Gothenburg is one of those cities that you fall in love with as soon as you arrive. It is the slower, more friendly big Swedish city. You will find cafes on every corner and parks spanning most of the land. Gothenburg is located on the South West coast of Sweden and known for its big harbour and industrial past. Although in recent years it has established itself as a centre for art and culture. It is the perfect destination for anyone wanting a city escape mixed with a little island life. It is a place for slow and sustainable travel, with eco-friendly transport, green hotels and a simple way of life. I admit, I may be a little biased. I have lived here for almost a year now and am totally in awe. In my opinion, everyone should visit this Gothenburg at least once, and I hope to persuade you why.
How to visit Gothenburg
Depending where you are coming from there are a few ways to get to Gothenburg! If you are flying, the best way is to fly into Göteborg Landvetter. The airport is located about 20 minutes drive away from the city. If you are coming from elsewhere in Sweden or Europe there are train and bus options! Most connections go right to Gothenburg Central Station. Trains from here run regularly to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen as well as other major Swedish cities! There are also a lot of bus routes, run by Flixbus, that stop off in Gothenburg. This is usually the cheapest way to travel but the trip usually takes quite a bit longer!
When to visit Gothenburg
Gothenburg is a beautiful place to visit all year around. The summer is the best time for island hopping and exploring the coast. The winter seasons brings Christmas markets and cosy vibes to the city and sometimes snow. In the spring Gothenburg transforms and the surrounding nature is covered in wild-flowers. In the autumn it is a beautiful tone of orange, and as the colder weather sets in the it becomes a hub for cosy indoor meet-ups. The temperature in the winter can be anywhere between -15 and 10 depending on the year. In the summer it can get up to about 34 degrees. The spring can be unpredictable and can come early, or there can still be snow in April. The autumn season is usually quite long and the cold weather doesn’t set in until about October.
My favourite time of year in Gothenburg is late spring and early summer. This is a time where the weather is usually best and the flowers are all in bloom. The islands are all opening up for the summer season and the city is a hive of summer activities.
Why you should visit Gothenburg
Experience the “lagom” Swedish lifestyle
One of the best things about Gothenburg is the pace of life. Everything is much slower in this city compared to bigger cities such as Stockholm. The city lends itself to letting you really letting you slow down feel in the moment. It is a great destination for those who enjoy “slow travel”. You can fill most days with strolls in beautiful gardens followed by coffee or soup as a cosy café. Although there is not so much “to do” in Gothenburg, there is a lot to experience. The sights are why you visit Gothenburg, but the way of the city is what makes you fall in love with it!
Read my Local’s guide to Gothenburg’s food scene to find some of the best cafes and restaurants to slow down in!
Visit Gothenburg’s Beautiful Archipelago
West Sweden has so many beautiful islands, all covered with red and white weatherboard house and small fishing villages. Gothenburg is a great hub to visit many of these islands as those in the archipelago are close enough for a day trip. A few islands are even close enough to see on the same day via an island hopping ferry! Although, if you are really taking in the Gothenburg lifestyle then you should probably take it slow and visit one at a time! Hönö, Öckerö, Marstrand, Dyrön are only a few of the many islands you can visit! If you are feeling a little more adventurous why not take a day trip up from Gothenburg to visit Smögen. This is one of the coastlines most popular summer islands and only a few hours north of the city.
The islands are what makes Gothenburg such a great summer destination. It gives you the connectivity of a city break with the possibility to see a much more magical side of Sweden! For more island tips see my guide on the West Coast!
Gothenburg is a city of hidden gems
Something I have noticed about travel in Gothenburg, and travel in Sweden in general, is that it is not very well publicised. It can be really difficult to find places to go and things to see. Most of the time this means that people can miss out on what really gives the city life!
For example, in Gothenburg you will likely not hear about the cosy waffle cottage located by Skansen Kronan. A place where you can go on a cold autumn day for a waffle and coffee prepared on an old iron stove and drink it with a view that looks out over the entire city. Even living here a year I have only just started to discover so many of these places! The charm in this is that one of the best ways to see the city is to stumble into the unknown with little plan and just see what you find! Maybe you will stumble across the remains of the old city wall located in an underground carpark, or maybe you stumble inland and find the beautiful Nääs Slott. The magic of the unknown is why you should visit Gothenburg.
The world class seafood
The seafood in itself is one reason why you should visit Gothenburg. Located on the West Coast with such little proximity to the sea, Gothenburg is known to have Sweden’s best seafood. Here you can visit some of the best seafood restaurants in the world and taste some traditional West Coast dishes. This includes shrimp sandwiches, crayfish parties and freshly caught muscles. Fiskekrogan, Sjöbaren and Sjömagasinet are all known to be world class seafood restaurants, their menus all based on Swedish cuisine with a little twist.
The size of the Gothenburg
Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city but compared to many other major cities across the world it is still relatively small. Why should this make you want to visit Gothenburg? Because it’s small size adds to the local feeling of the city, as a traveller gets to know their way around within a few days. If you are staying centrally, you will likely know your way around the central areas after a weekend, and will probably be able to navigate most of the tram lines after a week!
The size of the city and the great public transport system means that it is really easy to get from one place to another! Most of the time you will find it is just as fast to walk as it is take the tram, although the tram is always a much nicer way to travel after a long day out on an island. After being in the city for only a few days you start to feel like a part of it which is one of the things I love most about Gothenburg. It is a major city, but it feels like nothing more than a town!
Sustainable travel and eco-friendly lodging
Did you know that Lonely Planet awarded Gothenburg “Best Sustainable City Stay 2021”? The city is well known for its sustainable initiatives, aiming to be fossil free by 2030. It is also the first city in the world to offer sustainability grants to businesses that implement more sustainable practices! This also includes restaurants and hotels that source in ecologically grown produce and run mainly on green energy! 95% of the hotels in the city are environmentally driven. This means that even if you do not vouch to stay in an “eco-lodge”, you are most likely still staying in a sustainable accommodation!
Not only is the city great for green energy, but there are a lot of restaurants that focus on serving ecologically driven menus, as well as those that serve vegan and vegetarian menus! Restaurant Natur focuses on serving Swedish dishes with a twist, only using locally grown ingredients and serving natural and biodynamic wines. Here is a great article from Visit Sweden with 10 sustainably driven restaurants in Gothenburg that you have to visit!
Budget friendly attractions
As I may have said before, Gothenburg is not known for its sights. There are no iconic buildings like the Turning Torso in Malmö or the Royal Palace in Stockholm, however, Gothenburg does have some pretty amazing historical sites that you should visit! One of the top reasons why you should visit Gothenburg is that it is a great budget city escape compared to most other cities in Sweden. Skansen Kronan and Feskekörka are just two historical sites that are free to visit! There are also many beautiful gardens such as Trädgårdsföreningen with its big Palm House, the Botanical Gardens, and Slottskogen with it’s small zoo, that are free to walk around!
Of course there are paid attractions as well, but they balance out in price when you mix them with a few of the free ones! This includes Liserberg Amusement Park, Universeum and its tropical zone, and Upper House Spa with their pool that overlooks the city. In themselves these are attractions that prove why you should visit Gothenburg on your next city escape!
I hope this post has inspired you to visit Gothenburg! If you need some more inspiration remember to check out my other blog posts! And let me know what you think of the city, or this post, in the comments!
As always, don’t hesitate to ask any questions!
I myself grew up and still lives in Gothenburg and this was such a nice post to read, i feel like everything you said is accurate and it even inspired me to look around more and explore the city! I feel like so often we start to take the things for granted in the city we grow up in, but this really inspired me to stop doing that and appreciate the city more! Love <3
Thank you so much! My partner often says the same thing – he has lived in Gothenburg his whole life and has seen more of it in the last year that ever before! I am so happy to have inspired you! I have a lot of posts to write in the next few weeks about some things we have been doing so I hope you will come back and read them for some ideas <3