Welcome to Mariestad

Lake Vänern is an inland sea, with Europe’s largest lake archipelago, with nearly 22,000 islands and skerries.

The biggest archipelago region is around Mariestad, with the islands of Torsö and Brommö. At Östersundet, you can take the bridge to Torsö Island, with great beaches, lovely scenery and excellent tourist services. To get to Brommö, you can take the ferry from Brommösund. This is a car-free island, with lots of bicycle and walking trails leading to gorgeous beaches, natural harbours and rocky outcroppings. The whole archipelago is like a mini copy of the west coast, with the Djurö national park at the end. We hope you have plenty of time to spend in our island world.

 The beautiful wooden buildings of Old Town were erected in the 18th and 19th centuries and are still almost perfectly intact. Wander around on your own among the charming wooden buildings or go on a guided city tour. Rest your feet a while in our impressive cathedral, which still bears its head with dignity even though the bishop has long since moved to Skara.

Vadsbo Museum and the Industrial Museum

The museum is located in the wings of the Marieholm county governor’s house and features the history of the community from prehistoric times until the 20th century. The museum has several rooms for temporary exhibitions. The giant loft in the Western Stable is regularly used for art exhibitions. Mariestad’s Industrial Museum is located in the Eastern Stable. The exhibition reflects the city’s interesting industrial development over four centuries until today, with an emphasis on the manufacture of Unica boxes, one of the city’s most famous industrial products.

Go underground in Lugnås
About 10 km south-west of Mariestad is the Minnesfjället Millstone Quarry in Lugnås, the only one in Europe that is open to the public. Millstones have been manufactured in Lugnås for nearly 800 years, and the mountain bears clear marks of human activity. Walk down the trail from the car park to the mine and enjoy the flowers, the greenery and life in general. Listen to the guide’s tales about life and work in olden days, and experience the excitement of being underground in a real mine. Visit the museum and have a cup of coffee or an ice cream in the kiosk.

Sjötorp
This is where the Göta Canal starts – or ends. An idyllic canal town on the shores of Lake Vänern. Sjötorp has a canal visitors’ centre and a canal museum. Locks, canal boats, shopping, smoked fish are other attractions of Sjötorp. It's also a popular starting'point for bicycle trips. You can rent a bike here.

The canal has 21 locks between lakes Vänern and Vättern, and eight of them are in Sjötorp. In Sjötorp, on the way down to the visitors’ marina, Maltes Fisk sells fresh and smoked fish.
It’s a popular lunch place on summer days.

"Water stairs” by Bengt Olson 2007
At the canal’s 175th anniver-sary in Sjötorp, a giant sculpture was unveiled in honour of the 58,000 people whose 116,000 hands dug the Göta Canal from Sjötorp to Mem from 1810 to 1832. The staircase consists of stone blocks made of Bohuslän granite and is located next to the shipyard basin in Sjötorp.

 

Passenger boats
If you’d like to enjoy the canal from a boat deck, try the M/S Bellevue, M/S Sandön or M/S Ceres, which traffic the canal between Sjötorp, Töreboda and Karlsborg.
Feast your eyes on the ancient trees, lovely buildings, peacefully grazing cattle and all the other typical sights of the Swedish countryside. All the passengers gather at the railing at regular intervals to get a front-row view of the lockages.

The guest harbour in Lyrestad is a popular meeting place for boaters, motorists and bicycle tourists. The area is extra lively when the passenger boats arrive.In summer, the local history society opens its museum in the old harbour storehouse, Hamnmagasinet, where you can also stop for a coffee and see how a turn-of-the-century country store looked. Esters Gårdscafé and the Åsgårdens Wärdshus Inn are also found in Lyrestad.
Get a close look at an ancient craft full of hot air in the newly opened glass blowing room by the canal in Lyrestad.


The Norrkvarn lock area offers the Baltzar von Platen Lodge, which has a restaurant, café, hotel and youth hostel as well as the popular Children’s Mini Canal and the enchanted tree Stumps.