Växjö
Växjö is the largest city in Kronobergs län in the region Småland in Sweden. In April 2013 Växjö's Smålandsposten reported a municipal population of 84,800 inhabitants.
Understand
[edit]The town itself is a small university town with many beautiful lakes. Växjö is in glass country. There are many glass works in the small towns surrounding it, and they produce both functional products and works of art.
Tourist office
[edit]- 1 Växjö Tourist Center, Residenset - Stortorget, Kronobergsgatan 7, ☏ +46 470-73 32 80. Sep-May: M-F 10:00-17:00; Jun-Aug: M-F 10:00-18:00, Sa 10:00-16:00.
Get in
[edit]By train
[edit]- 1 Växjö Station is in the Southern part of the city centre. There are direct trains from Copenhagen and its Airport (Kastrup) in Denmark. Furthermore, there are trains from Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm (change in Alvesta).
By bus
[edit]- Nettbuss, ☏ +46 771-67 67 67. Service to Växjö from Stockholm.
By plane
[edit]- 2 Växjö Småland Airport (VXO IATA). Operated by SAS, Fly Smaland and Ryanair and has flights from Stockholm, Kalmar, Visby, Weeze, Berlin and Kaunas in Lithuania. The nearest major internationsl airports are Copenhagen Airport, Malmö Aisport, Göteborg Airport and Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
By car
[edit]Several car routes intersect at Växjö. Route 23 connects to Malmö South-West of Växjö, Routes 25 and 30 connects with the E4 highway in west and north-west, Route 37 carries traffic to Northern and North-Eastern Småland, Route 25 continues eastward towards Kalmar and Route 27 South-East towards Karlskrona.
Get around
[edit]
Växjö is a small town, so your feet will be sufficient for the center of town with main street Storgatan as the artery. The rest of the city can be reached by bicycle or bus. City buses and buses to the country side can be found at the railway station and are operated by Länstrafiken. Växjö owns a University with many international students. It is a steady growing city and a centre in Smaland. Växjö airport (VXO) make it easy to fly in from Germany (Weeze/Duesseldorf) and Netherlands.
By taxi
[edit]- TaxiKurir Växjö, ☏ +46 470 16 000. Smart phone app offers address based routing and calculates price according to them.
See
[edit]- 1 Bergkvara Castle Ruin (Bergkvara slottsruin) (6 km west of the city centre. Bicycle or car is recommended but you can also take a bus to Räppe and walk from there). One of Sweden's oldest mansions and a ruin since raided by Nils Dacke. The castle lies on the grounds of a still-inhabited late 18th-century mansion. There's also a nice garden cafe in an old workers building which serves local products in a cozy atmosphere.
- 2 Växjö Cathedral (Växjö domkyrka), Linnégatan 2A. Built in the 12th century. It has two large spires and an interior filled with glass from Kosta Boda and other Swedish glass makers that are near the town.
- 3 Huseby Bruk, Grimslöv (Some 20 km south west of Växjö), ☏ +46 470-75 20 97. An industrial museum including a small village, a mansion, and several old factories in pretty surroundings. Huseby was originally an iron foundry with history from the 17th century and in use until the 1950s. Donated to the state after a scandal called "Husebyaffären" (The Huseby affair) in the 1950s where the uneducated owner Florence Stephens were swindled for large amounts by trusted employees. Also involved was Prince Carl Bernadotte who confessed to the charges but was somehow acquitted.
- 4 Kronoberg Castle Ruin (Kronoberg Slottsruin) (Is located a bit north of the city centre. Bus number 1 goes to the castle in the summertime). It is a place with beautiful Swedish nature, tourists and a cozy but relatively expensive café. The castle dates back to 14th century, and figured in both the Danish-Swedish wars and as base of operations for the Geatish freedomfighter, Nils Dacke, who fought against the Swedish crown in the 16th century.
- 5 Smålands Museum, Södra Järnvägsgatan 2, ☏ +46 470-70 42 00. A museum about the cultural history of Småland and "The Swedish Glass Museum". In addition to glass in all its variations, the exhibition shows emerald jewelry, Viking silver treasure, arts and crafts, and some archaeological finds.
- House of Emigrants (Utvandrarnas Museum), Vilhelm Mobergs gata 4. A museum concerning the great emigration from Sweden in general and from Småland in particular in the 19th century.
- 6 Teleborg Castle (Teleborgs slott), Slottsallén 12 (Is located in the university area. Take bus nr 5 to Universitetsplatsen), ☏ +46 470-34 89 80. It looks old but was in fact built in 1900.
Do
[edit]
Walk around the lakes, if the weather is nice. Växjösjön lies near the train station just south of the cathedral.
Some of the glass works in the region are worth visiting. They produce functional glass and glass-based products, as well as works of art. An example being Kosta Boda. They offer a paid, guided tour of their workshop in English (takes a little less than an hour). Visiting any of the glass works will require a car, as they are not well-reached via public transport.
Visit the relaxing Teaterparken park or the park around the cathedral.
- Åsnen runt is a 4+ day bicycle route that goes through Växjö and round the lake Åsnen some 20 km south of town.
Buy
[edit]Almost all shops in center of town are on the main street, Storgatan. Nothing that you can't buy everywhere else in Sweden though.
Two larger centers of shopping malls lies in the east of town called Samarkand [dead link] and I11 after the former regiment. Both reachable by bus nr 3.
There is a Swedish army surplus store not too far from the city center. Follow Liedbergsgatan to the south, cross the railway tracks and take right on the first crossing.
Eat
[edit]- 1 Café Askelyckan, Storgatan 25, ☏ +46 470-123 11. On Storgatan is a cozy coffee house in the center of town situated in an old wooden building. Great for watching pedestrians either from the outdoor area or the second floor.
- 2 Broqvist konditori, Kronobergsgatan 14, ☏ +46 470-120 20. Just north east of the main square (Stortorget) run by 5th generation of the same family that opened the café in 1876. The interior doesn't reveal this though the service and quality cakes does.
- 3 Koh-thai, Västra Esplanaden 6, ☏ +46 470-77 78 88. Thai restaurant with excellent food. Serves lunch for 65 SEK even on Saturdays.
- 4 PM & Vänner, Storgatan 24, ☏ +46 470-75 97 00. One of Sweden's more well known restaurants.
Drink
[edit]- 1 Kafé De Luxe, Sandgärdsgatan 17-19, ☏ +46 470-74 04 09. On Sandgärdsgatan situated in one of Växjös older wooden buildings with bar and basement dance floor. Most late night visitors are around their 20s.
Sleep
[edit]- 1 Elite Stadshotellet, Kungsgatan 6 (railway station 200 m; pay parking in the adjoining square), ☏ +46 470 134 00, fax: +46 470 448 37. Check-in: 15:00, check-out: 12:00. Four-star hotel in the pedestrian-oriented city centre. Well laid-out rooms, available with double bed or two beds. Breakfast and reliable wireless internet included. From 552 kr.
- 2 Hotell Esplanad, Norra Esplanaden 21, ☏ +46 470-225 80.
- 3 Hotell Värend, Kungsgatan 27, ☏ +46 470-77 67 00. Just north of the city centre is a small hotel which may look like something out of a horror movie. Discounts during the summer period.
- 4 Villa Vik, Lenhovdavägen 72 (In the eastern outskirts of Växjö next to the county road 23/37, adjacent to Lake Toftasjön), ☏ +46 470 652 90. Hotel with a café and restaurant at the main building.
Go next
[edit]- Jönköping - A city on the shore of lake Vättern.
- Kalmar - An old city by the coast of Småland.
- Karlskrona - Is a naval town in Blekinge.
| Routes through Växjö |
| Halmstad ← Ljungby ← | W  E |
→ Nybro → Kalmar |