Linköping

Linköping (pronounced "Linshooping") is Sweden's fifth biggest municipality, and the seat of Östergötland county. It has about 145,000 inhabitants in the municipality, including some countryside, and just under 100,000 in the city proper.

Not to be confused with Lidköping in Västergötland.

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 tall buildings; a result of the military airfield just outside the city.

Linköping countryside makes up Linköping municipality outside the built-up area.

The cathedral in wintry Linköping

Understand

Linköping is the clerical and administrative centre in a rich farmland district, the province and county Östergötland.

The town was founded during the Middle Ages and is therefore one of the oldest cities in Sweden. The cathedral and the castle are two medieval buildings that are still standing.

At the "battle of Stångebro" in 1598, the city fought on the Catholic side and lost. A memorial of the battle is found just outside the city centre. The following "bloodbath of Linköping" in 1600 is remembered with a memorial at the main square.

Linköping has a university and the students are a central part of the city's life day and night.

Tourist office

Get in

By plane
  • Skavsta Airport - Serviced by Ryanair and Wizz Air. Flights to a large number of European cities. Skavsta is located 100 km north-east of Linköping. A shuttle bus (90 min) overland link between central Linköping and Skavsta airport. Departs from the Resecentrum.
  • Linköping City Airport - Serviced by KLM. Flights to Amsterdam. There are no shuttles between the airport and the Resecentrum so you must take a taxi from the airport.

By train

The 🌍 Linköping Central Station (Resecentrum) lies less than ten minutes walk from the center of the town. SJ train journeys from Stockholm can take as little as 100 minutes and cost as little as 95 kr.

By bus

Long-distance buses leave from Fjärrbussterminalen, which is about 400 m north of the Resecentrum, past where the local buses are departing. It's on the same side of the road as the train station.

By car
  • 200 km south of Stockholm on the E4. Very good road (2-hr drive).
  • 45 km south of Norrköping on the E4. Very good road (30-min drive).
  • 450 km north of Malmö/Copenhagen on the E4. Very good road (5-hr drive).

Get around

By bus

All bus lines originate at Resecentrum. You'll also find a reception desk there where you can find timetables or get help. The local bus company is called Östgötatrafiken. They also run the buses and trains in the rest of Östergötland and is the cheapest way to get around.

It's not possible to pay cash for a ticket on the bus. You can get ticket in Quickomats, some stores and at the Resecentrum. It's also possible to buy an SMS-ticket. The ticket is valid for a limited time (usually 1 hour) so you can use the same ticket for more than 1 trip.

You can also buy a bus card. It is a RFID card and you can load money in it. The advantage is that each trip fare is cheaper than the normal fare. Tickets and fare information.

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.

Bike

Linköping was named the 'Swedish biking city of the year' in 2002. Most students use bikes to get around and it is recommended you get one if your stay is extended. When you have a bike, the special bike map might be useful. There are also recommended routes available for those who want to combine nature with tourist sights. Paper versions are available at the tourist information office and in bike shops.

See
Saint Lars' Church in the city centre
  • 🌍 Linköping Castle, Borggården, S:t Persgatan 3B, ☎ +46 13-12 23 80. From the 13th century, this 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 museum.  
  • 🌍 Linköping Cathedral. The first church was built on this site in the 12th century, and was expanded regularly over the following centuries, culminating on the 19th-century tower. Linköping is said to have had the first Christian bishop in Sweden, in a time when Lund was Danish and Uppsala was pagan. 
  • 🌍 Stadshuset (City Hall), Storgatan 43. It was built 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. 
  • Public buildings. Around the hill crest are the public library, the administrative buildings for the diocese, the bishop's residence, and the sports house gymnastikhuset, 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).

Museums
  • 🌍 Gamla Linköping and Valla fritidsområde (Old Linköping), Tunnbindaregatan 1, ☎ +46 13-12 11 10. An open-air museum, west of the city centre. Beautiful buildings once in the centre of Linköping have been saved from demolishion and moved to this area to make its own little town. Here you can practically enjoy life of Linköping in the 19th century. The citizens of Linköping enjoy taking part of the life and you can see people actually dressed up and working as citizens of Gamla Linköping. Also remember to buy locally produced chocolate and candy to reduced prices. In total the areas have some 20 museums. 
  • 🌍 IT-ceum, Östergötlands museum, Raoul Wallenbergs plats, ☎ +46 70-100 98 86. A computer and computing museum in Mjärdevi Science Park where you will find many of Linköping's IT companies. The museum covers both ancient Swedish computers and more current events, such as the demo scene with its realtime multimedia productions. The exhibitions describe both the technical and the social aspects of computing. The museum's signs are in Swedish and in English. Free. 
  • 🌍 Linköpings Slotts- & Domkyrkomuseum (Castle and Cathedral Museum), Karl Dahlgrensgatan 13, ☎ +46 13-12 23 80. A museum that shows the town's history as a seat for bishops since the 12th century. Inside the castle. 
  • 🌍 Swedish Air Force Museum (Flygvapenmuseum), Carl Cederströms gata 2, ☎ +46 13-495 97 00. The in the suburb of Malmen features over a hundred aircraft from the early 20th century to the modern age. 
  • 🌍 Östergötlands länsmuseum (Östergötland County Museum), Raoul Wallenbergs plats, ☎ +46 13-23 03 00. A museum showing the history of the province. It also houses a large art collection with both old and contemporary art. 

Do

Learn
  • 🌍 Linköping University (LiU). Founded in 1969, its main "Campus Valla" is 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 was started by students in Linköping. 

Buy

Eat

Most restaurants in the city offer a restricted choice Saturday Shopping Lunch between 12:00-15:00 for around 80 kr which can be a good way to try out new restaurants. Lunch from Monday-Friday is often cheaper.

  • 🌍 Bosses Glassbar, Platensgatan 3. Closed during the winter. A unique hole-in-the-wall ice cream shop selling fresh ice cream. Long lines form outside on hot summer days. 

Budget
  • 🌍 NiHao, S:t Larsgatan 12. Asian food close to the train station. Mains 65-115 kr. 
  • 🌍 Stångebro Gatukök, Tanneforsvägen 92 (opposite Scandic Linköping City, at the roundabout near Norrköpingsvägen), ☎ +46 13 13 47 04. 11:30-22:00. Great burger place. 80 kr (burger with the lot, with chips and a drink). 
  • 🌍 Taste of Thai, S:t Larsgatan 25A, ☎ +46 13-13 18 88. Good spicy Thai food. No alcoholic drinks. Mains 95-150 kr, Lunch 60 kr. 
  • 🌍 Wokaway, Nygatan 22, ☎ +46 13-13 13 38. Cheap Thai food for taking away or eating in. Mains 45-100 kr. 

Mid-range

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.

  • 🌍 Wayne's coffee, Nygatan 20. 
  • 🌍 Cafe Berget, Klostergatan 38. Quaint, old-fashioned cafe on small hill in the city centre (updated Apr 2019)
  • 🌍 Babettes, Stora badstugatan 4, ☎ +46 13-12 55 00, e-mail: . Cafe with a cultural focus. Good vegetarian selection. Family friendly. Art exhibitions. Sometimes offer poetry nights and performing musicians. Hugely popular (and crowded) Saturday brunch. (updated Apr 2019)

Alcohol

Linköping boasts several bars. Most of them are found in the central parts of the city around the cathedral. Among the most popular are:

To get informed about any entertainment or cultural events in town, such as the occasional live band, you pick up the free Nolltretton and Corren Fredag magazines (only available in Swedish) or check www.lkpg.nu . You can also check the billboard on Lilla Torget where the arrangers post their flyers.

The students have their own places to go to, for instance Herrgår'n in the Ryd area, Flamman or Nationernas Hus next door to the Cathedral in central Linköping. You have to be a university student (including foreign universities) or the guest of a student at Linköping University, to get in.

Systembolaget

Systembolaget is the state-owned monopoly liquor store. This is where you go if you want to buy a bottle of wine or spirits or beer stronger than approx. 3% alcohol which you can find in supermarkets.

Sleep

Budget

Mid-range
  • 🌍 Best Western Hotel, Hantverkaregatan 1, ☎ +46 13-12 90 00. Single rooms: Su-Th 795 kr, F Sa 610 kr. Basic hotel at Stora Torget (Big Square). 
  • 🌍 Hotell Östergyllen, Hamngatan 2. Good, cheap, and close to the railway station. Single rooms from 425 kr, double rooms from 620 kr. Not all rooms have bathrooms in the room. 
  • 🌍 Stångå Hotell, Tullgränd 4, ☎ +46 13-31 12 75. A family-owned hotel with good service and prices that suites everyone, close to the railway station. Single rooms from 845 kr, double rooms from 995 kr (weekdays). Single rooms from 645 kr, double rooms from 795 kr (weekends). 
  • 🌍 Park Hotel, Järnvägsgatan 6 (next to the railway station), ☎ +46 13-12 90 05. Single rooms from 550 kr, double from 750 kr. 


Connect
  • SITE Cybercafé, Sturegatan 3. 15 SEK per hour.
  • Sidewalk Express, Railway station. 19 SEK per hour.
  • Public Library, price: free, but time is limited. (to what extent, unknown for the moment)

Go next

The River Stångån ends in Lake Roxen a few kilometers north of the city. The river is also part of Kinda canal with a system of 19th century locks that allow scenic boat trips through other lakes further south. Lake Roxen is also part of Göta canal, dug in the 1810s to connect the Baltic Sea with the Atlantic at Gothenburg. A remarkable sight is Bergs slussar (the locks at Berg), a sequence of six locks on Roxen's western shore, about 10 km north of Linköping.

Ekenäs Castle at Ringstorp, east of Linköping, is a 17th-century Renaissance castle, situated on a cliff by lake Teden. Its three towers rises high above the lake. Guided tours during the summer months and in the autumn ghost walks are offered both day and night.

The Cloetta chocolate factory in Ljungsbro, North of Linköping. You can visit the shop and a small museum, but the factory is closed for visitors.

In the nearby city Norrköping you find several museums and shopping facilities.

Nearby historic towns are Vadstena (to the West) and Söderköping (to the East).

For those who like running and exercising take a trip down south to Vidingsjö. It's about 5 km to the south-east, an easy bike ride from the city centre. In Vidingsjö there are marked running tracks (2.5 km, 5 km and 10 km) through the forest, some outdoor exercise equipment, a pizza shop and two other restaurants.

Routes through Linköping

Jönköping ← Mjölby ←  W  E  → Norrköping → Stockholm


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