Sweden’s Göta Canal — Life in the Slow Lane

Sweden’s Göta Canal.

By Heidi Sarna.

Updated Oct 2022

Our family summer trip aboard the historic 46-passenger M/S Juno, one of a trio of wonderful old small cruise boats belonging to Sweden’s Göta Canal Steamship Company, was one of my favorite quirky cruises to date, no question about it.

A great way to chill out and step off the grid for a few days, we loved moving at a snail’s pace through the beautiful Swedish countryside aboard the intimate little vessel.

The charming 1874-built Juno. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Squat and oblong with a short stack, stubby nose, and a necklace of wooden planks strung around the hull for protection when passing through narrow locks, Juno’s looks haven’t changed all that much from 1874. She was built to carry cargo such as timber and grain on Sweden’s Göta Canal, the backbone of a 600-km waterway that links rivers, lakes and man-made canals across the heartland of Sweden.

The Göta Canal opened up the country to trade and commerce in the early years of industrialization and enabled Sweden to avoid paying taxes to Denmark, who controlled the waterways around the southern tip of Sweden.

Juno doesn’t look all that different today than her early years. * Photo of photo: Heidi Sarna

Our 4-day cruise from Gothenberg on the west coast, to Stockholm on the east coast, Sweden’s two largest cities, took us through 66 step-like locks — 58 on the Göta Canal, six on the Trollhätte Canal, and a pair of locks near Stockholm.

On either end of the cruise, we spent several enjoyable days in each of the historic and very walk-able cities.

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A Very Cozy Boat

My husband and twin 12-year-old sons and I occupied a pair of snug train-compartment-sized cabins at the topmost of three passenger decks. Each had bunk beds, a basin with running water above a small cupboard, and a slim closet thick enough for a few articles of hanging clothes. Luggage goes under the lower bunk (large suitcases get stored on a lower deck).

None of Juno’s 29 cabins have TVs or bathrooms, with the 46 passengers sharing seven toilets and four showers. Frankly, I had dreaded this part, but it wound up being fine. My strategy of showering after lunch worked perfectly.

Charming and compact ! * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Lunches and dinners were served in a dining room (that also resembled a rail car) on elegantly set tables from a fixed menu, with dietary requests accommodated with advance notice.

Highlights included delicious seafood stew and an excellent raspberry pie my family still talks about. (The only dish we were lukewarm on was the reindeer.)

Breakfasts were buffet-style, and the daily “fika” was a yummy teatime snack like freshly baked cinnamon buns that we looked forward to each day.

The food on board was very good. Salivating yet? * Photo: Heidi Sarna

When not exploring on shore, we passed the days shuffling between the large open-air seating area at the stern of the top deck, the open bridge to chat with the captain or take a turn at the wheel, and the triangle of open deck at the bow one deck down.

Day #1

We boarded Juno in Gothenburg on a beautiful, but chilly, sunny morning, greeted at the mini gangway by our charming multi-lingual guide Katarina, who said everything three times in English, Swedish and German to accommodate the mostly European passengers, and by Captain Albert Håkansson, whose handsome weathered face and pipe habit were straight out of central casting.

Soon under way, passengers sat in sun-filled pockets of deck, wrapped in the coal-grey woolly blankets draped over all the deck chairs (temps range from the 50s to 70s), taking in the pastoral sites as Juno’s engines hummed and trees rustled in the wind along Sweden’s Göta Canal.

Puffy white clouds, cranes and seagulls cast pretty shadows on fields of undulating grain and across the rippling water. A feeling of peace and serenity would linger with us during the entire journey.

Juno approaching a lock amidst lovely light and shadow. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

We came to our first lock after the lunch, the 8-metre-high Lilla Edet from 1916.

Juno waited outside of the giant doors of the chamber until it emptied and we could enter. Meanwhile, the pair of young blond Swedish deck hands hopped off the boat to secure it by looping ropes from the boat to the bollards that line the canal system, a routine they’d repeat dozens of times over the next four days.

When we moved into the chamber, the doors closed behind us, the compartment flooded and Juno was raised to the height of the next section of canal. This simple yet brilliant 19th-century technology was fascinating to see up close and especially educational for my sons.

Juno slips through many locks with barely an inch to spare. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Next were the four century-old Trollhättan locks, totaling a height of 32 meters. At the top, we docked near Trollhättan’s Canal Museum for a look around.

Back on the boat, we soon passed under the first of two lift bridges, whose span rises up to allow ships to pass underneath.

The crew popped champagne to toast the first day of the cruise, then the Captain brought us back down to earth. A storm was expected that night over Lake Vänern, Europe’s third largest lake, and he’d decided it was best to dock early for the night and cross it in the morning.

The lakes of central Sweden are like small seas. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Day #2

When Juno resumed cruising early the next morning, it was rainy and windy as Juno (with no stabilizers) bobbed and swayed across the lake. Fewer than a dozen people made it to breakfast that morning, too queasy to eat.

Luckily I had my sea legs, though my husband and sons were laid up in the cabin for an hour or two waiting it out.

By midday, sunny skies returned and we were back in the calm waters of the canal system, though we were now behind schedule. Unfortunately we had to skip visits to 19th-century Karlsborg Castle and historic Motala. Oh well, going with the flow is part of being on a cruise along Sweden’s Göta Canal.

Instead, the four of us took turns riding Juno’s two bicycles (others walked) along the wild-flower lined towpath as our little gem slowly moved between locks in the middle of the Swedish heartland, enjoying the fresh air and the exercise.

Bike or walk along the tow path when the mood strikes. * Photo: Arun Sarna

Dinner that evening was our favorite meal of the cruise — delicious baked pork with parsnip puree and red onion marmalade — and afterwards, we returned to the deck to admire the scenery and the gorgeous interplay of clouds and shadow in the waning sunlight of Sweden’s long summer days, as the ship inched across the country.

The expressive sky and moody canal. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Day #3

We awoke to calm canal cruising, with the occasional bump as Juno’s hull grazed the bottom of the shallow canal. Sipping our morning coffee and tea, we sat on a bench on the lower deck promenade, nearly level with the shore line, and watched a flock of sheep nibbling grass a few meters away. Such is the peaceful vibe along Sweden’s Göta Canal.

We passed “through” small country roads, tiny bridges that were cleverly engineered to retreat into themselves (like a zoom lens) or swing open like an arm, and admired the cute doll-like wooden houses trimmed in white along the banks. At each lock was a pretty yellow cottage originally inhabited by the lock keepers and now rented to anyone willing to keep it looking spiffy for the tourists.

Before lunch the drinkers were already at their sunny perch on the foredeck, sitting next to a coil of rope and a big chunky anchor, to soak up the scenery with bottles of beer and wine from the self-service bar.

The highpoint of the day was reaching the famous Carl Johan Locks, a steep staircase of seven short locks named after the Swedish King Carl XIV Johan (who was born in France).

Juno fit into each compartment like a hand in a glove. Many of us got off at the top and walked down the hill along the locks to take pictures, along with many other tourists.

The Carl Johan Locks behind us. * Photo: Son of Heidi Sarna

Later, we tied up in Linköping and followed Katarina on a 2-mile walk to the ruins of the 12th-century Vreta Benedictine Convent and its well-preserved Parish Church, with bright pink and red flowers planted around its gravestones.

After dinner it was ice-cream cones and a stroll though the medieval town of Söderköping to admire the brightly painted wooden cottages framed by Sweden’s lovely summer flowers.

Daily walks to local sights like this 12th century church. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Back on board, as the day was fading into night, we once again stood at the railings and swooned over the stunning twilight sky. First Officer Robin let my sons have a turn at steering, a novelty never afforded on larger ships.

Heidi’s sons learning the ropes from first office Robin. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Day #4

After breakfast was a visit to Birka, one of the most important Viking sites in Scandinavia and a UNESCO World Heritage site with burial mounds dating back more than 1,000 years.

Our tall archaeologist guide Andreas fit the part with long rock-band hair and a Viking’s belted tunic. He told us that being a Viking was a profession not a race — they were warriors and traders who travelled in their famous wooden ships all over Europe and also to eastern Canada and the Middle East.

Every day there is a walking tour or two on shore. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

After our final lunch on board, where Katarina read aloud an old poem about the building of the canal, by 4pm our quirky little Juno reached Stockholm’s 13th-century old town.

Dwarfed by the huge cruise ships and ferries in the harbor, we swelled with pride to be arriving on our historic little Swedish gem.

Interested in this cruise?

For more information or to book this cruise, contact Sweden’s Göta Canal Steamship Company.

The short Göta Canal cruise season is late May through late August.

Rates include:

• breakfast buffet
• 2-course lunches
• 3-course dinners
• afternoon coffee
• excursions

Juno cruises one way between Gothenburg and Stockholm on 4-day/3-night Classic Canal Cruises; fares include all meals and shore excursions. Two early 20th-century fleetmates, the Diana and Wilhelm Tham, offer similar two- to six-day itineraries.

I whole-heartedly recommend this very special small-ship cruise on Sweden’s Göta Canal; a quality operation and fascinating experience from start to finish!

The Juno being helped through the locks by a deck hand. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

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