Jönköping travel guide

View over Jönköping (Photo: Moralist, Public domain)

Jönköping is by many Swedes referred to as the Jerusalem of Sweden - this is due to the town's many churches. The city is on the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. Jönköping also has two smaller lakes of its own, Munksjön ('The Monk Lake') and Rocksjön ('The Rock Lake'). It is Sweden's 10th largest municipality with about 136,000 inhabitants (2017).

Understand

Tourist office

• Destination Jönköping, Södra Strandgatan 13B, ☏ +46 77-121 13 00. Daily 10:00–17:00.

Get in

Map of Jönköping (Photo: User: (WT-shared) Rocket q at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 3.0)

By plane

The closest major airport is Gothenburg's Landvetter, about 120 km to the west. It has flights from most major European cities and is served by some budget airlines as well.

If you don't mind sitting in a bus for a longer time, budget airlines fly from Skavsta airport in Nyköping (which also serves Stockholm). From the bus station, Swebus operates several buses daily; the journey takes three hours.

• Jönköping Airport (JKG IATA). The local airport has connections to Stockholm, Visby, Frankfurt and other destinations in south of Europe.

By train

Jönköping is surprisingly underserved by rail for a city of its size. There are no direct SJ trains from either Stockholm and Malmö and only slower regional trains from Gothenburg. In general a change of trains is required in either Skövde or Nässjö. There are plenty of regional trains from other cities in Småland however.

• Jönköping Central Station, Järnvägsgatan 12 (by the shore line).

By bus

• Flixbus (FlixBus), ☏ +46 850 513 750. By far the largest domestic coach operator and operates services to Jönköping from throughout Sweden. Advance ticketing is usually required and recommended practice in any case.
• Svenska Buss, ☏ +46 771-67 67 67. Services to Jönköping from some cities in Sweden.
• Västervikexpress. Service from Gothenburg

Get around

The city centre is small and very walkable. In general the city is very pedestrian- and bike-friendly. A good starting point for discovering Jönköping is its central station, Jönköping Resecentrum, where trains and buses to and from other cities depart and arrive. The station is connected with Juneporten, which is the place where all the inner-city buses leave. Bus tickets within the city cost 20 kr and 16 kr flat rate, during peak and off-peak respectively. Young people and children usually get discounts. The last inner-city bus usually leaves around midnight on weekdays, so if you plan on traveling late be prepared to take a taxi which can be rather expensive. On weekends you may be able to catch a bus up until two in the morning, but check the schedules in advance on the regional traffic office homepage, Jönköpings Länstrafik

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By taxi

TaxiKurir Jönköping, ☏ +46 36 12 12 12. Smart phone app offers address based routing and calculates price according to them.

See

• Fågelmuseet (The Bird Museum), Jönköpings Stadspark, ☏ +46 36 12 99 83.
• Jönköpings läns museum (Jönköping's County Museum), Dag Hammarskjölds Plats 2, ☏ +46 36-30 18 00. Has a permanent exhibition on the early 20th-century fantasy artist John Bauer, as well as various photo exhibitions and historical information.
• Rosenlunds rosarium, Huskvarnavägen 11, ☏ +46 36-10 50 00. 24 hours daily. A small garden with hundreds of types of roses. Free.
• Tändsticksmuseet, Tändsticksgränd 27, ☏ +46 36-10 55 43. The area where the match production of Jönköping was held. Jönköping is the birthplace of the safety match.
• The city also has a harbour with a pier. This harbour is quite popular during summertime - often you may find people eating ice cream there and enjoying a beer at the harbour's bar.
• Byarums hembygdsgård, Byarum (5 km N of Vaggeryd, between the old E4 and the Vaggeryd - Jönköping railway), ☏ +46 393-31591. A heritage farm with 8 timbered buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries decorated with old objects. The association's women's club serves food daily in the homestead during the summer months.

Do

• The beach. The beach of Lake Vättern is one of Jönköping's prides. During summertime it is an excellent place to go swimming or playing volleyball.
• DreamHack. A LAN gaming event which takes place in the Elmia expohall, right next to the bathhouse of Rosenlund. It is the world's largest LAN party. In 2017, 50 000 people were expected to visit the event. It usually takes place twice a year, once in June and once in November. You can attend as a visitor or by bringing your computer to the party.
• Rosenlunds Badhus, Elmiavägen 4, ☏ +46 36-10 70 34. Literally 'The bathhouse of Rosenlund', is a swimming hall for adults and children. It is quite a big swimming hall with an 'adventure' section for the young ones, a diving room and also massages can be booked.

Buy

The largest shopping center in Jönköping is Asecs. In Asecs you can find everything from hairdressers to clothing and furniture, like the Swedish company IKEA. There are also several electronic companies, computer store chains and sports shops in this area.

The center of Jönköping is divided into two parts, the east (Östra Centrum) and the west (Västra Centrum).

The eastern part contains the biggest shopping street in the city with 200 shops that are scattered over a small pedestrian-friendly area.

The western part is considered to be the exclusive part of Jönköping. Many administrations and authorities has got their offices here and Jönköping University allures many students. Most of the taverns and clubs in Jönköping lies here and of course there are many cafes where you can enjoy the Swedish fika.

Eat

• Pizzeria Campino, Fabriksgatan 16, ☏ +46 36-71 41 63. 50 kr.
• Pizzeria Cigarren, Östra Storgatan 84, ☏ +46 36-16 60 25. Pizzas start from 65 kr.
• Ciro Ristorante & Bar, Fiskargränd 7, ☏ +46 36-60 119. Modern Italian restaurant with a nice view over the water. Mains 135-225 kr.

Drink

• Idlewild, Tändsticksgränd 23. A central bar in Jönköping that focuses on beer. They offer over 20 different kinds of beer.
• Bongo Bar, Tändsticksgränd 13. Where the more alternative people hang out. Not much of a dancing place, but great music and nice people. It is in Tändsticksområdet.

Sleep

Budget

• A6 Vandrarhem & Hotell, Rekrytvägen 7 (near A6), ☏ +46 36 34 00 41. From 175 kr.
• Good Morning Hotel, Strömsnäsgatan 3, ☏ +46 36-34 18 90. 700 kr.
• Lakeside Cottage, Långsbo 20, 571 97 Forserum, ☏ +46 31 360 77 35. From 400 kr.

Mid-range

Jönköping Grand Hotel, one of the city's oldest still active hotels, on a postcard from 1905 (Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain)

• Best Western John Bauer Hotel, Södra Strandgatan 15 (near rail way station), ☏ +46 36 34 90 00. 1,185 kr.
• Clarion Collection Hotel Victoria, F E Elmgrens Gata 5 (near rail way station), ☏ +46 36 71 28 00. 995 kr.
• Comfort Hotel, Klostergatan 28, ☏ +46 36 10 08 00.
• Elite Stora Hotellet, Hotellplan (near rail way station), ☏ +46 36 10 00 00. 1,147 kr.
• Familjen Ericssons City Hotel, Västra Storgatan 25A (near rail way station), ☏ +46 36 71 92 80. 986 kr.
• First Hotel Jönköping, Ryhovsgatan 3 (near A6), ☏ +46 36-18 36 00. 897 kr.
• Grand Hotel, Hovrättstorget 1, ☏ +46 36 71 96 00. 1,140 kr.
• Hotel Savoy, Brunnsgatan 13-15, ☏ +46 36 17 32 90. 975 kr.
• Jönköpings Hotell och Konferens, Centralvägen 31 (near A6), ☏ +46 36 17 18 00. 755 kr.
• Scandic Elmia, Elmiavägen 8 (near Elmia), ☏ +46 36 585 46 00. 1,450 kr.
• Scandic Portalen, Barnarpsgatan 6 (near rail way station), ☏ +46 36 585 42 00. 1,240 kr.

Connect

• Gameffect, Tändsticksgränd 33 (near rail way station), ☏ +46 720034488.
• Pressbyrån, Barnarpsgatan 36.

Go next

• Habo Kyrka (Habo Church) lies several kilometers northwest of Jönköping, just off the road to Falköping. It's a small frame church whose interior is decorated with peasant folk art depicting biblical scenes.
• Gränna is the hometown of the peppermint rock candy. One can also take the boat from here to get to the island of "Visingsö".
• Taberg, interesting mountain just south of Jönköping. Called the miracle in Småland by Carl von Linné.
• Visingsö is an island in lake Vättern, not far from Jönköping. It has a total area of 24 km² and its sights include its herb garden, the old castle ruins and going on a tour through the island by horse buggy. One gets out to the island by first getting to the town of Gränna to which one can take the local bus. After that you leave from Gränna on a boat which departs for Visingsö every hour or so.
• 60 km east of Jönköping lies the village of Eksjö. It is a town that has been able to preserve many wooden buildings in the center. Most of these houses are built around quiet courtyards. One house is now a museum where you can see how a well-off family lived around 1900.
• Outside of Eksjö there is a nature reserve where you can walk through a small canyon, the Skurugata, and then on up the hilltop, the Skuruhatt. The trail that takes past both is only 4 km long, but beware not to wander of onto the longer hiking trails that cross it. Walking through the Skurugata is a little adventurous, especially if it rains and the rocks become slippery. From the Skuruhatt you can see the surrounding countryside and forests.

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