About Hans
Storytelling is the method. Gothenburg is the material.
Hans Hirschi is the guide behind Gothenburg Tours: a Swiss-born, Gothenburg-based author and local host with more than three decades of life, study, work, and curiosity invested in the city and the west coast.
From Nordic studies to private guiding
Hans first arrived in Gothenburg in 1991 as a young Swiss university student on an excursion focused on Nordic culture and history. He returned the following year to study literature at the University of Gothenburg and has called the area home for more than thirty years.
His background is unusually useful for private guiding: Nordic studies, literature, corporate learning and development, global travel, teaching, writing and years of showing friends, colleagues and guests the city in a way that connects the facts to the people listening.
Why storytelling matters
For Hans, storytelling is not decoration. It is the method. Stories make places understandable: why Gothenburg was founded where it was, how trade shaped the city, why the archipelago villages look the way they do, what changed as Sweden modernized, and how the past still shows up in everyday life.
A private tour is not a lecture. It is a conversation. The stories change with the guest: a child, an architect, a curious couple, a cruise guest with two hours ashore, a family returning to ancestral places, or a well-traveled visitor who wants context rather than a list of sights.
Author, traveler, local host
Hans is also a full-time author. That matters because writing trains the same muscles that guiding requires: listening, structure, pacing, empathy, and knowing which details help a story land. His author page is available at hirschi.se.
Languages
Guiding languages include English, Swedish/Scandinavian, German/Alemannic, Italian and French. Language availability can be confirmed when you request your tour.
Guiding style
Not a script. A conversation.
The route matters, but the connection matters more. A good guide reads the room, adjusts the pace, and tells the story that helps this particular guest understand this particular place.
Meet the city with context
Request a private tour with Hans.
Tell us your date, timing, and interests, and we can shape the day from there.