Linköping City - A City Center filled with experiences
Forget tierd legs, blisters and long transport distances – in Linköping the whole city is very close. In just a few walking steps you will find all the major retail chains, trendy malls, exclusive boutiques, professional specialty shops and culinary paths gathered around pleasant squares and friendly pedestrian streets. Something that we in Linköping are a little extra proud of is that we were named the city center of the year 2018! Linköping is quite simply a wonderful little big city.
We Linköping residents prefer to get around the city on foot or cycling, as we have everything close by. Hotels are located close to restaurants, which are located near shops, which are close to Stångån for strolling with a short walk to the theatre, yes you see the city is all within walking distance.
We all have different purposes to our travels so it is hard to say exactly what you will experience when you come to Linköping, but we can help you along the way to find what interests you more quickly.
Dinner in the city - In Linköping we like to eat out
Dinner in the city offers every option. Here you can find food from every corner of the world - Asian, European food and tapas, steakhouse and traditional Swedish food. But you will have to book a table as we Linköping residents like to eat out. We are particularly proud of our own Östergötland cuisine. Our location on the rich green Östergötland Plain is not only picturesque, it also gives us access to the best possible fresh-grown ingredients. All around Linköping are wide-open plains and deep, dark woods, with a wealth of lakes and waterways. Thanks to all this richness, food producers and restaurants can offer all the best that nature provides.
There are many nice restaurants where we locals like to hang. Are you keen on really good burgers maybe a visit to Flott or Taket would fit? There are also some top choices in TripAdvisor that are all in the city! For example, The Klomp Tavern in Linköping, that is located on St. Larsgatan. The Tavern doesn’t just have a great kitchen but has also been nominated in the White Guide in 2016 as one of Sweden’s best beer experiences! Or Johannes Kök, that is a restaurant for meat lovers. In summer Johannes Kök also has lovely open-air seating in an inner courtyard. You will find it on Apotekaregatan, right by Stora Torget. Several of Linköping’s restaurants are featured in the White Guide, a comprehensive annual list of the best restaurants in Sweden. Here you can find restaurants such as De Klomp, Pappa Grappa, Johannes Kök and Sångs Magasin.
While you’re in Linköping, don’t miss the regional speciality of Östergötland – potato pancakes with pork! "Smaklig måltid" - as we say in Swedish.
Shop until you drop - Exciting shopping in the city
Shop until you drop! Walk the stretch from Magasinstorget up Nygatan. After a few metres you are up on Lilla Torg with the large shopping centre Gränden where one can walk round on two levels. Then stroll on up Nygatan over Trägårdstorget into Tanneforsgatan, onward to Stora Torget where the galleria Filbyter coexists with some small unique boutiques around Bokhållaregatan, Torggatan and Storgatan. This is a hub for FOLK, which stands for Förenade-Oberoende-Lokala-Kreativa, which means United-Independent-Local-Creative, elements which together create a more exciting city.
The stores simply forms a string of pearls from the west to the east of the city center. If you are looking for unique interior design, you can also find many cozy, local shops with the latest trends here!
Cozy Cafés - The traditional Swedish fika
In Sweden we like to "fika". And cozy Cafés are easy to find in Linköping. Top listed cafés in the city on TripAdvisor can be found on Patensgatan and Stora Badstugatan. Plantensgatan – Ammos Café and Crêperie is a little crêperie with fantastic coffee and tasty crêpes which have top ratings on TripAdvisor’s list of restaurants and cafés, on the same street you will also find Bosses Glass. Ask any of us Linköping residents where Bosses Ice Cream can be found and we can tell you. Bosses is a little hole in the wall which succeeds in producing masses of homemade ice cream in all the wonderful flavours you can imagine during the summer months. A must here in Linköping.
On Stora Badstugatan you will find Babettes Kafferi, which isn’t just a fantastic cosy place to have a snack, but has also been honoured with the Nypon culture prize by Lars Winnerbäck himself. Lasse described it in his motivation as a café where music, art and culture can meet in the centre of Linköping. Then we also have Café Chocolad wich offers chocolate and coffee of the highets quality. Both cafés have been recognized by the White Guide - and same goes for Simons Rosteri & Bakery. We really have a lot of "gofika" here in Linköping City!
Linköpings No 1 entertainment spot
Linköping’s No 1 entertainment spot, the area around Stora Torget, Ågatan and onward into Plantensgatan, is where Linköping has collected together a mix of bars, clubs, restaurants and cinema which also are all lined up like a string of pearls. You can feel the evening's puls no matter what day it is. Linköping city really are a gathering place for friends and family.
During the summer, there are plenty of outdoor open-air seatings, when several restaurants and pubs move their businesses outside. At Stora torget, which also is Linköping's largest open-air seating, you can find happy Linköping residents that flocks to enjoy the summer heat in good company. If you are eager to go out and dance, you will fint the most night clubs at the near by street Ågatan. Such as Harry's, New York Legends, Platå and Platens bar.
There is ofcourse plenty of cozy pubs and bars all around the city. The range is large and varied - the question is what you feel like for today? A cozy wine bar with quality time with your friends? Or a night of dancing where you really feel the strong city pulse?
Linköping is filled with events - all year round
In Linköping there is something for everyone and there is a top-notch blend of experiences, events and culture. The city's music stages feature rock, pop, classical, jazz, blues and most everything in between. We have, among other things, Linköping Concert & Congress hall which is filled with concerts, fairs and events. Östgötateatern with a wide and exciting range of theater performances. But also the biggest dragons like Saab Arena and Linköping Arena with thousands of seats! Linköping has also many different clubs and intimate scenes with theater, concerts and stand up.
Linköping Concert and Congress hall >
Just a few minutes walking distance from Stora torget you will find Linköping Concert and Congress hall - one of Sweden's premier congress and concert facilities. Every year, hundreds of concerts and events are available for you to choose from. How about some stand up or music from one of Sweden's foremost artists? You can also eat delicious food at the Bistro here - combining food with music is a fantastic experience!
Saab Arena and Linköping Arena >
Saab Arena and Linköpings Arena, 10 minutes’ walk away on the other side of the river from the centre lies the LHC home ground for hockey, which is also used for many big arena concerts, sports events and exhibitions. Linköpings Arena is the LFC home ground for football and also has outdoor concerts in the summer. Well worth a visit for those who are interested in arena constructions or to attend one of the various events.
Historic Linköping
Linköping was originally an old medieval town which was always the administrative centre of the district. There are still parts of the medieval street network preserved around Stora Torget, Tannerforsgatan, St Korsgatan and Ågatan.
Linköping Cathedral is, after Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden’s largest and best preserved medieval church building. The first stone church, a Roman basilica, commenced construction in the 1120s and was completed for the General Synod of 1153. On the site of the stone church there was believed to be an earlier wooden church and excavation has confirmed that Christian graves from the 1000s have been found. The church has subsequently been extended over several centuries and was completed around 1500, with a separate clock tower.
Stora Torget (Main Square) has throughout time been a natural meeting place and it was here that the five councillors were executed by beheading, as a result of the Battle of Stångebro in 1598 – the Linköping Bloodbath.
The Castle was built originally as a bishop’s palace for Bishop Gisle at the beginning of the 1100s. After a varied history of uses, such as a royal renaissance castle and prison, (amongst those who were kept here were the councillors under death sentence awaiting execution in 1600) the castle became the county governor’s residence at the end of the 1700s. The county governor still resides here today, at present a man by the name of Carl Fredrik Graf, who took up hes post in 2018. In the year 2000 Linköping Castle and Cathedral Museum was opened in the north wing.
Gamla Storgatan (Old Main Street) is today preserved as a short cobblestoned stretch between Läroverksgatan and Apotekargatan. In the middle ages this street was the main drag between the bishop’s palace – castle and the square. It was also down this street the councillors condemned to death walked to their execution in the square in the year 1600 (the Linköping Bloodbath). The present Storgatan was laid in the middle of the 1600s.
The Battle of Stångebro 1598 could have been called “the war to depose Sigismund” as the whole war was in order to remove him from the Swedish throne and was Sweden’s last civil war. King Sigismund’s uncle, Duke Karl (later Karl IX and the youngest son of Gustav Vasa) did not want to see his nephew on the Swedish throne. This could have been because Sigismund was catholic and Sweden was on its way to becoming a protestant land – but certainly also because Duke Karl wanted to take over the Swedish throne himself. This was the run-up to the Linköping Bloodbath of 1600.
Independent Town Walks
Do you want to discover Linköping city on an independent walk through the town? Take a look below how you can discover Linköping on foot!
