Sweden Travel Guide

Being the largest of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden has alot to offer of both cultural and outdoor activities. Visit the cities and explore the country's glorious past or the life in a cosmopolitan and modern society. If you need rest from the hectic city life, just leave for the countryside, and vast forests, 90000 lakes, mountains and the long diverse coastline await you.

Though on the outskirts of Europe, Sweden was never a cultural outpost. The reigning royalty often invited foreign artists to their courts and also stimulated the development of local artists. Furthermore the Swedish developed their own traditions in design, painting and architecture. Gothenburg city hall was a widely followed example of traditionalistic architecture.

The four largest cities Stockholm, Norrköping/Linköping Twin Cities, Gothenburg, and Malmö display different characteristics. Stockholm, the capital, is beautiful, hi-tech oriented and rich in historical heritage.

Near to Stockholm you find the historical city of Uppsala as well as Birka, Nyköping and Sigtuna. A classic venture is to go by old-time steam-ship through Göta Kanal (the Blue Ribbon of Sweden) which connects Gothenburg with Stockholm.

The Göta Kanal carries both private boats and cruises through the central plains and valleys of Sweden known for its medieval history as well as its modern history of aviation and electronics. The City of Linköping is home to SAAB Aerospace and boasts the origins of the mainframe computer. Its University of over 28,000 students is best known for computer engineering, modelling and simulation technologies. Together with its neighbor Norrköping, these two cities make up Sweden's fourth largest city region of over 250,000 inhabitants.

In the south the more industrial Gothenburg at the western "front side" of Sweden is the industrial heart of the country. The city is dominated by the large international port. Malmö in the south is cosier and has a more common touch. This city is an easy daytrip from Copenhagen in Denmark.

Sweden's great and vastly unspoiled nature is very diverse and offers you new and unexpected beautiful views every time you visit it again. The south has warm and sandy beaches, an open rural landscape with beautiful manors and patches of woods. In the central part, the coast is dominated by thousands of small islands, the skerries, consisting of more or less bare rocks carved and polished by the latest glaciation. The landscape becomes more and more dominated by the woods, spotted with many lakes and smaller agricultural areas. The further to the north you move, the more the woods take over. Skerries give you the impression of travelling through a chain of lakes all the way to the Finnish border, as you move along the coast. The rivers become greater, the forests darker, the people fewer in the north. Close to the Norwegian border, the mountains get higher and rougher. Lappland in the northwest, north of the polar circle, lets you experience the emptiness of polar tundra in alpine environment.

Sweden became rich and powerful thanks to its great natural resources, the iron ore mines in the far north and in the central part, the forestry-based industry and cheap electricity from water power. Today, the country is in the frontline of IT development and infrastructure.