Category: Blog

We get it! You don’t know Gothenburg, you have no idea what to do here. You didn’t choose this stop on your cruise’s itinerary. You didn’t pick this city for your conference. Or you DID choose Gothenburg because your travel magazine said we’re “hipp” or because your foodie website said we’re great for fine dining.

Did we say “We get it?”

We do, we really do. Because we are avid travelers, too, and we sometimes end up in cities we don’t know, where we wonder “What’s to see?”, “What are the must-sees?”, “What are the tourist traps?” When we say that our tours are 100% customized that doesn’t mean that no two travelers will ever see the same thing. There is, after all, only ONE Gothenburg.

No offense, Nebraska. However, we DO have a lot to offer even if we’re not as famous as London or New York. There is a lot to see, and a tour can be based around many different topics.

So what does “100% customized” actually mean?

Let’s assume you’re into architecture. Wouldn’t you love to see the quirky architectural marvels and mishaps (both a matter of taste, of course) we have to offer? If you’re more into what is going on here in the economy, we’d be happy to tell you all about our automotive industry, and how we are at the forefront of e.g. autonomous driving research. Or we can talk about life sciences, etc. A custom tour makes sure to show you things you’re passionate about. Beyond the must-sees. Around the must-sees.

Unless you’ve already seen them, you still get to see our must-sees. Most of our guests stay downtown within walking distance of many of our humble sights. We will not drag you past them again if you’ve already seen them. We can still tell you about it, give background, history, whatever, but it’s based on you, and what you’ve done. Also, if you don’t like history, why would we spend a lot of time telling you about it?

A custom tour won’t change the sights, it’ll shape how you experience them!

We can take you to places off the rack tours won’t go. Let’s say you’re into rock carvings and the Stone Age. We can take you to places no bus can get to, even if they’d want to. Say your hobby is really, really unusual. Did we tell you about the client who wanted to buy a Swedish Christmas Troll in the middle of summer? We took them to the apartment building where the husband and wife team made them so they could pick out the one for them. Probably a one-off, but for a happy client, that’s what we do. They still saw the Fish Church, the various statues, Haga, and everything else.

A custom tour is all about making sure you get the best possible experience and lots of lovely memories from your visit to Gothenburg! Simply tell us how much time you have to spend with us and what your interests (and dislikes) are. We’ll make sure you get to spend a great time in our care.

I just replied to a booking inquiry for a group with young kids. I love showing our young visitors around town. As the father of a ten-year-old (next week) and a family who loves to travel, I know that kids and adults have different outlooks on travel, and what to experience at a destination. Here are a few things to consider and plan for when you visit Gothenburg with kids.

Kids get bored more easily

The attention span of a child is not that of an adult. Every parent knows that. As a guide, I’m mindful not only to include their perspective in my narration, but also to make sure not to talk too much, or too long at a time. Including the kids in the process is vital.

Kids are smart! And they will usually happily go with everything, even walking tours (preferable to sitting still in a car for longer periods of time actually.) But frequent stops are crucial. Kids will also need comfort breaks and snacks to refuel their energy. Gothenburg offers plenty of everything.

Blending adult and kid activities

A city tour is normally geared toward adults with anecdotes about history, art, or culture. When you have kids with you, it’s important to also consider activities that are geared toward them. That doesn’t always have to be on a day-to-day basis but could be spending one day for adults (wine tasting) and one day for the kids (amusement park.)

These are just examples. Ideally, you can do everything because when everybody gets their fill, we’re all happier for it.

Gothenburg with kids

Sweden is by definition a child-friendly city. Our amusement park is the largest one and by far the most beautiful one in the Nordics. It celebrates its centennial this year and with its focus on all age groups caters to younger kids, thrill-seeking teens, and adults alike.

Right next door is our science museum, Universeum, which is almost entirely catering to children. Its huge aquariums and the rainforest are guaranteed to be a hit with the kids.

For Swedish-speaking very young visitors there’s the Alfons Åberg (Alfie Atkins) Museum right next to the central station for book-loving kids. Finally, while I haven’t been there since its reopening, I have heard great things about our maritime museum and its huge new aquariums. There’s obviously more, a LOT more… Ask us!

Places to eat and drink with kids

Kids usually love burgers, and I highly recommend Max, which is a Swedish burger chain serving really good burgers. Kids love it. When it comes to refueling sugar and energy, there’s a café in Haga serving their famous and humongous cinnamon rolls. I’ve yet to meet a child who’s not licking their lips at the sight of them.

If pizza is the preferred choice, I’d suggest visiting the world’s “largest” pizzeria (their claim!) which is a converted movie theater.

Every kid is different

My son loves sushi, but none of his classmates do.

He has a thing for smoked salmon and loves to see modern dance at our opera house. None of his friends do.

He obviously also loves all of the above. This is just to say that kids are different, and your child may like something else entirely.

Ask us and we’ll find something that’ll make them happy, too. This is why Gothenburg Tours is different from the rest. We cater to your needs. Whatever they might be!

Welcome to Gothenburg!

I promised you the other day that I’d showcase some of my personal favorites in this versatile city. While celebrating its Quadricentennial this year, Gothenburg has a history spanning back thousands of years.

First things first: GAII

June 4, 1621, is an important date in our city’s history, as its fourth incarnation is founded by king Gustav II Adolf. Having long served as a bridgehead into the North Sea, as all lands north and south of our city were either Danish or Norwegian, each previous attempt at founding a city was destroyed by Danish forces (who at the time also ruled Norway.) This is why we only celebrate our Quadricentennial this year, late again.

You need to know about the Ice Age

About ten-thousand years ago, the ice retreated from Sweden’s West Coast, allowing for people to migrate north. And they did. All around Gothenburg, burial mounds, stone ships, cairns, stone carvings, and even paintings bear witness to an age largely forgotten by history. Here are but a couple of examples from ancient Gothenburg to show you:

Rock carvings on Hising Island

These are difficult to find, but no less impressive once you stand there, witnessing the work of art from people thousands of years ago.

These carvings, boats, and bowl pits bear witness to a time when the ocean shore was located in a very different place and while we know little about that time or why people carved into the rock, to be able to be in such physical proximity to our ancestors’ works of art is exhilarating

One of the country’s most impressive rock paintings

A few miles further north, on a cliff, someone (or several) artists painted animals, fish, and other symbols right above the seashore. They aren’t easy to get to but most impressive to see in person.

The islands tell the story of changing civilizations

In Gothenburg’s archipelago, there are many signs of how civilization changed over the millennia along with the changing coastline, as the land rises from the ocean after the literal weight of the ice had been lifted. Here you can visit where the first summer guests arrived some six-thousand years ago, bronze age burial sites, all the way to the medieval times where fishing created a short but vital period of wealth. While on the island of Styrsö, why not learn about how these past few centuries have seen a radical change in the island’s topography and appearance. That, however, is a different story.

There is so much more…

There are hundreds of sites to visit in ancient Gothenburg, and while this is not for everybody, if you love to see things that most tours don’t even mention, let me know. I’d be more than happy to take you to places most guides aren’t even aware of.

Welcome to ancient Gothenburg!

Here’s what we have to offer for you

As Gothenburg celebrates its Quadricentennial this year, two years late, a local tradition, there are quite a few things happening in town. There will be a big festival in June to celebrate the city’s 400th anniversary of being founded (by the way not for the first time…) by king Gustav II Adolf, known as Adolphus the Great abroad. Our amusement park, Liseberg, was founded for the Tricentennial 100 years ago (we were late then, too, as the city was founded in 1621), will showcase a brand new hotel (with a water park opening next year) and a new roller-coaster.

Come to Gothenburg for the Quadricentennial, and stay for what we have built over four centuries

Yes, plenty will be going on this year, and they’re great reasons to come. However, we would like to invite you to stay and linger for everything else we have to offer.

In coming blog posts I’ll highlight some of my personal favorites in Gothenburg and surrounding West Sweden, regardless if it is culture or nature, sea or forest, architecture or food that makes your heart beat faster!

Welcome to Gothenburg in 2023. We’d love to show you around!

Imagine a glacier a couple of miles thick, weighing heavily upon the Scandinavian peninsula, a colossal monstrosity extending from the Arctic Circle all the way down to continental Europe. But with a warming planet, the glacier is slowly retreating. In its wake, humans are slowly migrating north following animal herds, e.g. reindeer and their predators: wolves, bears, and wolverines: prehistoric Gothenburg!

Five thousand years ago

People have been living in the area that is present-day Gothenburg for at least twelve thousand years! We know that because of the neolithic traces left behind, such as what is called “Drottning Hackas Grav”, which was found in 1978 and had to be moved 30 ft to avoid being destroyed by a road being built on the site. This stone-age gravesite is the oldest “building” or construction in the city dating back some five thousand years.

Three thousand years ago

As the glaciers retreated, a weight was literally lifted from Scandinavia, and ever since then, the peninsula has been rising from the ocean. This can still be witnessed in Northern Scandinavia where ocean levels are dropping, despite the current climate change actually increasing sea levels. Here in the south, oceans are beginning to wise again, outpacing the millimeter or so the land rises from the ocean. But thousands of years ago, the landscape here, the shorelines, looked radically different, and many of the archeological finds were on shorelines, including the above gravesite.

Another amazing find here in town is this wall with rock paintings. These paintings date three thousand years back. They aren’t very accessible, but I’m happy to take you to see them. There aren’t many rock paintings in southern Sweden and this one is really beautiful.

Bronze-age petroglyphs

While the most famous petroglyphs in Sweden are an hour’s drive north of Gothenburg, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site at Tanum, there are several sites in the city as well, and most likely many more that have not yet been discovered. Near the harbor is another prehistoric Gothenburg site that may be difficult to access, but that rewards with ship carvings, balls, and a sun (?) wheel. Can you find the carvings in this photo?

There is a lot more to see and explore in our city, and it can be combined with visits to Tanum and/or more conventional sightseeing. Prehistoric Gothenburg is always worth a visit, and so are the five-thousand years that followed!

Dear home town!

Today you celebrate your fourth centennial. That is quite the accomplishment. Now mind you, I realize of course that you are much older than that. We know that settlements along the Göta River date back to the Stone Age. Alas, it wasn’t until June 4^th, 1621, that the current installment of Gothenburg actually survived to the modern-day. Every previous attempt at building a city on the mouth of the river was destroyed by our friendly neighbors, the Danes. At the time, they ruled the land south (Halland, Skåne) and north (Bohuslän, Norway.)

Walking through town, there are reminders everywhere about your third centennial celebration. Oddly, due to “delays” (we Gothenburgers excel at that…), we didn’t really celebrate your birthday until 1923. Funnily, the pandemic and other “delays” force us to delay the fourth centennial celebration, too. Therefore, our amusement park, Liseberg, will unveil a huge expansion, not this year, but in1923, their centennial. Therefore, many of the amazing building plans that were scheduled for this year won’t be done. But we can see them rise and if we grow tired of the hustle and bustle of downtown, your islands, lakes, the ocean, and forests beckon us to relax and recharge our batteries.

We got a new bridge across the river, and when you go downtown (which we’ve been avoiding during this pandemic, as much as humanly possible) you see construction going on everywhere: skyscrapers, train tunnels, tram tracks, you name it. Gothenburg is rapidly transforming into a 21^st-century city, including a building taller than any other in Scandinavia.

Reanimating an old tourist slogan, here’s my greeting to my home town on your big day: Göteborg, we ❤️ you! (Please note this video is 14 years old, at least… LOL)

If you plan to visit Gothenburg, let me know. I’d be happy to show you my home town.