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ESSVEN

Västmanlands län · 59.6° N

Västerås

In Swedish

Västerås sits on the shore of Lake Mälaren, about 110 km west of Stockholm, with direct trains to the capital. It is an industrial and university town with an old wooden quarter by the cathedral and islands you reach by boat.

Aerial panorama of the town beside a large blue lake with wooded islands in the distance and a marina full of boats
Västerås and the islands of Lake Mälaren from abovePhoto: Sportbilen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Now in Västerås

Time

Weather

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Today's light

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Things to do in Västerås

  1. Kyrkbacken lanes

    North of the cathedral, Kyrkbacken keeps its wooden houses along narrow, winding lanes. In the late 1940s there were plans to demolish it entirely, but in 1964 the city chose to restore it instead.

  2. Cathedral and castle

    Västerås Cathedral was consecrated in 1271. The castle, rebuilt by Gustav Vasa, held King Eric XIV prisoner from 1573 to 1575.

  3. Islands of Mälaren

    In summer, boats leave daily for the islands in the lake. From the shore you can already see Östra holmen, Elba and Västra holmen.

  4. Anundshög

    Just outside town is Sweden's largest burial mound, dating from around AD 500. It is over 68 metres across and almost 9 metres high.

Official tourism guide
Narrow cobbled street lined with red, white and yellow wooden houses on a sunny summer day
Rektorsgatan in the Kyrkbacken quarterPhoto: Arosbilder, CC BY 4.0

When to go

Best timeJune to August

That is when the island boats run every day and the bathing spots along Mälaren are busy. In December the town puts on Christmas markets.

The light of the year The longest and the shortest day of the year here.

21 June
18 h 44 min
21 December
6 h 00 min

From Santiago

As the crow flies
13,000 km
Time difference today
4 hours ahead of Chile
County
Västmanlands län

The city

Population
160,634 (municipality, SCB 2024)
Known for
ABB, whose Swedish headquarters are here and trace back to ASEA, and its nickname Gurkstaden, the Cucumber City, after the cucumber growing of the 18th and 19th centuries.
To study
Mälardalens universitet