What to See in Linköping - Top Sights and Attractions

Nature preserve in Linköping, Sweden. Valla Wood is a nature reserve in the municipality of Linköping, in the county of Östergötland, Sweden. It is the forested area nearest the city centre. Because the main campus of the University of Linköping lies on the other side of it, many students and workers cycle back and forth daily on the small road through it. Smaller paths and woodland trails are used by people jogging, walking, birdwatching, and orienteering.

At 400 hectares, Valla Wood has been described as an oasis in the middle of the city.

Valla Wood lies right beside two important neighbours: Valla Farm and Old Linköping. These three should be considered as a group. The idea is that visitors can see how the land was used in Sweden long ago and the connections between village, forest, and farm.

Cattle grazed in the Wood up until the 1930s. Currently sheep graze in one fenced-off area. The Wood's fauna includes everything from insects and frogs, to birds, hares, and even deer. The flora ranges from the usual lush moss that covers many rocks and fallen logs, to birches, maples, pines, and spruce. Less usual are the orchids and the very old oaks.

During the 1970s and 80s there was a plan to build a major new road through the Wood. This road would have connected two important roundabouts in the city. Although this would have been convenient for motorists, it would have been devastating for all those who loved the Wood. Many residents of Linköping united against this threat and finally in 1989 the plan was defeated and the Wood was safe.

Valla Wood has evidence of human habitation and agriculture going back more than two thousand years.^[6]

University in Linköping, Sweden. Linköping University is a public university in Linköping, Sweden. Linköping University was granted full university status in 1975 and is now one of Sweden's larger academic institutions. Education, research and PhD training are the mission of four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Educational Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Institute of Technology. In order to facilitate interdisciplinary work, there are 12 large departments combining knowledge from several disciplines and often belonging under more than one faculty. Linköping University emphasises dialogue with the surrounding business sphere and the community at large, both in terms of research and education. In 2018, Linköping University was home to 32,000 students and 4,000 employees.^[7]

Trädgårdsföreningen i Linköping is a large green and park area in the central part of the city, 13 hectares in size. An association for its operation and promotion was founded on 22 March 1859 at a meeting at Linköping Castle. According to a sculpture in the park, it was founded by Anders Gustav Svensson. In 1997, work began on restoring the culverted Kärringbäcken stream that runs through the park. Several ponds have been formed during the creek's migration to the Stångån. Kärringbäcken has its source in Ankdammen, behind the former Soldathemmet. The stream was completed in spring 1998.

The park contains both hilly and open grassy areas, a kindergarten with a playground, a stage, a nursery, the Belvederen observation tower, a tropical house and a nature centre. In the parts of the park adjacent to the hospital area, the Linköping Beekeepers' Association has a club house and an apiary. The apiary with its associated house is known in older literature as the Apiary Pavilion. Today, however, there is no house on the site that is by definition an apiary pavilion.

Ryd is a city district in Linköping, Sweden, best known for housing the bulk of the Linköping University student body. They live in houses specifically assigned to LiU's students. Many of these homes are in the form of corridor rooms, where students have their own bedroom with an en-suite bathroom but a shared kitchen. The architecture of Ryd is typical of the Million Programme housing project of 1965–1974, one exception being the manor-like Ryds Herrgård which serves as a student pub/club.

It also had offices of Studentbostäder & Stångåstaden, where studentbostäder mainly helps the students for giving accommodation and Vårdcentralen (Medical Clinic). Ryd also has Rydcentrum, a retail space that includes Hemköp, where people can buy their household (food items), a pharmacy, a bicycle and key shop, a florist, a bakery, a small pizzeria outlet and a Chinese - Thai restaurant. Ryd also has a bus connection, where people can go to the Resecentrum (travel centre). Residents of Ryd are often heard speaking of Student Ryd (Swedish Studentryd) and the predominantly non-student Human Ryd (Människoryd) as two separate areas of the district. In 2012, 33% of the inhabitants of Ryd were born outside of Sweden.

There are two primary rental agencies that provide accommodations in Ryd. Stångåstaden requires applicants to register into a queue and accrue points in order to apply for rentals outside the student area. People who have not accrued enough point will not have the opportunity to get an apartment. Victoria Park rents accommodations in the southeast region of Ryd, and does not require queueing for points. Rents for comparable units are typically higher when renting from Victoria Park than from Stångåstaden, but because no point accrual is required it can be the only option for someone desiring to live in Ryd.^[8]