Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Top Summer Experiences in Sweden
Swedish culture and history in the open air At Gamla Linköping Open-Air Museum, visitors can stroll through over 100-year-old wooden houses, cobblestone alleyways and gardens in the old town neighbourhood. With its combination of activities and small shops, cosy cafés and restaurants, this popular destination has something for everyone. By Malin Norman | Photos: Friluftsmuseet Gamla Linköping
Being one of Sweden’s biggest open-air museums, Gamla Linköping is also the main tourist attraction in Östergötland with around 400,000 visitors per year. “People appreciate the genuine setting and glimpse of Swedish culture and history,” says museum director Tina Karlsson. “The old city blocks have so many interesting places to explore. For example, Solliden house and garden from the 1920s is fantastic, and well worth a visit.” Gamla Linköping is open throughout the year, with 20 separate museums telling the story of people’s everyday lives in the past. Visitors can learn traditional crafts such as rope making, try old-fashioned ways of cooking, and experience what it was like to go to school or work in a town shop – or, suggests Karlsson, take part 70 | Issue 112 | May 2018
in a guided tour of the authentic homes from the early 1900s.
Plenty to see and do A walk through the nearby Valla Woods nature reserve is also highly recommended, with the experiential Forest Path teaching curious explorers about animals and nature in their native environment. At Valla Farm, visitors can see the railway and wagon museums and, of course, the farm itself with tractors and pony riding as well as horses, goats, rabbits and other animals. During the summer, the museum expands its programme and becomes a true centre for living history. New attractions this year include LillValla, Linköping’s biggest playground,
and an electrical choo-choo train that will run from the old city blocks to Valla Farm – a fantastic opportunity to get a guided tour with information about the attractions and several stops on the way. From this month, the new bank museum will present the story of Sweden’s bank history with images and films by photographer Elisabeth Ohlsson Wallin. Last but not least, an old soldier cottage will be moved to the museum, showing what rural life was like at the beginning of the 19th century.
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