Above all, the city of Vadstena is noted for two important facts of Swedish history.

Today the surviving buildings of the monastery are occupied by a hotel, (Vadstena Klosterhotel), and the castle houses the provincial archives and a museum of 16th and 17th century furniture, portraits and paintings.

The Town Hall is Sweden's oldest, dating back to the early 15th century.

Notable is the main street (Storgatan) where all the shops are gathered, as they would have been during the Middle Ages.

Vadstena also preserves elements of more recent history in the museum of the Vadstena-Fågelsta narrow gauge railway (Wadstena Fogelsta Järnväg).