Cruise, Göta Canal

The four-day trip in one of the old passenger boats on the Göta Canal from Göteborg to Stockholm (or vice versa) is one of the most memorable tourist experiences Sweden can offer. The total distance by water is 560km/350miles, of which 87km/55mi are in canals. To overcome a difference in height of 91.5m/300ft there are 65 locks on the route.

Cruise Map

Important Information:

Official site: www.gotakanal.se/

Address: Box 272, S-40124 Göteborg, Sweden

Useful tips: These trips are very popular, and early booking is therefore advisable. It is possible to return by train if desired.

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The service operates from mid-May to the beginning of September.

The four boats which ply on the Göta Canal are old, but have been brought up to modern standards. They do not carry cars, but the shipping company can arrange for the transport of passengers' cars by land.

History

The construction of a waterway between Stockholm and Göteborg to link the Kattegat with the Baltic was contemplated by Gustavus Vasa, but the first steps towards realizing the project were not taken until the time of Charles XII (1716). Two engineers, Swedenborg and Polhem, sought to bypass the Trollhättan falls by the construction of locks, but the protective embankment was destroyed by drifting logs in 1755, and thereafter the project hung until 1793. In 1810 work began on the section of the canal between Lakes Vänern and Vättern, in Västergötland (61.5km/38mi long, with 21 locks). The Ästergötland section, between Motala and the Baltic, is 92.5km/57miles long, with 37 locks. The construction of the canal is particularly associated with the names of Baron Baltzar Bogislaus von Platen and Daniel Thunberg. By 1832 the whole length of the canal from Göteborg to Mem on the Baltic (385km/239mi) was open for traffic. In those days the canal was an important industrial transport route: nowadays it is used almost exclusively by tourist traffic.

Related Attractions

Trollhättan - On Göta Canal

Starting from Gøteborg, the boat sails up the Götaälv, passing the ruins of Bohus Castle, and comes in some five hours to Trollhättan (alt. 38m/125ft). While the boat is passing through the locks (height difference 32m/105ft) there is time to look round the power station.

Lake Vänern - Göta Canal

By the time (about 6pm) the boat enters Lake Vänern at Vänersborg (alt. 44m/144ft) is has passed through six locks. The size of the locks varies considerably; some operate automatically.

Läckö Castle

In Lake Vänern the boat passes (on right) Läckö Castle, on the Kållandsö peninsula, built in 1298 by the bishop of Skara. Opposite it is the wooded hill of Kinnekulle (307m/1,007ft).

Sjötorp - Lake Viken

On the east side of Lake Vänern, at Sjötorp, is the beginning of the Ästergötland section of the Göta Canal, where during the night and early morning the boat climbs 47m/154ft over a distance of 36km/22mi, with the help of 20 locks, to reach Tåtorp on Lake Viken (which serves as a storage reservoir for this part of the canal).

At Lyrestad the canal is crossed by the E 3, and at Stora Lanthöjden it reaches its highest point (91.5m/300ft above sea level).

Lake Vättern - On the Göta Canal

The boat continues through Lake Viken (area 46sq.km/18sq.mi, depth 25m/82ft) and the adjoining Lake Botten (13sq.km/5sq.mi) to the south, with the Vaberg (226m/742ft) on the right, to enter Lake Vättern at Karlsborg.

Vadstena Motala

The passage across the northern part of Lake Vättern takes four hours. The boat reaches the eastern shore at Vadstena (where there is time for a tour of the town and a visit to the castle) and then skirts the shore to Motala, where the Östergötland section of the canal begins.

Lake Boren

On the north bank of the Göta Canal can be seen the tomb of Baron von Platen who died in 1829 before the canal was completed. Then a series of six locks leads down to Lake Boren (alt. 74m/243ft), and the boat continues across the lake to reach Borensberg at its east end in the early morning.

Over the next 22.2km/14mi, until the canal enters Lake Roxen at Berg (alt. 32.5m/107ft), it descends another 41.5m/136ft, passing through 16 locks.

Lake Roxen (Lake Asplång, Söderköping)

Then follows a stretch of 26km/16mi through Lake Roxen (alt. 32.5m/107ft) and the narrow Lake Asplång (alt. 27m/89ft), 5km/3mi long, after which the canal descends, through 15 locks, to the old town of Söderköping, which is reached about 8 p.m. (time for a tour of the town).

Slätbaken

From Söderköping it is another 5km/3mi to Mem, where the Göta Canal reaches Slätbaken, a 15km/9mi-long inlet on the Baltic. On its south side can be seen the tower of the ruined castle of Stegeborg.

Baltic Sea

From here the boat turns north through the skerries and the open Baltic, passing the inlet of Bråvik and the steel town of Oxelösund, to enter the long, narrow Himmerfjärd, which leads into the fjord-like Hallsfjärd and the 5km/3-mi-long Södertälje Canal (constructed 1806-19), linking Lake Mälar with the Baltic.