Västerås

Västerås (pronounced roughly Vester-ohs) is in the southern part of central Sweden.

Understand


Västerås is by Swedish standards a quite large city, with 107,000 inhabitants in the city proper, which makes it Sweden's fifth largest, and a total of about 134,000 inhabitants in the municipality as a whole. Once in Västerås, almost every attraction is well within walking distance or can be reached in no time by public transportation. The city is not very touristy, which could be considered a good thing if you want to see a more "real" picture of Sweden. This is one of the larger industrial cities in provincial Sweden, situated 110 km to the west of the capital. Västerås is also one of Sweden's oldest cities, having been established in the year 990.

The city name is derived from Västra (west) Aros (old Swedish name for river mouth), which relates to the estuary of the small river (creek) "Svartån" (Black River) crossing the city towards Lake Mälaren.

Västerås is known in Sweden as Gurkstaden, i.e Cucumber city. From the 18th century and during the 19th century cucumbers were cultivated in large quantities in Västerås area. It was a type that was well suited for pickling, and it also got the trivial name "Västeråsgurka". According to tradition cucumbers in large quantities were cultivated in the open areas and soil after a great fire in 1741, establishing the nickname and produce.

Bishop Johannes Rudbeckius founded Sweden's first high school (gymnasium) here in 1623.

Västerås has preserved a selection of older buildings, both by the creek and around (and north of) the city's small cathedral. They all give the town a bit of a small town atmosphere. Hundreds of old houses were demolished, roughly between 1950 and 1975, during one of the country's most thorough city modernization projects. There are however several modern buildings of some architectural interest. The downtown area is generally considered to have an "urban" feel, especially around Stora Gatan, mainly because of the skyscraper (nicknamed "Skrapan") with surrounding business, commerce and residential buildings.

Västerås is known for the Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) electrical industries (formerly ASEA).

By plane

 * Stockholm Arlanda Airport between Stockholm and Uppsala. Nettbuss has direct buses from Arlanda to Västerås although not that frequent, so travelling via Uppsala or Stockholm can be an alternative to the direct bus.
 * Skavsta Airport in Nyköping using Ryanair.
 * Skavsta Airport in Nyköping using Ryanair.

By train
is in city centre. The rail operator is SJ.

By bus
Bus station in city centre, next to train station. The main bus operator is Swebus Express.

By car
Main road E18 from Stockholm.

Get around

 * Västerås' city center is really small, so it is quite easy to walk.
 * The suburbs by VL bus or car.
 * By bicycle. Västerås is famous for its cycle paths, 340 km of asphalt only for bicycling.
 * You can rent an electric scooter from several companies (the most popular being Voi, Qick, and Bolt) by-the-minute or get a pass for a specified period of time. Easy to use on the aforementioned bike paths.

By taxi

 * For 100 kr, you cover the town. (Taxi Exact +46 21 170000)
 * Uber
 * Uber
 * Uber

Do

 * Djäkneberget close to the Cathedral has a nice park featuring hundreds of stones with inscriptions (quotes and names of people) from the enigmatic Sam Lidman that founded the park in the 19th century.

Eat


If you have a tight travel budget and also want to avoid famous hamburger chains, try to grab a Kebab on a plate at either Hemdals or Sippan. Otherwise choose the vegetarian lasagna at Cafe Gränden, Sturegatan in the city centre.

Some of the city's most classic and oldest restaurants are restaurant Stadskällaren at the Stora Torget square and Piazza di Spagna on Vasagatan. The latter is worth a visit just to meet the always friendly staff.



Sleep
If you are planning on staying the night and want to experience something slightly different, one of the special hotels by the artist Mikael Genberg is recommended: The Hotel Woodpecker is a single room tree house in the middle of the Wasa Park. The cost per night is around 1000 kr. The same artist is also responsible for a unique one-room hotel in the lake! The bedroom is underwater.



Connect
As of Sept 2021, Västerås has 5G from 3 Tre, and 4G from TeliaSonera and Net4Mobility / Tele2.

Go next
If you walk along the river down to the lake you will find a little ferry port on your left side. Boats take you to some of the islands in the lake such as Elba or Ridö. It's a nice way to spend a day or a half.

Björnö is the city's main island. It's easy to find, as there are signs everywhere. It's connected to the main land with a little bridge. There is a nice beach, walking tracks and the possibility to hire kayaks and other boats at Björnögården. In the winter you can rent skies and skates.

Another really nice island is Ängsö, 15 km out of town. Take E18 West, towards Stockholm till the Airport Exit, from the roundabout just follow the signs saying "Ängsö". It's a beautiful island with a little castle, a church, a small cafe where you sit right by the water, and lots of hiking and bike tracks through the beautiful landscape. There's tons of space to relax on the cliffs by the water all by yourself, have a barbecue or swim. A must, when you're in town!

If you have half a day or so and transportation is arranged, you can visit the silver mine in Sala about 32 km to the north on 67. Just follow the signs to Sala and the "Silvergruvan" is on the left. They give tours each day down into the mine. It's quite an experience for adults and kids.

Eskilstuna is not too far away, with several trains a day leaving from Västerås Centralstation.