Skara, Falköping, Essunga and Grästorp
- Price per square meter (single family/town house)
SEK 11,830
- Number of companies
3,121
- Major industries
Manufacturing, commerce, business services and agriculture
- Employers
Vedum Kök & Bad, Kvänum Kök, Oumph!, Benders, Lantmännen, DBKD and others
- Popular places to visit
Conditori Nordpolen, Vara Concert Hall, Bjertorp Manor House
- Characteristics
Artisanal foods, The Blue Orange, “Schlätta” (Västgöta Plains)
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Living here
Living in Vara municipality
There are great opportunities here in Vara municipality in western Skaraborg, and day-to-day life not only offers freedom, but also simplicity and security. Because distances are short in this part of Sweden, it’s possible to find time for work, school and leisure, even if each takes place in different locations. In other words, We have time to live life here.
In Vara, the open, flat landscape is the backdrop for a unique small town lifestyle. You can either live under a big countryside sky or close to neighbors in one of the municipality’s towns. Being so close to other places inside and outside of Skaraborg creates many opportunities, in terms of both work and leisure.
Vara
Vara is the regional center in the municipality and has a large range of services. There’s a preschool, school, high school, senior living, indoor pool, health center, library, indoor soccer and more. Vara also has a number of stores with rich, varied selections. It also has a very popular concert hall.
Kvänum
Kvänum has a preschool, school, senior living, indoor pool, health center, branch library, sports hall and more. The town is known primarily for its entrepreneurial spirit, and the area has a number of national and international companies. The town’s hotel with its restaurant, conference center and bowling alley is a popular attraction.
Vedum
Vedum has a preschool, school, senior living, branch library, sports hall and more. It also has a vibrant town center with bakery, pizzeria and a number of other stores. Vedum is renowned nationally for its kitchen and bathroom manufacturing.
Stora Levene
Levene’s services include a preschool, school, grocery store, café, sports hall and bathing area. The area is also home to a number of companies and industries, the biggest of which is the sawmill. Popular places of interest include the Levene Äng nature reserve with its burial ground, and the rune stone at Levene Church.
Arentorp
Arentorp has a preschool for ages 1–5 years, an elementary school up to grade 6 and an after-school center. The school is beautifully situated with the forest and the plains right outside the door.
Tråvad
The River Lidan adds character to the village of Tråvad. There’s a bathing and leisure facility with locker rooms, showers, a kiosk and barbecue facilities. Tråvad has a preschool for ages 1–5 years, an elementary school up to grade 3 and an after-school center. There are several important industrial companies.
Jung
Jung has a preschool for ages 1–5 years, an elementary school up to grade 3 and an after-school center. The open, flat landscape is characteristic of the area. It’s also home to the municipality’s biggest industrial company.
Emtunga
Emtunga is located just outside Vara and there is a footpath and cycle track between the two towns. Emtunga is home to Önum’s independent school with a preschool for ages 1–5 years and an elementary school up to grade 5. The Mossbrott sports field is also within biking distance from the community.
Moving here
Moving to Vara
New, attractive homes are being created all the time in Vara. With the open, flat landscape right outside the window you’re bound to find your dream location. There’s a whole range of housing options from rural farms to single-family homes, or apartment buildings in older or more modern designs in the towns and villages.
It’s possible to build homes in all of the towns in Vara municipality. Demand for housing is greatest in Vara, the regional center. Lassagården, a new subdivision for about 400 single-family and multi-family homes is currently under construction in the north-east part of Vara. A new subdivision known as Håkan-Månsgården is planned for Southwest Vara, and by 2030 there will be space for around 1,000 new homes of various designs and forms of tenure.
Jobs
Working in Vara
Vara is bubbling with entrepreneurial spirit and its business community is greater than that of most of Sweden’s small municipalities. Manufacturing, construction and trading companies work alongside traditional agriculture and acclaimed design companies. People naturally have broader horizons in our open, flat landscape, and can see past problems and obstacles. Vara is bold!
Even if you don’t live in Vara, there are great conditions for working here. There’s excellent commuting to and from Lidköping, Skara, Trollhättan, Vänersborg and also to Herrljunga, Alingsås and Gothenburg. The railroad stations in Vara and Vedum enable commuting by public transit.
The biggest industries in Vara are manufacturing, commerce, business services and agriculture.
Make your dream come true in the countryside
For those driven enthusiasts who dare to invest in their ideas, Vara is a place where dreams and projects can come to fruition. It’s possible to get funding through Leader Nordvästra Skaraborg for projects that provide a boost for life in the countryside and foster local development.
If you’re dreaming of things like becoming a culinary maestro, running a country bed and breakfast or starting a pottery in the barn, then Vara
Starting and setting up a company
If you’re looking to start your own business in Skaraborg, you’ll soon notice that there are a number of organizations whose entire purpose is to make things easier for you and other new entrepreneurs. New Entrepreneur Center Skaraborg offers free advice for people who need to air their ideas and thoughts, while Coompanion supports people who are curious about starting a cooperative company.
Education
Schools in Vara
Vara municipality has preschools, elementary schools and high schools under both municipal and independent direction. Many of the schools are located in beautiful natural settings close to forests that invite outdoor education, weather permitting.
Preschools
Many of the municipality’s towns have their own preschools. In all, there are seven municipal and five independent preschools.
Open preschools
Educational activities at Gläntan, the municipality’s open preschool, include play and active creation.
Liten & Stor, the Church of Sweden’s preschool, welcomes children and adults for play, song, coffee and a pleasant time together.
Schools, grades 1–9
Vara has nine municipal elementary schools. Schools for the earlier grades are available in several of the municipality’s towns, while those for later grades are located in the town of Vara and Kvänum. All pupils are assigned a school based on the catchment area in which they live. They have the right to choose a different school than the one they belong to, but in this case they must arrange and pay for school transportation themselves, which would otherwise be free.
Lagman’s High School
The high school has all the advantages of a large school but the safe environment of a small school, and there is a great range of good quality education.
The school has ten different programs plus two sports specializations, soccer and ice hockey, for students who want to put extra effort into their sport during their education.
The school has an exciting location right next door to Vara Concert Hall. They share a high-class dining room, a modern auditorium and the joy that throngs of people bring. The high school’s students are also offered free tickets for evening performances on occasions when the concert hall is not fully booked.
The school works closely with the local business community and industry. This provides good opportunities for interesting study visits, internships and contacts for the future. This collaboration enhances their education and for many students, it shortens the path to their first job. Some of the school’s programs guarantee summer jobs for the students.
Local sports profiles
Does your child want to put more effort into soccer or ice hockey? Lagman’s High School sports profiles give students the opportunity to improve their techniques and fundamentals based on their own abilities in order to use them in training and match situations. The focus is on individual development.
Technical college
The high school’s technical program and industrial technology program has received the Teknikcollege quality stamp. Teknikcollege is a cooperation platform where municipalities, education providers and companies work to increase the attractiveness and quality of technically oriented education. Teknikcollege leads to good internships and excellent opportunities for future jobs.
Furthermore, the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries in Vara offer summer jobs to all students in years 1 and 2 in the industrial technology and technical program, an additional advantage.
Academy of Music and Business
The Academy of Music and Business (AMB) is a leading-edge high school education in music that is characterized by unique, comprehensive values. Located in the middle of the fertile Vara Plain, the school is an optimal educational center focused on music, music production and entrepreneurship.
Adult education
Campus Västra Skaraborg
Campus Västra Skaraborg is an adult education operation located in Essunga, Grästorp, Götene, Lidköping and Vara. The school covers elementary and high-school level adult education, Swedish for immigrants, special education for adults, vocational college education and a learning center for college education. The range of programs extends from health and social care, preschool teachers and accountants to bakers, floor-layers and frontend developers.
Vara adult education school
With more than a century under its belt, Vara adult education school is a well-regarded center of learning located in downtown Vara. In addition to the general program, there is the opportunity to train as a radio journalist or a youth leader.
Leisure
Things to do in Vara
The plain surrounding Vara is home to everything from Art Nouveau castles and Sweden’s best patisserie to a renowned concert hall, a brilliantly colored piece of art and proud food producers.
Culture
Everyday culture should not only be accessible to people who live in big cities. In Vara, you’re never far away from art and the performing arts. It has Skaraborg’s biggest concert hall and its most spectacular works of art.
Vara Concert Hall
The concert hall in Vara stages almost 200 concerts and performances every year. It has a broad repertoire that includes everything from pop and rock to dance and family performances. If you live in Vara and environs, our symphonies will give you goose bumps, our jazz butterflies in the stomach, our stand-up will make you roar with laughter and our theater will bring a tear to your eye.
See the latest program at varakonserthus.se (in Swedish)
The Blue Orange – Vara train station
No one who gets off the train at Vara station can fail to notice the station building; it’s designed to stand out and demand attention. Since 2012, the station building has been a work of art that goes by the name of The Blue Orange. It was created by the German artist Katharina Grosse, whose special interest is colors and the way they interact with each other and the beholder. She has painted the old station building bright blue – from the top of the roof to its foundations – and placed five huge sculptures on the roof in all the colors of the rainbow. Here’s where art meets everyday life!
You can read more about the artwork here The Blue Orange.
Cultural heritage sites on the Vara Plain
There are many cultural heritage sites on the Vara Plain that are worth a visit.
- One of Sweden’s strangest rune stones – Sparlösastenen
- One of Sweden’s tallest rune stones – Levenestenen (in Swedish)
- Huttla kvarn (in Swedish)
- Levene äng (in Swedish)
- Bastöna gammelgård
Leisure
Vara has a popular indoor pool, a movie theater, a concert hall with an extensive repertoire and the opportunity for authentic small-town shopping with the local shopkeepers. If you’re looking for active leisure pastimes, the Vara Plain offers excellent hiking, cycling, walking and golf. You’re never far from nature and there are five nature reserves in the municipality. The area has many proud food producers and farm shops. A variety of events is organized every year on the plain, everything from tractor races to culinary handicraft safaris. Thanks to our thriving associations, there are also opportunities to take part in many different activities and sports.
Clubs and associations
The Vara Plain has a long tradition of clubs and associations. There are very active associations in many places in the municipality, and they contribute to the development of the area and create a living countryside. They not only contribute to activities that you can take part in as a resident, but they also provide the opportunity to get involved and discover local contexts. The Vara Plain has everything from rural cultural societies and common interest associations to theater, choirs, scouts and motor clubs.
The municipality also has many different sports associations and clubs. Popular sports include soccer, floorball, mountain biking, horseback riding and orienteering. There’s even a newly formed cricket club.
Vara indoor and outdoor pools
There is a popular indoor pool in Vara that offers both adventure and relaxation. There’s something for all the senses; an exercise pool, an adventure pool, a jacuzzi, a children’s pool and a sauna. The indoor pool also hosts activities such as a swimming school, water gymnastics, baby swimming school and more.
Nästegård’s pool in Kvänum
Kvänum is also home to Nästegård’s pool, a small wellness center for the whole family. The center has a nice pool with activities for all ages.
Vara outdoor pool
In the summer, you can visit the outdoor pool in the center of town. The outdoor pool is a 15,000 square meter swimming facility in downtown Vara with a 25-meter pool, a children’s pool and three water slides. The facility has large grass areas, a playground and a large sand surface for soccer or volleyball.
Hiking, cycling, walking and golf
There are many opportunities to stay active around the Vara Plain.
- Vara-Bjertorp Golf Club
- Rösjö mosse (walking and hiking)
- Hjortemossen in Tumleberg (walking, hiking and MTB)
- Levene äng (walking and hiking)
- Oltorp’s outdoor recreation area (sports facility, disc golf, MTB, tennis)
- Hedensborg in Larv (exercise facility)
- Almesåsens outdoor recreation area in Ryda (exercise facility)
- Nordvalla in Vedum (exercise facility)
Hiking, cycling, walking and golf on the Vara Plain (in Swedish).
Outdoor activities
In Vara, you’re never far from nature. Our municipality is characterized by the great Västgöta Plain, a fully cultivated countryside with large, contiguous croplands. There are five nature reserves in the municipality with a total area of 690 hectares. For people interested in history, there are also many well-preserved cultural landscapes and remains that bear witness to bygone times and a long history of cultivation.
Nature reserves in Vara municipality:
- Ranahult
- Levene äng
- Rösjö mosse
- Löjtnantsholm
- Skallstadens domänreservat
Retail
In the small town of Vara you can shop and eat with the local traders. You can get hold of most things here in a pleasant atmosphere and with good service. In Vara, the stores cooperate through their local association, Köpmännen i Vara Småstad. They arrange activities several times a year that you and all the family can take part in, such as the spring and fall markets and traditional Christmas displays.
Click here to find out what Vara small town has to offer (in Swedish).
The villages of Vedum, Kvänum and Stora Levene also have centers where you can shop and eat.
Food & beverages
Vara is West Sweden’s breadbasket, with many proud food producers and farm shops. It’s home to e.g. Sivans , which offers well-aged Swedish cheese and amusing trimmings. The Vara Plain is also home to Qvänum mat & malt wich has a passion for creating artisanal beverages made from local produce in its own brewery and distillery.
Restaurants
The Vara Plain is also the location of Bjertorp slott – Sweden’s youngest Art Nouveau castle. It has individually designed rooms with historical connections, and the restaurant serves food and coffee from the luxurious castle kitchen.
More restaurants on the Vara Plain:
Cafés
Nowhere but Vara can you enjoy delicious fika in such luxury. It’s home to the venerable Conditori Nordpolen, famous for its fantastic pastries and delicious sandwiches and named Sweden’s best patisserie by White Guide Café. It’s a place where classics such as Budapest Rolls and Napoleon pastries mix with modern flavors and trends in the form of mousses and smoothies. They also have a stone oven bakery where you can buy good bread and salads.
Stora Levene is also the location for the charming 1950s café Conditori Lifweni (in Swedish).
Events
A variety of events is organized every year on the plain, everything from evening sing-alongs, art exhibitions to culture walks and tractor races.
Culinary Handicraft Safari Every year during the first weekend in May and September, a Culinary Handicraft Safari is organized at the Vara Plain and environs. Farm shops bundle their businesses with local inns and restaurants to jointly create a glorious event that showcases the grandeur and diversity of the local countryside’s food culture and tourism.
Embark on a culinary voyage of discovery and be inspired by all things delicious!
Strawberry Day
The weekend after Midsummer is always Vara’s very own town festival. A popular event centered around the strawberry, a high festive atmosphere and loads of activities for both young and old alike – all with free admission!
Read more about Strawberry Day (in Swedish).
Library
There are three libraries in Vara municipality. The one in the town of Vara is the municipality’s main library. It carries books, newspapers, periodicals, audio books, movies, computer games and computers – a wide range to choose from. The libraries in Kvänum and Vedum also have a large selection to choose from.
What to do in Vara
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