Trollhättan is an industrial city in Sweden. It lies in Västergötland province in the modern (larger) Götaland region, and has 53,000 inhabitants.

Understand

In Trollhättan the Trollhätte canal starts, connecting the Kattegat (west coast) with lake Vänern. Just outside the center of town, there are several sets of locks. A first set of small locks from 1800, which are now derelict. A second set of locks from around 1844. A third set of locks from 1916, which are still in use today. About 10 freight ships per day pass the locks today, and throughout the summer months about 4000 leisure boats pass by.

Together with Göta kanal, the canal forms a waterway between the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea.

Not far from the locks, is the Olide hydropower station. The waterfall of the mighty Göta river was tamed with the construction of a huge powerplant between 1905 and 1914. The power station is built with huge granite blocks and looks like an enormous castle. On some days in the summer months the waterfall is (partly) released again.

Trollhättan has been important to Swedish industry, with the SAAB Automobile factory. Nearby, the SAAB museum is located.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Trollhättan–Vänersborg Airport (THN  ^IATA Fyrstads Flygplats). doesn't connect to many places other than Stockholm.  

By train

The train station (Resecentrum) lies just ten minutes walk from the center of the town. You can choose either to go north - Oslo or Karlstad or south towards Gothenburg or Copenhagen.

By car

80 km 1h north of Gothenburg via the road RV45.

Get around

Bus

Bus connection is very good within the city, and also covers most of the countryside and almost all surrounding cities as well as major distant cities. The standard fare is 20 kr which is valid within Zone 1 which covers the city, neighbouring cities and the countryside.

Taxi

Taxis are on the expensive side. Taximeter is virtually always used but make sure that the driver really does turn it on unless a price has been negotiated in advance. Often the price can be better this way.

See

• The locks, the Göta Älv river, and the surrounding nature.

Museums

• Innovatum. Åkerssjövägen 10. A hands-on science and industry museum. 
• Saab Museum (Saab bilmuseum). The, Åkerssjövägen 10. Museum with many historic cars on display. 
• A short distance from Trollhättan the Elk Hill and the Royal Hunt museum is located.

Do

• A common tourist attraction is the falls and the locks. Both attracts thousands of tourists every year. On the third Friday of July, the falls are opened and the city turns into a festival area.
• Also popular is a walk along the 'Göta Älv' River in the western part of the city, near the locks.

Eat

• Trollhättan has many restaurants with many different categories of food. From Japanese, Thai and Chinese to English food and basic Swedish food. During lunchtime prices are very reasonable but tend to rise during the evening. Some of the restaurants converts into bars in the late evening.

Trollhättan is also famous for its many pizzerias which have Sweden's best (?) kebab-pizza. What makes the pizza special is the sauce which is different from kebab sauce in other parts of Sweden.

Drink

Coffee

There are a lot of cafés in Trollhättan. A few of them are:

• Café Smulan is a nice café.
• Café Strandgatan is also a nice place with a nice view over the canal, however it's on the expensive side.
• Espresso House on the main pedestrian mall has excellent coffee, though the surroundings are nothing special.

Sleep

Budget

• Gula Villan, Tingvallavägen 12, +46 520 129 60.

Mid-range

• Hotel Albert is in a nice location with views all over the town.
• Scandic Hotel Swania, Storgatan 47-49, +46 520 89 000. Also pretty nice, located in the old town-hall (not very old because the town is very young).

Go next

Routes through Trollhättan

Karlstad ← Vänersborg ←

N  S

→ Göteborg → Frederikshavn