Söderköping

Söderköping is a town in Östergötland in Sweden, at Göta Canal. The city is an old trading post at Bråviken and is the Baltic Sea's gate to the Göta Canal.

Understand
For tourists, Söderköping's centre and Drothem are the most popular districts, where restaurants, shopping and museums are found. Other districts are Alboga, Skönberga, Hamra, Tyketorp, Egna Hem, Ringvägen and Broby.

The tourist office and information office are at Stinsen, at Söderköping's bus station.

By plane
The nearest airport is Norrköping Airport, which is mostly served by domestic and European flights.

By bus
Bus connections with Östgötatrafiken are available from Norrköping and Valdemarsvik. Söderköping is also served by Swebus lines, including from Kalmar.

By train
Söderköping lacks its own rail connections.

By car
From Linköping with E4 / 210 via Västra Husby, from Norrköping with E22 Söder, and from Valdemarsvik with E22 Norr. In the summer, there are long queues through Söderköping due to the boat lock at the E22 bridge over the Göta Canal, especially on Sunday afternoons and on weekends.

Get around
Söderköping is a very suitable city for pedestrians. In the summer, most inner city streets are closed to car traffic and there are plenty of pedestrian streets. Free parking is available at Kanalen (Kanal Öst and Kanal Väst) and Centrum Syd (summer time only).

Söderköping is an easy city to move around by bike. There are plenty of bike racks around the city, and do-it-yourself service with air pump and oiling is available at several gas stations. By bike you can make excursions along the canal bank. Follow Göta Kanal to Mem at the mouth of Slätbakens, about a mile from Söderköpingsslussen. It is a fairly flat gravel road without car traffic. You can make a stop at Tegelbruket and watch boats lock. Mem is the first lock in the Göta Canal and on the way back you can hitchhike with one of the boats that start their journey there.

See
In Söderköping, there is a strategy to preserve the city's old character. All new houses built inside the city centre should have a look that meets its style. In Old Söderköping you can see many old houses that have been preserved, and on signs get information about the history of the houses.

Buy
Most shops are found on Skönbergagatan or the pedestrian street between Hagatorget and Rådhustorget. Larger outlet stores are found in the Fix area.

Eat
A mandatory stop in Söderköping is the ice cream restaurant Smultronstället, by a canal next to Slussen. Konfekthörnan also has homemade ice cream and is popular with locals such as tourists. The confectionery corner is on the town hall square.

Söderköping has several pizzerias (one on Rådhustorget, one in the Fix area, one on Tycketorp/Ringvägen and one on Skönbergagatan). Several of these also serve Dagens (meal of the day), à la carte, kebabs and salads.

Söderköping has a Thai restaurant on Rådhustorget, where there is also a Chinese restaurant. These are popular and if you want to eat out in the evening, it can be a good idea to pre-book. Both of these restaurants also have take-away.

On the Town Hall Square there is also the tapas bar La Uva.

Stay safe
Söderköping is generally a safe city. However, there are some youth gangs out on warmer evenings, mostly at Ramunderskolan, Bergaskolan or on Ramunderberget. However, these are usually not too messy and rarely move in the middle of the city.

Söderköping has a police station that is open one day a week. In most cases, you can contact the Police Authority in Norrköping.

Söderköping's health centre is across the E22 up at Tyketorp and Nyströmska Skolan from the centre. In most cases, you must make an appointment to see a doctor at the health centre, but minor emergencies are accepted. The nearest hospital is in Norrköping.