Enköping

Enköping is a city in western Uppland in Sweden with about 20,000 inhabitants, branding itself "Sweden's nearest city". It is the seat of Enköping municipality with about 40,000 inhabitants.

Understand
Enköping is located along Enköping stream (Enköpingsån) near its outlet in Lake Mälaren. It is the second largest city in Uppsala County. It is known for its many beautiful parks.

Some of the best preserved Bronze Age rock carvings in Svealand have been found in the Enköping region. During the Viking era the site where Enköping stands today was an important market place. The city was founded in the 13th century and soon became an important trade centre, connecting mining products from the north with Lake Mälaren and Stockholm. In the early 17th century Enköping lost its position as a centre of trade many burgers took to farming instead.

Enköping remained a rather small city of about 1000 inhabitants until the construction of Mälarbanan, a railway which connects Västerås with Stockholm and passes by Enköping, was constructed in 1876. By the end of the 19th century Enköping became a major producer of horseradish. Notable industries which emerged in the city were Bahco, manufacturer of hand tools, and Nordströms linbanor, producers of aerial lifts.

Since 1943 it has been an important military garrison for the Swedish army.

Get in
Enköping is along Mälarbanan which runs several trains from Stockholm and Västerås daily. There are also frequent buses buses to and from Uppsala as well as buses to Strängnäs. Apart from stopping at the railway station the buses also stop in the town centre.

Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (Sigtuna) is 60 km from Enköping.

Highway E18 stretches in a west–east direction north of lake Mälaren and connects Enköping with Stockholm a one-hour drive to the east and Västerås, Örebro, Karlstad and Oslo in the west. The smaller south west-north east road 55 connects Enköping with Uppsala 40 minutes to the north east and Norrköping, 2 hours to the south. Finally, road 70, lead from Enköping towards Borlänge and Idre in Dalarna.



Get around
Central Enköping is walkable. The countryside is best accessed by car.

See
Enköping is famous for the many parks which are scattered around town.

Do
Take a boat trip on lake Mälaren! Four shipping companies run ships from Enköping; Bryggholmen (+46 171-814 80), who run to the island with the same name, Rederi Mälarstaden (+46 21-13 51 71), who run to Grönsöö slott, Sigtuna and Birka, Stromma, who run day trips to Birka, and Arboga Rederi (+46 73-9197584), who offer "shrimp eves" on the ship M/S Tor during summer.

Buy
Several of the old port warehouses by Hamngatan are today craft workshops were you can buy locally produced goods.

Eat
Several local farms including Resta gård (+46 171-46 62 80) outside of the city sell their own products.

Sleep
The nearby castles, including Ekolsunds Slott and Haga Slott, offer lodging.

Go next

 * Uppsala – the largest city in Uppsala County. It was the religious and political centre of Viking era Sweden, and is the home of the oldest university and the tallest cathedral in the Nordic countries.
 * Västerås – is the closest major city. It is easily accessible by train or car.