Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Ten Destinations to Visit in Sweden in 2022
Sweden’s grandest lake and new pilgrim route Neighbouring cities Trollhättan and Vänersborg team up as a popular holiday destination filled with exciting history, nature experiences and waterfalls, good food and much more. This year, the region presents a new pilgrim route and initiatives around Sweden’s grandest lake. By Malin Norman | Photos: Visit Trollhättan-Vänersborg
Water has always been central to both Trollhättan and Vänersborg. In the case of the latter, an old marketplace, the waterway was key to the shipping and collection of iron found throughout the county, and the long beaches around Vänern – Sweden’s largest lake, technically an inland sea – made it a beneficial place to stay from both agricultural and safety perspectives. The importance of the lake for the position of Vänersborg, which got its town privileges in 1644, as a meeting point and trading hub cannot be underestimated. A regional capital boasting generous 60 | Issue 138 | January 2022
nature and wildlife, it is sometimes described as a miniature Sweden. In Trollhättan, it was the narrow water passages of the river Göta Älv that eventually led to what was to become the town’s pride. These passages caused more than a few headaches, as goods had to be reloaded to continue transportation on land. But it was not until 1800, after a range of different ideas and more than a few failed attempts, that the first sluice in Trollhättan was completed. The creation was dubbed the world’s eighth wonder
and immediately became a popular place to go for a combination of technical enlightenment and a romantic setting. “Every day at three o’clock in the summer months, the floodgates open and 300,000 litres of water per second is released. It’s quite spectacular,” says Maria Engström Weber, CEO of Visit Trollhättan-Vänersborg. “People come here to experience this alone.”
