From Wikitravel

Västerås [1](pronounced roughly Vester-ohs) is in the southern part of central Sweden.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 9 Sleep 10 Get out

Understand

Västerås is by Swedish standards a large city, with about 130.000 inhabitants (100,000 in the city proper), which makes it the sixth largest city of Sweden. Västerås is also one of Sweden's older cities, being established in the 1240s or earlier.

The city name is derived from Västra (west) Aros (old Swedish name for river mouth). The small river (creek) is the Black River crossing the city and opening to Lake Mälaren.

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. Unfortunately 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.

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

Get in

• By Västerås airport (just 4 miles/6km from the centre) using Ryanair from London Luton or using SAS from their hub at Copenhagen. A town bus (941) connects with Ryanair flights.

• By Stockholm Arlanda airport, then by bus (501) to Västerås.

• By Skavsta airport using Ryanair

• By train. Train station 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 is really small. Walk.

• The suburbs by bus or car.

• By bicycle. Västerås is famous for it's cycle paths, 340 km of asphalt only for bicycling.

See

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. This is one of the larger industrial cities in provincial Sweden, situated 110km to the west of the capital.

If you are spending a day in Västerås we recommend that you start at the train station, and then walk through the Vasa Park, to the Museum of Art. Then continue to the Turbine House, which is one of Sweden’s first power plants, constructed in 1890 by ASEA. From here you can view the castle, famous for the Parliamentary decision of 1527 when King Gustav Wasa abolished Catholicism in Sweden, and by that made Sweden a protestant country. The Västerås castle was originally erected around 1200, but what is seen of the castle today was built by Gustav Vasa mid 1500. The castle is a rather ugly building clearly meant for defence and not to impress by look. Currently the castle is closed for repairs.

Later on you may want to follow Svartån creek northwards to the older parts of Västerås, where you also find the old Cathedral dating back to the 13th century. The cathedral is definitely worth a visit. The oldest parts of the cathedral was built around 1200. The oldest son of Gustav Vasa, Erik XIV is buried in the church. Erik XIV is mostly famous because he was killed by poisoned pea soup. Summertime appointments for guided tours can be made between 11 am and 1 pm at the tourist office. A stone’s throw from the Cathedral is Church Hill (Kyrkbacken), is the only major part of central Västerås not destroyed by building programs of the 1960s. Really nice surroundings, where you can walk on the small and winding lanes and look at some of the oldest buildings in Västerås and, if you like, visit local arts and crafts shops.

Anundshög a few kilometers west of Västerås is a nice place for a picnic in the summer. Anundshög is a ancient burial mound, 14 metres high and 60 metres across, the largest in Sweden. Next to the mound there is two big stone-ships. Take bus 40 towards Tortuna or go by car.

Do

If you like music you should try the jazz club Village or the new concert hall (tickets at Västerås tourist office).

ArosFortet is a indoor adventure facility challenging creativity and cooperation in group exercises. From city centre follow Kopparbergsvägen to the north, cross E18, then on the righthand side (about 2 km walking distance from city centre)

There is a quite new bowling facility with a restaurant on Torgatan 1 in the city centre. Book in advance specially Friday and Saturday evenings.

Kristiansborgsbadet is a bathing facility with traditional 25 m pool and a separate section with moist and dry sauna, and cold bath (Romerskt bad). Recommended.

If you have kids try with Lögarängsbadet west of Västerås (a couple of kilometers).

Buy

Eat

If you have a tight travel budget and also want to avoid famous hamburger chains, try to grab a Kebab with pita bread on restaurant TipTop on the Sigma square. Otherwise choose the vegetarian lasagna at Cafe Gränden, Sturegatan in the city centre.

To Västerås classic and oldest restaurants belong restaurant Stadskällaren, Stora Torget, and Piazza di Spagna on Vasagatan. The latter is worth a visit just to meet the always friendly staff.

Sjökrogen is easy to find if you follow the river all the way down to the lake. It´s a nice place to sit outside, right next to the water. enjoy a good meal or have a drink, just sit in the sun, relax to the view and watch the sailing boats or the small Mälaren Ferries come and go.

Drink

If you're in the mood for a beer then Bishops Arms Pub (between city centre and cathedral) is your choice. They have numerous draft beers and 100s different whiskeys. If you want to contemplate over life, watch the sunset over Västerås and lake Mälaren, and drink a glass of wine then pick the Skybar, at the top of the Skrapan building (Västerås only skyscraper) O´Leary´s, also located in the centre, close to stora torget, has a good selection of draft beers, bar food and a lot of sports on big screen tv. Just around the corner from O´Leary´s You find Pitcher´s another nice Pub. Å, located right on the other side of Svartån from stora torget, close to the big glass building of VLT is a nice cosy place to eat drink and enjoy music.

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 SEK.

Get out

If You walk along the river down to the lake You will find a little ferry port on Your left side. Boats are taking You to some of the island in the Lake such as Elba or Ridö. Nice way to spend a day or a half.

Björnö is our island in the city, it´s easy to find, 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 Winter You can rent skies and skates. My favourite is Ängsö just 15 km out of town. Take E18 West, towards Stockholm till the Airport Exit, from the roundabout there just follow the signs saying "Ängsö". It´s a beautiful island with a little Castle, a church, a small cafe to hang out right by the water and loads of hiking and bike tracks through 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 see, when You´re in town!

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