If you are interested in Industrial History, the Engelsbergs Bruk in Central Sweden is a place you shouldn't miss visiting. Visiting the location of the Engelsberg bruk is for free, and you'll be able to see the ironworks from the outside. Unfortunately part of this UNESCO World Heritage Site is not accessible without taking the guided tour, and you can only see the buildings from a longer distance. This how I saw Engelbergs bruk at first and my disappointment with the place was enormous. But now comes the good news........ Upon leaving this historical site we discovered that a guided tour was just about to start, and that was an opportunity we didn't want to miss!!! The guided tour opens up all those closed doors and let you take a look inside these buildings bringing you up close with the history of this area. You are able to walk around in and see the blacksmith’s forge and also the...
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Färnebofjärden National Park
by sim1
Färnebofjärden is a National Park that protects a stretch of the Lower Dalälven River running from the city of Avesta to the Bothnian Sea. Water is the main feature of this park and water is what you will see here. Flooded areas, wetlands, streams and lakes, and of course wildlife, birds, forests and flowers. But mainly water.......... a beautiful sight to see, but it makes the area rather hard to access. The best way to enjoy Färnebofjärden would probably be by boat (which you can rent in the area), or by hiking on the edges of the park. I arrived late afternoon at the park, very early in the season, with no people around yet. We were allowed to put up our little tent on the beach (an advantage of travelling off season), from where we had the most beautiful views over the waters of the Dalälven and Färnebofjärden National Park. The sun was going down, turning the sky into a work of art,...
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Västerås
by sim1
Västerås is a big city, with about 125.000 inhabitants, which makes it one of the top 10 cities of Sweden. Västerås is also one of Sweden's oldest cities, dating back to the end of the 1200's. Today Västerås is a modern industrial city, but it has some places really worth while to visit. The location of Västerås is great, with the river Svartån flowing through its city centre, and situated right at the shore of Lake Mälaren. Lake Mälaren is a beautiful lake with many islands, and it is no wonder that Västerås has a busy harbour with lots of recreational boats. The city has some nice places to visit: a beautiful park (Djäkneberget), interesting for the many boulders with inscriptions. Besides that you have to go to the old part of town with historical houses at Kyrkbacken and last but not least the Cathedral of Västerås, a must see when you visit the city. You can read much more about...
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Västerås, Kyrkbacken (the old town)
by sim1
This is one of the little streets in an area called Kyrkbacken and my favourite area of Västerås. In this part of the city you can see the oldest buildings of Västerås. The timber houses date back to the 18th Century.IIt's fun to walk around in Kyrkbacken and just wander around through the winding streets of this old part of town. Kyrkbacken is not far from the city centre, it is just behind the cathedral, so it's not hard to find. Although the houses are old, it's not a museum; it still is a 'living' part of the city. But it does give a good impression of what life in town looked like a couple of centuries ago. The houses are small and low, the plank fences, the narrow streets, and the greenery gives you an idea how a medieval Swedish city must have looked like. All the old the houses have signs on them telling their history, and this makes it easier to imagine what life in those days...
Västerås, Djäkneberget
by sim1
Not far from the city centre is a park called Djäkneberget. Djäkneberget is a hill and lays just a couple of hundred meters to the west of the cathedral and the town square. In former times the park was used as a meeting point by the students ("Djäkne" is an old word for student) and that is how this park came to be.The park is really nice and you have a nice view over parts of Västerås from here. But thing I liked most about the park are these boulders with inscriptions. This boulder is in memory of Sam Lidman who is responsible for more than 500 of these inscriptions in the park. It’s great to read the various inscriptions on the boulders and think about what they mean. You need a Swedish guide though, hahaha, as most of the inscriptions are in Swedish. Luckily I had someone with me to translate it all for me :-)Some of the boulders just contain a name of a historic person, but other...
Norberg: for some delicious cake :-)
by sim1
Norberg is a quiet little town, not so much to see and do, but still nice. So why write a tip about it? That is because it has one famous place in the centre of town and that is its pastry.shop: Elsa Andersons Konditori! The pastry-shop is housed in a beautiful,well-preserved 18th century building, which makes it look picturesque, but the most important thing is the cakes! Their speciality is the "Tangotårta”, but don't hesitate to try something else: it all tastes delicious :-) As this is such a popular place it can get busy here. But if you have some patience it is a perfect place to make a stop and enjoy a cup of coffee with delcious cake. Norberg itself is quite old (from the 12th century) and it was Sweden's most important source of iron during the 14th century and onwards. There is a little bit left of the old Norberg and it is quite picturesque. So after your cake don't forget to...
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The locks of Hallstahammar
by sim1
Just north of Strömsholm and west of Västerås you will pass the town of Hallstahammar. Along road 252 northbound you will pass an area called "Skantzen". And Skantzen is a nice place to stop along the way up north (I wouldn't make a detour to visit it though!). In this little area you can get a bit of a feel of the history of the Strömsholm Canal, which was a very important canal at its time. It's quite lovely to make a short stroll along the canal, look at the locks and maybe even visit the little museum. Coffee is being served in the 'mekanikus' house, the old director's residence. On the other side of the canal is a campground, which is conveniently located for the ones that are travelling through this area. It is quite a popular campground for the Swedes though, so I have a feeling that it can get quite busy here at certain times of the year. Also worth mentioning is the big...
Engsö Castle
by sim1
I went to Engsö Castle on a rainy day.... sigh... I wish there had been some sunshine, because the area around Engsö castle is a beautiful area to hike. But it was the last day of the season to visit the castle, so I didn't have many options in choosing a better day. My best memory of Engsö is actually not the castle, but the kitchen! Hahaha, it's true! If you visit the castle you certainly must go to the little restaurant to have a cup of coffee and some cake or kanelbulle like I had. Mmmmm, the kanelbulle was still warm and in the kitchen it smelled like delicious fresh baked waffles. Yummy! Okay, back to the castle.... The oldest parts of the castle are from the 1480's. There are no guided tours though, so you have to go explore the castle by yourself. I bought a guidebook in English, which told me a lot about the history of the castle, but not much about the interior of the castle...
Strömsholm Castle
by sim1
In this picture you can see Strömsholm. I only had a chance to look at the castle from the outside. But it looked great and I hope to visit the palace in the near future!Strömholm is located on the largest of three islands in the Kolbäckså river delta at Lake Mälaren. This is about 20 km to the southwest of Västerås. The area of Strömsholm is well known for its horses and that has been so for a very long time. The start of Strömsholm castle has actually everything to do with horses: King Gustav Vasa ran a stud-farm on the property during the 1500's and in 1560 the first permanent house was build on this location. The current castle was built between 1669 and 1681 for Queen Hedvig Eleonare.Strömsholm palace is one of the countries best examples of French Baroque. The Palace has royal interiors that are well preserved. So as you can understand, I am really eager to go here again, and have...
Asköviken Naturreservat
by sim1
The last tip I want to write about this road from Rytterne to Västerås is about Asköviken Nature Reserve. Asköviken is located on the shore of Lake Mälaren and it is one of the best bird watching sites of Sweden. There area extensive marshes on this part of the lake. There are several hiking trails going through this area. One of the places you have to go to is the ancient fortification, west of Tidö Castle on Stensjöberget, which offers some beautiful views.You can read more about the Asköviken Nature Reserve on this website : http://www.internat.naturvardsverket.se/index.php3?main=/documents/nature/eramsar/omraden/asko_e.htm
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