Gothenburg

Photo © UStravel23

Introduction

Gothenburg is a city in the southwest of Sweden. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area and about 1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area. Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. In addition to the generous privileges (e.g. tax relaxation) given to his Dutch allies from the then-ongoing Thirty Years' War, the king also attracted significant numbers of his German and Scottish allies to populate his only town on the western coast. At a key strategic location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavia's largest drainage basin enters the sea, the Port of Gothenburg is now the largest port in the Nordic countries.

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Sights and Activities

Gothenburg Cathedral, Västra Hamngatan. Built in 1815. edit
Christinae Church (German Church), Norra Hamngatan. Built in 1748. edit
Crown House (Kronhuset), Postgatan. Built in 1643-1655, and briefly home of the Swedish Parliament. It currently houses Göteborgs Musik, and the surrounding buildings are now cafes and crafts workshops. edit
Oscar Fredrik Church, Värmlandsgatan. The largest and most well decorated church. Built 1893. edit
Skansen Kronan (Crown Keep). A hilltop fortification, southwest of the city center, built in the 17th century. In the 19th century it served as a prison, and now houses a military museum. Its twin Skansen Lejonet (Lion Keep) unfortunately finds itself in the middle of a railroad and industrial area but guided tours are held the first and third Sunday of every month. edit
Close to Skansen Kronan is Haga, a city district with picturesque wooden houses from the 19th century. Don't forget to explore the more bohemian Långgatan streets (Första, Andra, Tredje and Fjärde Långgatan) nearby.

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Events and Festivals

Gothenburg Aero Show

The largest air show in Sweden and Scandinavia, there are literally tens of thousands of people that flock to Gothenburg in May for this magnificent aeronautical event, making it the largest non-cultural festival of the year. The country’s most famous civilian and military aircraft are on display performing mesmerizing maneuvers in the sky.

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Weather

Gothenburg has moderately warm summers, between 19 °C and 21 °C from June to September, but 32 °C degrees is the record. Nights are around 13 °C or 14 °C. Winters last from December to March with temperatures around zero during the day, -3 °C at night and an absolute low of -26 °C . Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, but with some more rain in summer and quite some snow in winter.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Max	1 °C	1 °C	5 °C	10 °C	16 °C	20 °C	21 °C	21 °C	16 °C	12 °C	6 °C	3 °C
Avg Min	-3 °C	-4 °C	-1 °C	2 °C	7 °C	11 °C	13 °C	12 °C	9 °C	6 °C	2 °C	-2 °C
Rainfall	61 mm	40 mm	49 mm	41 mm	49 mm	59 mm	68 mm	75 mm	80 mm	83 mm	82 mm	72 mm
Rain Days	17	13	14	12	12	12	13	14	15	16	17	16

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Getting There

By Plane

Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport (GOT) is the main gateway to the city of Gothenburg. It is the second largest airport in Sweden, after Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. It is served by about 30 different airlines, including SAS, Norwegian Ryanair and Wizz Air, who offer the most connections.

Almost all of the flights to Landvetter are short-haul ones from other European cities. If you want to fly in from other continents, you need to connect at a larger airport offering intercontinental flights. Norwegian and SAS offer connecting intercontinental tickets, as do several other European flag carriers flying to Landvetter. A flight ticket from Sweden's capital Stockholm to Gothenburg costs around 400 SEK.

To/from the airport:

Bus: Flygbussarna takes passengers to the city of Gothenburg in 20 minutes, and in 30 minutes to Gothenburg Central station.
Car: The road distance to Gothenburg is 25 kilometres. There are 7,300 parking spaces at the airport. Taxis are widely available as well.

By Train

Göteborgs Centralstation (tram Centralstationen/Drottningtorget or Nordstan) is the main rail station in Gothenburg. Highspeed trains of SJ and MTR connect with Stockholm in just over three hours. International train services are available to Oslo and to Copenhagen (via Malmö and the Öresund bridge), both in just under 4 hours. A daily night train connects with the northern Swedish cities of Luleå and Umeå.

Also, a private luxury train named Blå Tåget travels the route Gothenburg-Stockholm-Uppsala daily except Fridays. Journey times are longer than SJ fast-trains but the train boasts generous seating, free WiFi and includes an onboard restaurant.

By Car

European roads E6, E20 and E45 pass through Gothenburg. If you come by car from Stockholm, you should take E4 to Jönköping, and then national road 40. Approximate distances & travelling time:

Malmö (E6/E20 south): 300 km, 3 hours
Oslo (E6 north): 320 km, 4 hours
Stockholm (40 east, E4): 500 km, 4 hours and 40 minutes
Copenhagen (E6/E20 south): 317 km, 3 hours and 30 minutes

By Bus

Eurolines, Säfflebusen and Swebus Express all have connections to Gothenburg from cities like Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.

By Boat

There are quite a few destinations that are served to and from Goteborg by ferry.
Germany

Stena Line between Goteborg and Kiel.

Denmark

Stena Line and Silja Line between Goteborg and Frederikshavn.

United Kingdom

DFDS Seaways between Goteborg and both Harwich and Immingham.
Stenaline between Harwich and Gothenburg.

Iceland
The Icelandic cargo ship Eimskip has two vessels, the Dettifoss and Goðafoss which travel the route Rotterdam-Hamburg-Göteborg-Århus-Fredrikstad-Tórshavn-Reykjavík. It takes 8 days in total and the return trip goes via eastern Iceland and Tórshavn only. The vessel can take a maximum of 3 passengers but only between mid-April and mid-October.

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Getting Around

By Car

There are several taxi companies, for example Taxi Göteborg (031-650000), Taxi Kurir (031-272727) and Minitaxi (031-140140). Initial fare from 35 SEK, and then from 10 to 14 SEK/km. Every taxi must have comparing prices well visible according to law, and it's often placed in the side window. No 1 is daytime, no 2 is rush hour and no 3 is for night time service, and then you see the initial fare, price per hour, price per kilometre and comparing prices for a typical journey.

Note that prices between companies vary. For the above-mentioned larger companies the visible comparing price is about 300-350 SEK. Dubious taxi operators take about double the price, so make sure to compare before you enter. For longer travels, negotiate a fixed price. To the airport it should be around 500 SEK.

Illegal taxis, called "svarttaxi", are operating, particularly during Friday and Saturday nights. They are generally cheaper, but using them is not advised, particularly for women or drunk passengers, since muggings and rapes have occurred involving illegal taxis.

By Public Transport

Public transportation within Gothenburg (and the west of Sweden) is operated by Västtrafik and consists of trams, buses and ferries. You can find more information about tickets and a journey planner on their homepage.

Gothenburg has a famous network of trams, covering most of the city. With over 150 km the Gothenburg tram is the largest light rail network in Scandinavia. The network consists of 12 tram lines, 1 to 11 and 13, and every line except no 8 passes through the main tram stop Brunnsparken ('Well Park'). It is located one tram stop or a 2 minute walk from the train station, Centralstationen. The trams runs approximately every 8–10 minutes during daylight and twice every hour at night, at weekends the trams run every 15–30 minutes. Notice that not all lines runs nighttime. This and the boats Paddan (operating from Kungsportsplatsen) is the best way to see the city as they run above ground at a comfortable yet quick pace.

Trams are the most efficient way to travel within the city centre, but if you're planning to go further you might need to go by bus. Bus lines heading in the same direction often departs from the same part of the city. There is no real equivalent to the large central tram and bus stop Brunnsparken - most others are divided into several "smaller" hubs, which you often reach by tram.

Two ferry services run across the river; Älvsnabben is the regular ferry service with traffic every thirty minutes, and Älvsnabbare that only run between Rosenlund and Lindholmspiren (free of charge) during work hours. Besides transport, this can be a good way to see the city from the river.
Ferries to the southern archipelago run from Saltholmen, with three different lines: Vrångö line, Brännö Rödsten line and the less trafficated Förö line. The service runs once an hour or less. Styrsöbolaget run the ferry services under licence of Västtrafik - you can still use the city public transport ticket. On their homepage can you find time tables and more information about the islands.

By Foot

With a compact city centre most sights are easily reached by foot, and it's a nice way to get around.

Popular walks around the city includes the nature reserve around the lake Delsjön, the park Slottskogen, the botanical garden, on any of the islands in the southern archipelago, or in the neighbourhood Haga.

By Bike

Gothenburg has a nice network of bicycle paths, reaching all parts of the city. You can buy network maps at the tourist information centres, and you can find an online version at the link.[5]

You can bring your bike on the ferries, on some trains but not on trams or buses. The service is free on Älvsnabben but cost 10 SEK on the ferries in the southern archipelago.

You can rent a bike from Cykelkungen or if you are staying at a hostel they can often provide it for you.

In the most central parts there are an automated loan bike system Styr & Ställ, registration of 25Kr fo r3 days an reserving an amount on your credit card they are free to use as long as you use for only 30 minutes and then replaced in another place. You can then take a bike again 2 minutes later. An real-time map showing how many bikes and free parking slots are available at each station can be downloaded here

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Eat

The main restaurant street in Gothenburg is Linnégatan running from Järntorget to Linnéplatsen. It has a high concentration of good restaurants of all kinds in the low to moderate price range.

Most restaurants offer lunch menus ranging 60-80 SEK, mostly they are served between 11:30 and 14:00.

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Drink

In the summertime there are outdoor serving along Avenyn and Linnégatan.

You can pick up the free Nöjesguiden and Djungeltrumman magazines in various stores to read more about Gothenburg's nightlife. They are only available in Swedish though.

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Sleep

Upscale

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Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely stretched out in a very modern way and you can find 3G network (and soon 4G as well) almost everywhere, though in the higher northern parts and in the mountains it is of course harder or impossible.

The number of WiFi access points are growing and fast food chains, libraries, hotels, cafés and malls and others may offer free wireless internet access. Fixed terminals where you can pay for internet access exist as well, although many libraries can provide the same service for free. Some buses for longer distances have free wifi and most of the trains do have it as well but at cost sometimes.

Almost every household does have internet and it is fast and modern. You barely see any internet cafés because of the influence by high-tech phones with internet access and the cheaper and more comfortable internet at home, but there are some places like Pressbyrån that offers computers with internet access (not free).

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Post

Posten AB is the Swedish postal service, with fast and reliable services. They have a wide range of services including a track and trace system and different options regarding the sending of postcards, letters and parcels. There are both express and economy services and if you are not in a hurry the latter option is fine enough.

The postal service was abandoned at the public post offices in 2001. The public today deals with its postal business at Postal Service Points. Mail and parcels can now be picked up at a number of places, including gas stations, supermarkets and kiosks. Look for the blue and yellow sign above or by the entrance of outlets providing this service. You can also buy stamps and there are quite a few more services in these places, many of which stay open late in the evening and on weekends. Yellow post boxes are for national and international letters and blue for regional letters. Postal Service Centres are maintained for business clients and Svensk Kassaservice, a chain which deals with simple financial transactions but offers no postal services. There are also traditional post offices offering the full range of services. They are usually open between 9:30am and 6:00pm and may have extended opening hours once or twice a week.

One of their competitors is Bring Citymail AB, formerly privatised but now nationalised by Norway. Otherwise, for sending parcels internationally, try and use international companies lik TNT, DHL, UPS or FedEx.

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