I hadn’t heard much about Gothenburg, except from my Sweden-travelled, friends who had recommended Stockholm instead! The name conjured images of Gothem City, which was what I was thinking of when we touched down on a grey morning in December.
Firstly, where was everyone?! The streets and transport were surprisingly quiet. Everything was very… organised.
We took the Flygbussarna from the airport, which was only 20 minutes to the city centre. It has a few stops, so identify which is closest to yours before you board. The staff were extremely nice, so no stress if you need help. We stayed outside the city centre in Majorna, so swapped at Kungsportsplatsen on to a tram to take us there. Everything still very quiet, very calm, very nice.
There’s only a few tourist-y ideas that google suggests and our first stop was to head to one of them; Feskekorka – the fish market. The market was smaller than I imagined, but that was a theme that was to run through our time in Gothenburg and something which I actually ended up loving about it. Fish stalls were selling the day’s catch; beautiful looking fresh seafood which you can buy and eat on the go. There’s a restaurant upstairs and a café downstairs – all full of local lunch-ers and a few tourists. We went for the more casual Café Kajutan. Seating was cramped and packed – so much so that we nearly left, but the waitresses make it work really well. I ate the day’s special, which was a fish and shellfish casserole (including a free coffee) at 169k (£14). We also had the fish gratin at 129k (£11) and wine at 85k (£7.50) per glass. The food was absolutely delicious, and although the wine was perhaps slightly overpriced we are used to expensive London so it didn’t bother us too much. Delicious, fresh, clean eating in a beautiful old building. Absolutely loved it and so pleased we hung around to find that out.
Haga is another of the places recommended as a tourist attraction and it really is quite tourist-central here – super pretty but with hyped up prices! We browsed on both a Friday and then again on a Sunday. On Friday there was room in the small quirky shops to look about, and plentiful seats in the cool cafes. On the Sunday, it was absolutely rammed but with great atmosphere; stalls, stacks of cakes, coffee and GLOGG! Whether you choose to visit on a weekday or weekend just make sure you try one of the famous cinnamon buns; 70k (£6) for the biggest bun you’ll ever see! Pricey, but can be split by 3, maybe even 4 people.
We climbed from the town up to the fortress Skansen Kronan.
Absolutely beautiful views up here, and really not such a hard climb as it
looks. Just under 200 steps, but proper pavement all the way. It would be nice
to enjoy a coffee or snack up here, but in the cold, winter winds we just
snapped some photos and headed back down. Warm up with a glogg!
We were visiting in prime Christmas preparation time so enjoyed all of the festivities. Kronhuset, close to Gustav Adolf’s statue, is Gothenburg’s oldest house and was hosting a Christmas market whilst we were there. The hall was full with local crafts, and outside in the courtyard the shops were looking really lovely. This was a great morning of browsing. Free to enter, really traditional – great for gifts.
In a bit of a contrast, we visited the theme park Liseberg later that day. Fee was 110kr (£10) to enter. Impressive, huge decorations but with crowds to match! It was similar to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland and although it was great, it was much more commercial than Kronhuset’s. The thing that we did love here though, was the open grills placed around the park for customers to warm their hands on. Tall, open charcoal grills placed within huge crowds. With children running about! Can you imagine this being used in the UK?! I think not. It was making my inner health and safety radar twitch but … it works for warming the hands!
The main square at Kungsportsplatsen was home to the famous singing Christmas tree, which performs at scheduled times, singing both Swedish and other famous carols. I loved this, along with the street decorations around the city which are beautiful. More simple than those we usually find at home but festive; old-y world-y!
We were told about many more festivities going on but didn’t get to visit them. The Tourist Centres were very helpful in planning things to do if you want to find something, especially things that are a bit under the radar. Please note though, no matter how hard we looked there is NOT a Christmas market at Haga! It is the usual shops, decked out with decorations. Just thought I would point that one before you go searching, like we did.
Gothenburg is walkable, but if you are staying out of town the tram is the best way to get around. So easy, just download the Vasttrafik app to see routes. You can either use the app to pay, pay for single journeys on board (card only via machine) or get a multi-day tourist ticket from a newsagent/tourist information store. We paid for our single journeys on board since we only used it a few times (27k / £2.30 per journey). The machine, surprisingly hard to find… is located in the very centre of each tram and is small! It is not the machine that you beep your prepaid card on as you board!
As we were staying in Majorna we found the passenger ferry a good option to get in to the centre. It is the same price as the tram tickets (and included in the multi-day pass tickets). Good views, frequent and fun. Again, pay for single tickets via the machine as you board.
We had read that Gothenburg was particularly expensive but were pleasantly surprised. Things that were a bit eyebrow raising were the obvious tourist places, as well as things like bottled water. But, bring your reusable bottle, drink the (much coveted) tap water and stay away from eating in Haga and you’ll be fine!
For good food deals, you’ll see that lunch specials are a big thing here (meal of the day and wine/beer) for set prices advertised on boards outside restaurants). This seems like the most cost effective way to eat and we found similar dinner time offers too. In Majornas Krog pub-restaurant in erm… Majorna (!) we enjoyed their house special one evening – Husets Plankstek (beef tenderloin, served with mashed potations, pepper, red wine and bearnasie sauce with vegetables) – for 174k (£15) per person, including a wine/beer. It was absolutely outstanding food and we returned against the next night to sample another special! Delicious.
Our hotel was very active in advertising how eco it was. Don’t
use a towel per day. Don’t take too much food. Recycled napkins. Drink tap
water.
This approach was popular through the town and, because of my less-waste
efforts I loved it. Gothenburg was also much further ahead in terms of being a
cash-less society. Remember when deciding how much money to take with you that
some restaurants/stalls don’t take any cash at all.
Gothenburg is small. Smaller than I had envisaged but despite that I would love to come back. By the end of the weekend I had fallen in love with the simplicity of the place, how nice the people were and how relaxed the lifestyle seems. All make it worth the trip and I would love to see the archipelago in Summer. Head over and discover the country of Ikea – it’s worth the journey!
