Västergötland, literally translated as western Götaland, is one of Sweden's most populous provinces. Several different subdivisions have been used during the centuries, and the province has been conjoined with Bohuslän and Dalsland to form the enormous Western Götaland County, with municipal confederations overlapping provincial borders.

Cities

• 1 Alingsås
• 2 Borås — once the home of the Swedish textile industry, still a centre for fashion design
• 3 Gothenburg (Göteborg) — By far the largest city in Västergötland, and the second largest in all of Sweden
• 4 Lidköping
• 5 Lindome
• 6 Mariestad
• 7 Mark
• 8 Skara — a millennial city, known for its cathedral, and the Skara Sommarland theme park.
• 9 Skövde — the small town that feels like a city is easy to get to from both Stockholm and Gothenburg.
• 10 Tidaholm
• 11 Trollhättan
• 12 Ulricehamn
• 13 Vänersborg

Other destinations

• 1 Gothenburg archipelago
• 2 Hornborgasjön — a famous bird reserve at Falköping
• 3 Karlsborg — a small garrison town with a large fortress. Sweden's backup capital in the case of a foreign invasion.

Understand

Västergötland was the core territory of the Geats, götar, a tribe that has been associated with the Goths. Around AD 1000, they united with the Suiones, svear, to form Sweden. Älvsborg, at present-day Gothenburg, was Sweden's only western port until the 17th century. Västergötland was the centre of the Swedish textile industry, until de-industrialization in the mid-20th century.

The people of Västergötland are rumoured to be humorous and optimistic.

Get in

By plane

Both Landvetter Airport (GOT ^IATA) serves Gothenburg, the largest city in the region. Airlines include SAS, FlyMe , Lufthansa , KLM and Ryanair . Two other airports in the region are Trollhättan Airport and Halmstad Airport, with flights from Stockholm only.

By train

Train go to Gothenburg, from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Kalmar, Luleå and more cities.

Get around

Public transport in Västra Götaland is organized by Västtrafik.

See

See also: Skaraborg history tour

• 1 Läckö Castle (Lidköping). A 13th-century castle situated by the Lake Vänern.  
• 2 Lake Hornborga (Hornborgasjön) (Falköping). A lake famous for birdwatching. Known as the lake where up to 12,000 cranes stop on their way back from warmer countries.  

Do

• Liseberg. The biggest amusement park in all of Scandinavia - is in Gothenburg. 
• Anten - Gräfsnäs Vintage Railroad. A well preserved vintage railroad line running along the lake Anten not far from Alingsås. With a length of 12 km, it runs during the summer months. 
• 1 Ale Vikingagård, Vikingavägen (25 km north of Gothenburg along E45, a few km south of Älvängen), alevikingagard@gmail.com. Irregular hours, not daily. A Viking farm. Events throughout the year including feasts and markets in the spring (early May), autumn after harvest time in late October to early November and around Jul, a Norse pagan celebration at Christmas time.  

Stay safe

Though not as cold as further north, western Sweden has the country's wettest and foggiest climate. Occasional flooding of river valleys during severe weather, and thunderstorms. See storms.

Go next

• Frederikshavn in Denmark