Norrköping: A Swedish Hidden Gem I Almost Missed
As part of TBEX Europe, I had the chance to be part of a Post Trip to another Swedish town. I was not so conscious about where I was going until the day I received my tickets. That day I discovered I was visiting Norrköping, which is a town right in west Sweden. What to expect when I got in the train that Sunday morning? I was not sure about it.
The trip was supposed to last an hour until I finally get to Norrköping. Don’t ask me what happened exactly because I can’t even tell, but my morning started terribly. I missed my train stop. Oh well, what should I do now? Next stop was Linköping. I had to stop there and try to solve my trip. My train ticket to go back to Stockholm does not depart until the afternoon, what to do next? I stopped in Linköping and bought a ticket to Norrköping. It was a 10 minutes wait to only think about what do next. “What to do when I get to Norrköping?” “Will I be able to find my tour guide?” “Will I be the annoying tourist ruining a tour?” All those things went through my mind until I was finally able to get in the train to Norrköping.
The trip back to Norrköping lasted about some other 15 minutes. “Will I be able to find wifi in the train station?” I knew that finding Wifi was the only way I could save this trip. I remember I had somewhere on my e-mails the phone number of the tour guide. It was my best choice once I get to Norrköping. Luckily, first thing I saw when I got out of the train was a Espresso House, which meant: FREE WIFI! I went inside, found that e-mail and called my tour guide on Skype. I explained her my whole situation and in the friendliest tone she told me “Don’t worry, I will pick you up in the station in about 5 to 10 minutes” My day was finally saved. She arrived quickly to pick me up and I joined the others.
Our amazing tour guide was Åsa, and definitely she gave Norrköping a great name. She was so friendly all over the way to meet the other people in the tour. It was not even an hour since I arrived and I was already delighted to be in Norrköping. She took us to see different museums and explains us a bit of the history of the city.
Norrköping used to be a factory town. They used to produce wool and most of the buildings that today hold the museums, used to be factories. As part of this trip we visited three museums: the Arbetets Museum (Museum of Work), Stadsmuseum (City Museum), and the Museum of Art.
Views of Norrköping:
Museum of Work:
Dads of Sweden Exposition
Dads of Sweden Exposition
Dads of Sweden Exposition
Dads of Sweden Exposition
Dads of Sweden Exposition
Dads of Sweden Exposition
City Museum:
City Hall:
View from the City Hall
Fika @ City Hall
What I learned about Norrköping?
First of all, that I would have totally regretted it if I couldn’t be able to make it there after all I went through because of my TRAIN-gate. As a traveler, I would have never chosen seeing Norrköping but I am totally thankful that Visit Sweden gave me the chance to see such a wonderful and cozy city. I loved the vibe, the views and how well Åsa made us feel there.
I would totally recommend everyone to make at least a day trip to Norrköping, and I would love to go back someday after discovering such a beautiful and warm (even on Winter days!) city, because it is more about human warmth.
At the end of the day, I felt glad that I didn’t missed the gem Norrköping actually is.
Thanks to Visit Sweden for providing me as a TBEX participant with this day trip. All opinions are my own.
Priyanka Banerjee
Wow! So cool that you attended TBEX. I lived in Sweden in different parts of the country for 1.5 years, and still haven’t been to Norrkoping, actually haven’t heard of it either! I really want to go see the museum there because the pictures are breathtakingly cute. Sweden in general is one of my favorite countries and I can go and stay there (for the summers) forever! I miss Sweden and it was lovely to read your post. Keep sharing these kind of lovely posts about small towns which we never hear about. Much love from Amsterdam 🙂
Jessica C
How awesome is Sweden?! I mean really. It’s so beautiful. People are beautiful. And it’s just a place I want to have a second home in! This town looks awesome and so “real” if you know what I mean. Like, I could live there and get along just fine.
Brenda
that’s exaxtly the way I felt!
Leanne Capuano
I’m taking my first trip to Sweden very soon. After reading this I can’t wait.
Sassy
What a very interesting place to visit! I’ve never heard of it before, so thank you for sharing this new-found “treasure”!
Brenda
I felt the same way when I got there! Is the kind of place you never get to discover by your own!
Leslie
What a lovely little town. I love the Dads of Sweden photos you posted. They’re fantastic! Do you know who the photographer is?
Brenda
The photographer is Johan Bävman! You just made me research it and I just found his website and is just amazing! http://www.johanbavman.se/swedish-dads/
Naomi
What a great way to explore more of Sweden that is not just Stockholm. This seems like a great stop for a roadtrip!
@jacquitravels
Awesome! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Can’t wait to explore some of this when we’re in Sweden next.
Jurga - Full Suitcase
Nice post – thanks for sharing! I love off-the-beaten path destinations. It’s the best way to get to know the country behind the capital cities and the main tourist attractions. Loved those pictures of the Swedish dads.
Suzannah
Signs keep telling me to go to Sweden as soon as possible. This town looks so quiet and almost deserted, but beautiful and calm – I’d love to go!
Fee
I wouldn’t even know about this place if it wasn’t for this post. I’ve yet to venture to Sweden, but looks like a great country. So much to tackle and explore. 🙂
Marin
What a great way to explore more of Sweden that is not just Stockholm. This seems like a great stop for a roadtrip ! Can’t wait to explore some of this when we’re in Sweden next.