Fika in Gothenburg | The best cafes in Göteborg

Fika is one of the most Swedish “traditions” and something you have to do when visiting Gothenburg, Sweden! Loosely defined it is the act of taking time out for a coffee and pastry with a friend or colleague. Usually this happens in some cosy café in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon. In a city as big as Gothenburg, where there are so many cafes and coffee shops to choose from, it can be hard to know where to find the best fika! You have the obvious choices like Café Husaren in Haga for giant cinnamon buns. Café Magasinet for the Instagram aesthetic. Or Mr Cake for extravagant delights. But in my experience, half the fun of exploring Gothenburg is finding all of the hidden gems where it really feels like you have your own special fika café.

Having lived here for 2 years, I would say I now have a pretty solid knowledge of some of the best cafes in Gothenburg from a locals’ perspective! All of which I am super happy to share with you!

So, here are 10 of the best cafés for fika in Gothenburg!

The best cafes for fika in Gothenburg

Ahlströms Konditori

Ahlströms Konditori is one of the more traditional cafés in Gothenburg. Inside, you find a maze of different rooms leading to a courtyard outside. Here you can sit in the sun in the summer, or under blankets and sparkling lights in the dark winter afternoons. Ahlströms is before anything else a bakery, meaning they have some of the best traditional Swedish fika. This includes the likes of princesstårta, budapestrulle, and biskvi.

ahlströms konditori gothenburg best cafe

Kopps

Kopps is my favourite café and go to spot for fika with friends, or when I am studying/ working from home. It is quite a big café with several cosy nooks so it is usually quite easy to find a quiet spot to yourself – whether it be downstairs on a corner sofa or up on the indoor balcony. The fika selection at Kopps is quite traditional, with chocolate balls, carrot cake and the likes. What I love about Kopps is that they usually have several lactose free, gluten free and vegan options so it’s a really easy café for anyone with dietaries!

Le Petite Café

Le Petite Café is my favourite of the cafes in Haga, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Gothenburg known for its cosy cafes. Located at the end of the street, Le Petite Café has a very special aesthetic, the cafe filled with colourful wallpaper and pictures hanging on the walls. On weekends they serve a brunch buffet including waffles, scones and yoghurt, and during the week a great selection of extravagant fika. Here you can find some of Gothenburg’s best pies and cakes – including apple pie, lemon meringue pie and raspberry cheesecake.

Eva’s Paley

Eva’s Paley is one of those places that makes you feel like you have walked into an old manner house. The wallpaper and chairs are all made of a shiny velvet that give it such an extravagance. On weekdays they serve a soup buffet and on weekends a luxury breakfast. This is one of my favourite places to go in the evenings when we are looking for a cosy spot to sit and drink a hot chocolate or cup of tea.

Brogyllen Hamngatan

Brogyllen Hamngatan is one of the grander cafes in central Gothenburg, with high ceilings, dried flowers decorating the windows, and chandeliers hanging above. This is a cosy place for fika and they have a great range of different parties to taste!

The best cafe in Gothenburg - Brogyllen Hamnen

Alkemisten Kaffebar

Alkemisten Kaffebar is one of the more trendy cafes, located outside of Central Gothenburg in the suburb of Kville. The coffee here is some of the best in Gothenburg and they usually have several different bean blends to choose from!

Café Kronhuset

Kronhuset is one of the oldest buildings in Gothenburg, and the café is definitely a secret gem! Hidden in a courtyard away from the street, Kronhuset is one of the cosiest places for a fika. You order inside one of the wooden buildings and can then sit in the courtyard surrounded by beautiful old architecture. Some of the other buildings are used as workshops by local artists and when they are open you can buy things like jewellery and ceramics.

Fröken Olssons Kafé

Fröken Olssons is a big and airy café with lots of nice places to sit. They have a soup buffet for lunch with salad, coffee and cake included, and an afternoon tea on Thursdays when you can taste all of their delicious fika treats.

Da Matteo Magasinsgatan

Da Matteo is a favourite for everyone who lives in Gothenburg. They have some of the best coffee and their cafes have the best atmosphere for meeting friends, studying or taking a coffee by yourself. The courtyard on Magasinsgatan is somewhere you have to visit when you are in Gothenburg, and it is genuinely the best place to sit on a sunny day. Here you can take a coffee from one of the two Da Matteo cafes which border the café. You can pair it with a pastry or fresh salad from Da Matteo, or buy one of Gothenburg’s best bao buns from Jinx Food Truck and enjoy it out in the courtyard.

Da Matteo Victoriapassagen

Victoriapassagen is one of the cosiest alleyways in Gothenburg, and taking a fika here, sitting on a bar seat and looking out the window, you really get an insight into what it is like to live in Gothenburg. As I said above, Da Matteo is known to have some of the cities best coffee, so it is no surprise that this little coffee shop is one of the best places for fika in Gothenburg.