User:PrinceGloria/Västerort, Solna and Sundbyberg





Västerort [ˈvɛstərˈuʈ] is the western part of Stockholm municipality, extending far from the inner city, nearly encircling the autonomous towns Solna [ˈsoːlˈna] and Sundbyberg, just north of the Vasastan and Östermalm districts of inner Stockholm. Bromma is connected by bridges to the inner-city island Kungsholmen in the east, as well as Ekerö in the south-west. The municipalities further north of those are covered in our guide to Stockholm's northern suburbs.

Understand
For centuries, men of wealth and power have built themselves palaces and manors west of Stockholm. Most of them remain as conference facilities. During the 20th century, the area transformed from farms to suburbs, as rail, subway and light-rail lines were drawn. While Bromma and Spånga [ˈspɔŋˈa] are affluent garden cities, the areas of Järvafältet [ˈjærvaˈfɛltət] (Rinkeby, Tensta, Hjulsta) were built as part of the Million Project in 1960s and 1970s, at the subway, to provide low-cost housing. On the west coast of the lake, Blackeberg [blakəˈbærj] is a typical modernist suburb, known for the vampire film Let The Right One In. Vällingby [ˈveliŋˈbyː], built in 1954 as one of the world's first planned multi-functional suburbs, became an icon of the Swedish welfare state. Much due to successful co-operation between phone company Ericsson and telecom operator Telia, the Kista [ˈɕiːsta] area is a flourishing high-tech cluster, rivalling central Stockholm as the main business district.

Solna and Sundbyberg grew along the rail lines, with rectangular city blocks as well as modernist apartment rows. With the Karolinska Institute, famous for selecting the Nobel Prize laureates in medicine, Solna is a centre for health science and biotechnology. Solna also contains the royal park Hagaparken, and no less than three Royal Palaces.



Get in/Get around
Stockholm-Bromma airport (BMA) is primarily for short-range flights. See Stockholm for transit between the airport and central Stockholm.

Public transport covers most of the region. See Stockholm.


 * Tvärbanan [ˈtvæːrˈbɑːnan] is a light rail line connecting Alvik to Söderort. The ride across lake Mälaren is very scenic.


 * Nockebybanan connects the district of Nockeby to Alvik on the green line of the Tunnelbana. The buses heading to Drottningholm Palace call at Nockeby (although in practice, taking the bus from Brommaplan on the green line of the Tunnelbana is more efficient) as well as passing through the quaint garden-city of Bromma.

While the suburbs are exempt from congestion tax, the bridge to central Stockholm, Tranebergsbron and the road connections between Solna and inner Stockholm have toll stations. See Stockholm.

See
















Do

 * Several beaches for open-water swimming, especially at Hässelby.
 * Several beaches for open-water swimming, especially at Hässelby.
 * Several beaches for open-water swimming, especially at Hässelby.


 * Fishing is allowed in Lake Mälaren, prohibited in smaller waters.


 * Brommapojkarna plays their home games at Grimsta IP, Bromma (T Blackeberg). Brommapojkarna advanced to the top league in 2009.





Buy




Eat
The suburban centres have low-end diners.

Splurge








Drink
As most residents venture to central Stockholm for nightlife, the suburbs mostly contain local hangouts and hotel bars. A few places beyond the usual are:



As most residents venture to central Stockholm for nightlife, the suburbs mostly contain local hangouts and hotel bars.




 * Several sport bars in Solna around the dismantled Råsunda Stadium.

Budget






Mid-range








Splurge