Linköping
From World travel guide
Linköping is Swedens fifth biggest municipality. It is located in the northern part of the Götaland region and is the capital of Östergötland county. It has about 135,000 inhabitants in the municipality, including some countryside, and just under 100,000 in the city proper. The city has the advantage of being a major city with all that it entails yet retaining the cozy quiet small town feel, largely due to the lack of high buildings (a result of the military airfield just outside the city).
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Understand
Power: Linköping is the clerical and administrative centre in a rich farmland district, the province and county Östergötland. Its mighty limestone cathedral (Domkyrkan [1]) dates back to the 12th century and Linköping is said to have had the first Christian bishop in Sweden, in a time when Lund was Danish and Uppsala was pagan. The nearby castle (Slottet [2]) was the bishop's residence until the Lutheran reformation in the 16th century. Now it is the residence of the sheriff (landshövding) for Östergötland county. The castle also houses a small museum. The third building next to these is the yellow city hall (stadshuset [3]), which was erected as a secondary school (läroverk) in 1864. Above its entrance is the Latin phrase "Initium sapientie timor Domini" (fear of the Lord is the beginning of all learning). This power triangle is on the crest of a minor hill from which the city's main street (Storgatan) slopes down to the main square (Stortorget) and further down to the bridge (Stångebro) across river Stångån. In its extension, this street was part of the old country road to Norrköping and Stockholm. Situated around the hill crest are the public library, the administrative buildings for the diocese, the bishop's residence, and a sports house (gymnastikhuset [4]) built in 1881. The current library was built in 1998, but the collections of the old cathedral library date back to before Gutenberg. Further north are the concert hall (Konsert & Kongress), the county museum (Östergötlands länsmuseum) next to the Raoul Wallenberg plaza, and two secondary schools (Katedralskolan, Berzeliusskolan). In the "battle of Stångebro" in 1598, the city fought on the Catholic side and lost. A memorial of the following "bloodbath of Linköping" is found outside the city hall.
Travel and Transport: River Stångån ends in lake Roxen a few kilometers north of the city. The river is also part of Kinda kanal with a system of early 19th century locks that allow scenic boat trips through other lakes further south. Lake Roxen is also part of Göta kanal, dug in the 1810s to connect the Baltic Sea with the Atlantic at Göteborg. A remarkable sight is Bergs slussar, a sequence of six locks on Roxen's western shore, about 10 kilometers north of Linköping. Since 1872 Linköping is connected by railroad to Stockholm and Malmö. The railroad was built immediately north of town, which then had 8000 inhabitants. The city has since expanded south, with only a few industries north of the railroad. Linköping has been home to several military regiments. In the 1910s the training grounds at Malmen, west of the city, became a center for pioneers in aviation. In 1937, the government initiated the merger of several smaller industries into SAAB, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, at a new site south-east of the city. Saab's production of military airplanes was the main reason for the city's fenomenal growth from the 1940s through the 1970s. Saab's airstrip is also the the city's civil airport with daily connections to Stockholm and Copenhagen. The military airport at Malmen is also the site of the Swedish Airforce Museum (Flygvapenmuseum, [5]). In 1970 the country road was replaced by a motorway one kilometer north of the railroad, having only three exits into the city. In recent decades a spree of shopping malls (Tornby) have grown around IKEA's store close to the motorway's middle/northern exit. Linköping University ([6] was founded in 1969 and has its main "Campus Valla" west of the city. It is also home to Sweden's National Supercomputing Centre (NSC) and is well connected to the Internet. In 1993 Sweden's first website [7] was started by students in Linköping.
Get in
By plane
- Skavsta Airport - Used by RyanAir. Lies 100km north-east of Linköping. A shuttle bus (90 mins) overland link between central Linköping and Skavsta airport. Departs from the Resecentrum.
- Linköping Airport - Flights almost only to Stockholm, Trollhättan, Göteborg, and Copenhagen.
By train
The Linköping train station (Resecentrum) lies just ten minutes walk from the center of the town.
By car
- 200km south of Stockholm on the E4. Very good road (2h drive).
- 45km south of Norrköping on the E4. Very good road (30 min drive).
- 450km north of Malmö/Copenhagen on the E4. Very good road (5h drive).
Get around
Bus
All buslines originate at Resecentrum. You'll also find a reception desk there where you can find timetables or get help.
Taxi
Taxis are on the expensive side. The meter is used to control the cost but always make sure that this is set when commencing a journey.
See
- The Cathedral. From the 13th century. [8]
- The castle. From the 13th century.
- Gamla Linköping. Valla fritidsområde. Old style town.
Museums
- Gamla Linköping and Valla fritidsområde together have over 20 museums.
- The Swedish Air Force Museum featuring over a hundred aircraft from both world wars.
Do
- Walk around the city.
- Walk around Gamla Linköping.
- Boat trip on the Kinda Kanal.
Buy
- When in Gamla Linköping, visit Kanevad woodshop art.
Eat
Drink
Coffee
There are many nice coffee houses and cafes by the main square and in the central parts of the city. They serve a wide variety of coffee. Sweden and the Swedes are the second highest consumers of coffee per person worldwide. In the past ten years traditional Swedish coffee tradition has been diversified and enriched by Italian and continental European coffee, the result being the caffè latte (the Italian word for Swedish coffee with milk) and a gazillion other forms of coffee.
Alcohol
Linköping boasts several bars, among the most popular are BK, Platen's Bar and Platå, all of them found in the central parts of the city around the cathedral.
Sleep
Hotels
- Good Evening Hotel [9],Hantverkaregatan 1, tel:013-129000 Single rooms: 740SEK, 550SEK Fr-Sa. Basic hotel at Stora Torg (Big Square).
Youth Hostels
STF Hostel Linköping http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/templates/hostel.aspx?id=1659
Get out
Events
External links
- http://www.linkoping.se/ official site.
- http://www.ostgotaporten.com/ tourist information hubsite for the area.
