You haven’t seen Gothenburg… until you’ve been to the Archipelago!

Stora Rös on Styrsö, the highest point in the entire archipelago.
Styrsö, the highest point of the Archipelago. From here you can see the entire river delta of Gothenburg.

Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York the Statue of Liberty, and Gothenburg has its archipelago.

The archipelago is a string of pearls of islands off the coast to the north and south of the Göta River delta. The smaller islands to the south are part of the city of Gothenburg. You easily reach them by public transport. Simply take a bus or streetcar to Saltholmen and hop on a ferry taking you out.

The archipelago is a must-see for any Gothenburg visitor

Styrsö Halsvik was once home to sea captains living in the archipelago.
Styrsö Halsvik, one of the stops of the tour

We have designed an archipelago tour with our visitors in mind. A smörgåsbord of things that make our archipelago unique.

The focus lies on the island of Styrsö, the largest one in the southern archipelago. The walking tour will take you on a journey almost 13,000 years back in time. Back then, the island was still wholly submerged in the sea but began to emerge as part of the land rise. You will walk through our forest, four distinct settlements, and also enjoy beaches and coastline.

We’ll end it with a yummy lunch in the present day, at our local pub, Öbergska. The building has an exciting history of smuggling, strong women and entrepreneurism.

When in the archipelago, you need to eat well. Swedish cuisine with a modern international touch.
Just an example of a dish you might be served at Öbergska, a shrimp and smoked salmon sallad.

Built over two-hundred years ago, our local heritage foundation owns the building. They operate a museum, a gallery and a beautiful herb garden there. The café is operated independently, and they serve contemporary Swedish kitchen, but inspired by tastes from all over the world.

Here are a few keywords to give you an idea of the tour: ice age, stone age, bronze age, Vikings, unique nature, stunning views, and delicious food. Combined into a coherent story by Gothenburg’s favorite VIP tour guide. He has lived here for more than twenty-five years and consequently knows the island and its long history intimately. He speaks several languages, has a great sense of humor and his storytelling is legendary!

Read more about the tour here.

Screen capture of our archipelago tour brochure.

Contact us for more information, pricing, and booking of your tour!

One Day in Gothenburg? Here’s an idea

Is one day in Gothenburg all you have? That’s not a lot, but for most of our cruise guests, it’s all they get. Also, some of our drive-through visitors from Denmark, arriving by ferry or the E6-freeway, or our friends from Norway, heading south along the same freeway, stay a night to relax in what was once to be the capital of all of Scandinavia. One day in Gothenburg? We’ve got you covered!

One Day in Gothenburg? Looking west out toward the harbor and the sea.

First and foremost

You can do all of this on your own, maybe even using the guide we’ve prepared with tips and tricks, but if all you have is one day in Gothenburg, investing in your own personal guide is helpful, making sure you get to the right places in time and one to the next without missing a beat. Knowing the city by heart, we can adapt on the fly, cut corners, find another bus or streetcar, and ensure you get back to your ship or hotel in time. Besides, we’ll be able to tell you the stories, answer questions and really make you feel welcome in a way a phone screen never will.

One Day in Gothenburg: Stora Rös is the highest place in the Archipelago with spectacular views.

Morning: a nice relaxing walk through downtown Gothenburg

This suggested itinerary starts downtown. All cruise ships will have bus transportation to our main square, Gustav Adolf’s Torg, shortly after docking. We will pick you up there or at your hotel. From the pick-up point, we’ll take a walk through downtown, always depending on where the pick-up is. After all, no two tours will be alike, as you, the guest are our focal point. You’ll get to see the city’s oldest buildings and our canals, and I’ll make sure to familiarize you with our history and culture.

One Day in Gothenburg: this is where we could start the day, taking in the old town and its sights.

Noon: a trip to the archipelago, for something you won’t find elsewhere

Our city has so much to offer. If you only have one day in Gothenburg, we need to prioritize. The archipelago here is unique: narrow roads, no car traffic, lush forestry, stunning ocean views, and quaint villages make the Gothenburg archipelago a one-of-a-kind destination, and TV teams from all over the world have been here to film. Using public transport, we’ll reach one of the islands where we could stop for lunch at one of the small cafés or restaurants serving seafood or more cosmopolitan fare. After that we’ll head out for a walk on the island, telling you more about their culture, history, and how the islanders have survived through the centuries.

One day in Gothenburg: We’ll make sure to show you the unique features of the city’s beautiful islands

Afternoon: from the islands, we return to the city and your onward journey, wherever that may be

At about four or five pm, depending on your itinerary, we’ll make sure to drop you off where we picked you up, after a day filled with impressions and delicious fresh foods. If you spend the night, we’ll make sure to leave a few suggestions for dinner reservations, or maybe a show or concert. If you head back to your ship, you’ll be sure to stand on deck as your vessel glides past the islands, pointing to fellow passengers who were stuck on a tour bus all day, telling them you just spent a day out there.

One Day in Gothenburg: Eriksberg, our city’s newest neighborhood

One Day in Gothenburg? Or maybe more..?

The above is just an idea. We know that all our guests are different, your itineraries are unique, and so are your schedules and interests. Don’t want to walk? Want the VIP treatment with a pick-up by limousine at your ship? Would you rather visit a museum? Take the kids to the amusement park? Dive into our ancient history? See outdoor art instead? Whatever gets your juices flowing, we can make sure your one day in Gothenburg will be memorable.

One Day in Gothenburg but you’ll leave with memories to cherish for a lifetime!

If you have more time, then we have more ideas, and we are more than happy to quote you a dream time in Sweden’s friendliest city. From private yachts to wild animal safaris, or adventure trips, we’ve arranged it all, and we are happy to make sure your trip to Gothenburg will be the best it can be. That’s our passion and our promise to you!

One day in Gothenburg. Leave with memories to cherish for a lifetime!

What kind of tourist are you?

Whenever I have the pleasure of taking guests to show them my city I wonder: will they be happy to see things from the outside or would they rather go inside? This might sound like a weird question to you, but allow me to explain. One of the most frequent things I do is walking tours. I pick up my guests at their hotel and we go for a walk where I show them the beauty of Gothenburg.

Would you like to go inside?

Would you like to go inside? Is it worth it? Is it even possible?

There are so many great things to see in a city, but when you have a limited amount of time, we tend to simply scratch the surface. We walk past some of the most amazing buildings but don’t go in. We point out “here’s this museum, and this is City Hall, and over there is where the local parliament resides, and it’s a beautiful building.” We never go inside which is a shame.

There are two main reasons why: a) most buildings aren’t open to visitors, which is a shame. Our local stock exchange is one of the most impressive places we have to show, but it’s only open once every blue moon at specific times, which never suits visitors from abroad. I can tell them that their president or prime minister had dinner here with our king, but I can’t show them.

The second reason is time. Even if the building were open, if you have four hours for a walking tour, there’s not time to spend one or two hours in just one building.

You need a reason to come back…

Prosecco on St. Mark's Square and live music at night is one of the "musts" for me in Venice, no matter how many times I return.
Prosecco on St. Mark’s Square and live music at night is one of the “musts” for me in Venice, no matter how many times I return.

This is my MO for every place I visit: I miss something important, simply because I’d like to come back. And on a second visit, I may not have to do the “usual” again, but I can dive deeper. I’ve been to Venice countless times since I was a child, and while I have my “have to’s”, e.g. to drink a glass of Prosecco on St. Mark’s Square after dark and listen to live music, these days, my visits to this amazing city allow me to visit places most first-time visitors don’t see.

As a tour guide here in Gothenburg, I kind of see it as my responsibility to water my guests’ mouths, to make them want to come back for more. It’s a delicate balance and I always make sure to learn about hteir interests ahead of time, to make sure they experience exactly what they want, whether it’s walking past a building or going in (if possible.)

Impressions of Gothenburg

The best partners make a tour truly great.

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The statue of the founder of the current "incarnation" of Gothenburg, celebrating its 400th anniversary in two years.
Downtown Gothenburg.

Last week, I had the privilege of guiding a group of VIP travelers for a couple of days. Distinguished individuals, well educated and widely traveled, they were asking for a tour guide to show them Gothenburg the way an official guide never could: 100% flexible, with the ability to hold a conversation not just about historical details of a particular building or a king’s birthday, but also talk about the big political trends, socio-economic trends and things happening elsewhere in the world. Today’s global travelers expect nothing less.

Being a great guide isn’t enough…

While I pride myself in my work and can see how pleased my guests are with the service and the attention they get, entirely customized on their needs, my services have limits. I require partners to work with. I’m no restaurant (and even if I were, I’d just be one), I’m no limo or bus, no museum and I’m certainly no yacht. To provide my guests with a seamless experience, I need help, and last week was exemplary.

Arranged by their hotel, Sweden’s finest, the Upper House, the guests also had access to a driver for their time here and on Saturday, we took a tour of my home turf, the archipelago, in a beautiful yacht.

The best partners are the ones you don’t notice…

Traditional boathouses on the island of Brännö.
Traditional boathouses on the island of Brännö.

For a guest, the best partners a guide can have are the ones that go unnoticed. To be a driver means to take the guest from A to B as comfortably and safely as possible. It was a delight to work with Gothia Transfer. Our driver was probably the best one I’ve ever experienced. As a guide, sitting in the front passenger seat of comfortable and perfectly clean luxury vehicle, with my neck turned back to my guests, I didn’t even notice how we were crossing town, or what way our driver took. Suddenly we were there. Perfect. And the communication between ourselves to make the experience for our clients as smooth as possible couldn’t have been better. Highly recommended and I hope to work with them again soon. I’ll most certainly recommend my clients to work with Gothia Transfer from now on.

The company we used on Saturday, the Sealife, is a truly magnificent vessel. Clean, in perfect shape and a skipper family completely dedicated to their guests. They take the best possible care of their clients and just like I had with Gothia Transfer, to work with Gothenburg Coast Charter was a pleasure and perfectly seamless. Our guests were really happy with their tour.

Restaurants, museums, etc.

Guests need to eat, they want to see museums, and nobody knows their collections better than the curators who created them. I was really pleased to see how the people I worked with were welcoming us and did their utmost to be flexible and help me make sure the clients were happy. In my own travel, I’ve had far too many experiences when you end up at the guide’s cousin’s husband’s restaurant, making me wonder if we ended up there because it was good or because the guide got a kick-back. My take is different (I have no cousins in Gothenburg…) I will only take my guests to a place I’ve been to myself, where I can vouch for the quality of the food and service.

When can I show you my town and introduce you to some amazing partners? Gothenburg is open and welcomes visitors…

Fall colors grace the fair city of Gothenburg

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Indian summer IS a thing around here

It’s fall, and according to the Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI), winter is on its way south. Sweden is a huge country, and while the northernmost parts are already snow-covered, the south is still, meteorologically, enjoying summer. I don’t know about you, but to me, these definitions are all a bit academic.

The Swedish Met Office’s strange definition of our seasons

In our country, the met office considers it fall if the temperatures over a period of five days have not surpassed ten degrees, but only (this is Sweden after all) if it happens after August 1. Silly, I know. Same with winter. We can’t have “spring” before February 15, no matter how hot it is.

Personally, I find the astronomical definitions more useful using equinoxes and solstices or even just the calendar: September-November is fall, December – February is winter etc. But I can see the value that SMHI’s definition has to their research and the maps they publish of the progress of a season, e.g. fall.

However, it leads to strange events, such as the fact that we currently have two seasons in Gothenburg: fall in the East and North-East and summer in the South and West of the city, due to the warm ocean waters.

Fall is the advent of colors around here (and elsewhere, and a peaceful and quiet time)

I like fall. Not as much as the summer, but it is a season when things calm down around us. Nature gets ready to go back to a slumber where plants and animals alike recuperate and get ready for yet another cycle of life. Humanity doesn’t really do that. For us, fall usually means back to school, back to work, back onto the treadmill.

In the hectics of our busy schedules with work and school, it’s a boon to be able to go out into nature to enjoy the changes in color, see the quiet ocean, pick mushrooms and just be outdoors. Come winter with its rain- and snowstorms, it’ll be too cold and wet to spend a lot of time outside.

Some pictures of what Gothenburg looks like right now…

To give you an impression of what our fair city looks like right now, have a look at these pictures that I’ve taken in the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Fall brings later sunrises and often provides us with the most amazing colorful spectacles in the morning.
Fall brings later sunrises and often provides us with the most amazing colorful spectacles in the morning.

And, as befits a country in the far north, the sun's trajectory is flatter and flatter and by three, four o'clock it is already low (we're still in DST), providing the typical pale blue skies.
And, as befits a country in the far north, the sun’s trajectory is flatter and flatter and by three, four o’clock it is already low (we’re still in DST), providing the typical pale blue skies.

Even in the middle of the day, the sun no longer rises as high as she does in the summer, but her light is still warming.
Even in the middle of the day, the sun no longer rises as high as she does in the summer, but her light is still warming.

A typical, sunny fall day in Gothenburg. The picture is taken in Färjenäs on the island of Hisingen, where the ferries used to dock before the bridge connected it to the mainland.
A typical, sunny fall day in Gothenburg. The picture is taken in Färjenäs on the island of Hisingen, where the ferries used to dock before the bridge connected it to the mainland.

A shot from the same place, straight across the river where the old port brewery has been turned into an upscale hotel, and where the run-ins of the old castle of Gothenburg can be found.
A shot from the same place, straight across the river where the old port brewery has been turned into an upscale hotel, and where the run-ins of the old castle of Gothenburg can be found.

Finally, some color. I don't recommend eating this mushroom, amanita muscaria, but they sure do make a pretty picture.
Finally, some color. I don’t recommend eating this mushroom, Amanita muscaria, but they sure do make a pretty picture.

If you have questions, comments or plan to visit Gothenburg, send me a message. We look forward to showing you our town.

Welcome to Gothenburg! Are you hungry?

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Gothenburg is a temple for foodies

When I first moved to Gothenburg, back in 1992, I was shocked after my first visit to a grocery store: strange looking (and tasting) sausages, five types of cheese, tons of cabbage and apart from that, there really wasn’t much to choose from. I’m exaggerating, of course, but this country and its cuisine have changed so much in the years since.

1995, joining the EU, was revolutionizing for Sweden’s food industry

By Steffen Wurzel [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons
By Steffen Wurzel [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
After we joined the EU and importing food from other countries became easier, our grocery shops changed, radically, and the range of supplies increased dramatically. But not only grocery stores, our restaurants changed, too, from serving “classic” cuisine, based on red meats, pork, venison and locally grown vegetables like carrots, potatoes, onions, and cabbages (we are, after all, a Nordic country, meaning, our climate isn’t ideal for a lot of produce.) and brown sauce and lingonberry jam.

Here on the west coast, people have always eaten fish, often pan-fried, served with potatoes, some vegetable and sauce. And there is something to be said about a delicious home-style cooked classic dish. Sadly, in the past quality was not necessarily something Swedish cuisine was known for.

If you’re interested in learning more about traditional Swedish cuisine, feel free to ask us. From IKEA meatballs to smörgåsbord and “halv special”, we’ve got you covered.

Modern Swedish cuisine is among the best in the world

I say this with pride. Our cuisine is among the top in the world. Our chefs are proud to use fresh ingredients, locally sourced products, and the suppliers are keen on trying out new ideas.

While Sweden may never be a cheese country like my own home country of Switzerland, there are some cheesemakers who produce some amazing cheese these days, a far cry from the industrialized and tasteless, wax-covered stuff you get in your next-door grocery store. For some, like my husband, a cheese plate for dessert is the highlight of a meal.

Fish, seafood and then some

Last night, I served my family a fillet of cod. Just lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Delicious. You should see what a real chef can do with cod. One of my favorite fish. Or a catfish… Mouthwatering!

Definitively a favorite of mine is salmon, which you can catch right here in Gothenburg, in our moats. Swedes eat a lot of salmon! Most of it comes from farms in Norway where salmon are kept in huge basins in their deep fjords. Environmentally not without question marks, but things are getting better. If you go to a quality seafood store here in Sweden you’ll have a choice between Norwegian salmon and wild salmon, caught either in Sweden or abroad.

Salmon can be served in many different ways…

© Copyright Walter Baxter and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence..

It’s a very versatile fish. I’m having a bit of a love story with warm smoked salmon right now. It is pink in flesh, very tender, moist and tasty that I could eat it daily. But that wouldn’t be good. Salmon is a very fatty fish, healthy fat mind you, but still. Lots of calories, and besides, if you eat something as good as salmon every day,  you grow tired of it… There’s also cold smoked salmon, which I’m sure we all know, that orange thin slice you find on smørrebrød or canapés around the world. Here in Sweden we also eat cured salmon, which is available year-round, but particularly popular on our smörgåsbord and for Christmas.

Salmon is also easy to fry fresh or from the over. One amazing way to cook your salmon is to cover it entirely in salt and to cook the entire fish in the oven.

Seafood isn’t just shrimp

Shrimp are a staple food and Friday night favorite not just in our house, but all over the West Coast of Sweden. It’s a quickly prepared meal with a good baguette and aioli, paired with a dry, fruity white wine. Great when you have friends over. You can take your time and eat slowly.

But did you know that we have amazing oysters right here on the West Coast? And we also have amazing clams and scallops that are grown here? We even grow our own seaweed for Japanese inspired seaweed salad.

Crayfish or “scampi” is also a Swedish delicacy and while most of Sweden prefers sweetwater crayfish, cooked in dill, the West Coast prefers their ocean-dwelling cousins, bigger, cooked in salt water and with a pink/orange color. Needless to say that we’re about to begin our lobster season, and while our local lobsters may be smaller than what most people remember, properly prepared (which isn’t easy!), they’re an amazing dish.

Where to go? Where to eat?

Luckily, these days, there are few places where you will not eat well here in Gothenburg, whether it’s Swedish or international cuisine. There is a case to be made that you’re more likely to eat well when you eat local cuisine because it’s easier to get fresh ingredients. And more difficult to find a chef who truly knows how to prepare e.g. Szechuan, Salvadorian or Angolan dishes… Having said that, there are people from over 190 countries living in Gothenburg, and they all like to taste a meal from their ancestral home every now and then. You’ll find a lot of international restaurants in town, not just pizza and kebabs.

Welcome to Gothenburg. Enjoy your meal!

PS: Don’t eat meat? We have some excellent choices for vegetarians and vegans, too. Ask us!

As we wind down the sunniest summer, ever? Lessons to be learned?

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The summer of 2018 will go down in Gothenburg history

Spring was late and lasted all but a couple of weeks. An arctic inversion kept cold air pouring down over Scandinavia well into mid-April when suddenly things changed and a high-pressure system decided to park above us for the summer, bringing us virtually three months of unabated sunshine and literally no rain. You should see my lawn!

One crazy summer makes no climate change, but…

It's 9:35 pm and the sun is readying itself to set for the day. Summer in Sweden.
It’s 9:35 pm and the sun is readying itself to set for the day. Summer in Sweden.

As a “normal” citizen I’ve been having the summer of a lifetime, with daily swimming in our warmer than usual ocean, daily meals on the patio and a tan that built up over time, you know, the kind you develop carefully, without overexposure? A tan that lasts. Our farmers, however, have been suffering. Without watering (and we’re in  Sweden, right, so who waters crops?) crops all over the country have been withering away, there’s been no hay for cattle to feed on and at its worst, farmers couldn’t even send their cattle to emergency slaughter. The queue to the slaughters were too long.

Papers have been filled with images from NASA satellites showing just how “brown” Scandinavia has become this summer, compared to previous years. And article after article discussed whether this is indeed a sign of things to come or just a “freak” summer.

It IS getting warmer up here…

This summer was unusual with ocean temperatures above 22 C (71.6F) making a swim after work a real pleasure.
This summer was unusual with ocean temperatures above 22 C (71.6F) making a swim after work a real pleasure.

Scientists all agree that one hot summer is no sign of climate change. However, 2018 is well on track to be another hot and warm year, seen on a global scale, and that is where signs of climate change can be tracked. The four years (including 2018) are the four warmest in recorded history. And if you look at weather phenomenon across the globe, things are crazy, everywhere. It seems to me, we keep saying this, year after year, and at some point, denying the impact of climate change becomes mute.

My memory serves me right!

During my second visit to Sweden, with my university at the time (you can see me trying to get the BBQ to light), this was not uncommon. Rain and cool temperatures forcing us to wear sweaters and jackets even in July.
During my second visit to Sweden, with my university at the time (you can see me trying to get the BBQ to light), this was not uncommon. Rain and cool temperatures forcing us to wear sweaters and jackets even in July. Photo: private

When I first moved to Sweden, in 1992, August was scorching hot, and I was in heaven. Finally a place with decent temperatures. Two years later we endured a cold and rainy, miserable summer. But what I do remember from the first summers after we bought our house is that we were usually unable to sit outside in the evenings, enjoy a glass of wine on the patio. It would be too cold unless you had some infrared heating device. We’d cherish the four or five nights that were the exception to that rule. Summer evenings could be chilly with temperatures as low as 10-12 degrees C (50-54F)

Nowadays, we would theoretically be able to sit outside almost every night, and still now in August, we wake up at six am and the temperatures outside are 18 degrees C (64.5F.) So yes, things have changed in the past twenty-two years that I’ve lived here on the island.

Climate change and tourism

How can we adjust our offerings to our visitors as they come all year round, not just for a few short and –hopefully–sunny summer weeks?
How can we adjust our offerings to our visitors as they come all year round, not just for a few short and –hopefully–sunny summer weeks?

We cannot deny that climate change is here, nor can we deny that it affects tourism. We have plenty of water (in most parts of Scandinavia) for now, and while our farmers may need help in adjusting their crops and install systems to water them, overall, this peninsula might just be one of the few land areas on the planet that ‘benefits’ from it all. Warmer and probably wetter.

That impacts our offering with regards to tourism. A shorter winter season will gravely affect the north, where skiing and snow draw people from countries without such commodities. Here in the south, we may have to rethink what we offer and when we offer it. We still see people closing their restaurants in mid-August for vacation, while our ferry company is still operating on a summer schedule, bringing hundreds of tourist to the islands, every day.

Accepting that tourists, for different reasons, will visit us all-year round is an important first step. Once that lesson is learned, we can move on to offering different services to our visitors, according to the season.

What we do, offer

As a small tour company, our focus is flexibility. We can guide you walking, or using public transport, or in our own EV, a second generation Nissan Leaf. We can also try to show you just how the changing weather patterns and climate change affect our city if you are interested. From areas prone to inundation to plans of how the city is preparing for increasing sea levels. Ask us, we’re here for you.

Midsummer: Sweden’s most important holiday #Sweden #Gothenburg #tourism #GothenburgTours

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Midsummer is only rivaled by Christmas, but summer. It’s summer!

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures from Sweden, people dancing around a colorfully dressed maypole. Unlike its counterparts from Germany and elsewhere, our maypoles are dressed with birch twigs and flowers. The songs we dance to aren’t traditional folk songs, but children’s songs including clever lyrics such as “ooh-ack-ack-a” in the evergreen “small frogs” (don’t ask…)

Midsummer marks…

Midsummer Sunset
This is what midsummer looks like in Gothenburg. 10:15 pm approximately.

Midsummer in Sweden marks not primarily the middle of summer, but the longest day, midsummer solstice, this year taking place the day after solstice, always on a Friday.

It’s really the beginning of summer, but even here in Gothenburg, this week and for another week or two, the sun doesn’t set until after 10 pm, and rises just after 4 am. Now imagine further up north. In a small town, I know well, Gávtjávvrie in Sápmi, way up north, but still short of the arctic circle, the sun sets for only one hour. Once you cross the arctic circle, the sun never sets during the weeks around midsummer.

It is our most important holiday, bigger than Christmas. Why? Is it the sunlight? The fact that is is as much an adult holiday as it is for kids? Is it the promise of a long vacation that awaits most Swedes around the corner in July? We’ll never know for sure, but midsummer is “da shit” around here…

Eat, drink, dance, sing, repeat

Our maypole here on the island. A big and traditional celebration.

Long days, sunshine, and flowers are key ingredients in our midsummer celebrations, along with the season’s first potatoes, small, sweet, delicious, herring in sauce, a Swedish delicacy, and strawberries, also the season’s first. And I’m sure you know we consume those with copious amounts of beer and different types of vodka, flavored schnapps etc.

Traditionally, you’d put seven kinds of flowers under your pillow, jump over seven fences and dream of your future partner. These days, you swipe seven times and start over. Sweden is a modern country. LOL

Where to celebrate

midsummer
Strawberries. Nothing says midsummer like that first taste of strawberries of the season.

There are many places to celebrate Midsummer in Sweden, and if you happen to be here in Gothenburg, I can recommend the celebration at our amusement park. Always lots of people, professional song, and a great maypole.

Here in Gothenburg, there are celebrations, big and small, all across the city. One of the more famous ones takes place just a few hundred feet from our house, on our island, Styrsö. We have a large meadow where they put up the maypole. You can help decorate the pole in the morning and at four pm, the entire island and a ton of guests gather to sing, dance and have fun together, before we return to our homes for a barbeque dinner. There are several restaurants on the island, so you won’t have to starve, even if you’re just visiting…

But there are other places you can visit, all around our city. Check out this list from our tourist office.

The weather? Midsummer usually means moving indoors and outdoors because often enough the weather will be typical for the summer: sunshine and rain, changing constantly. For now, the forecast (the most serious topic we discuss these days) seems okay. Trust me, I checked with four (sic!) weather sites. As I said, the weather forecast for midsummer is not to be taken lightly.

Gothenburg is a naval city, and it shows… #tourism #sweden #

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Gothenburg has a special relationship to ships

If you live in Gothenburg, you most likely have an affinity for water. The way the river meets the ocean, with its open views toward the west, and the promise of whatever lies out there, has drawn people westward for centuries.

In the nineteenth century, almost a million Swedes left our country to emigrate to the promised land of America. They all left via Gothenburg, and our big port, and the vessels connecting us to New York. Gothenburg is a naval city, always has been, and  I see no signs of that changing.

We still love ships, big ships, fast ships, tall ships

Still, in the fifth decade, after the big shipyards closed down and that part of town has transformed into a hip neighborhood filled with fancy condominiums, Gothenburg is still a naval city. The city made its fortune based on trade with China, and our East India traders were so profitable that even a sunken one, just off the coast, was still profitable, even though the majority of the goods were lost. A replica of the Götheborg sailed to China and back in the latter half of the first decade of this century, stirring emotions from Kanton all the way around the world.

When the Göteborg returned from China, on June 9, 2007, the harbor basin was filled with boats. We were one of them. Photo: private
When the Götheborg returned from China, on June 9, 2007, the harbor basin was filled with boats. We were one of them. Photo: private

When the Götheborg returned, on a gloriously sunny summer’s morning, it seemed as if the entire city was welcoming her back home, with tens of thousands of people watching her sail into the harbor and thousands of small and bigger boats and ships awaiting her and accompanying her in the harbor. You could’ve walked from Hisingen to the Archipelago that day. I was one one of those boats, and it’s a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Goosebumps don’t begin to describe the emotions when the Gothenburg sailed past us!

Tall Ships Race

Tall Ships are always a sight to behold. Photo: Arne List, CC

There’s something majestic about tall ships, these reminders of a time when sailing the seven seas was a true adventure. I am a big fan of cruise vacations, and I love the comfort of modern cruise ships, but I’ll be honest, the sight of a tall ship makes my heart skip an extra beat.

These tall ships, often maintained by associations and military training units often compete in friendly giant races under the name of Tall Ships Race, and they’ve been to Gothenburg more than once since I moved here, last in 2016.

Not only do we have two permanent tall ships in our beautiful skyline, the aforementioned Gothenburg, but also the hotel barge Viking downtown, a four-mast beauty that is one of the most unusual hotels you can find in Gothenburg. And very reasonably priced.

Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race Vessels near Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Volvo Ocean Race.

One of the toughest sailing races out there, if not the toughest, is the Volvo Ocean Race. Sponsored by our local car and truck manufacturer, these ships are out on some of the most difficult waters for almost two years, a true test of engineering prowess and human courage. Next month, on the tenth leg of the 2017-18 race, the ships will reach Gothenburg, undoubtedly cause for yet another huge celebration here in town. You can learn more about the race and the stopover here. A week before we celebrate midsummer, this is a great time to pay Gothenburg a visit…

Our sunsets are for the history books, and the beckon to the west, Denmark, the Atlantic and the promise of America. Photo: private.
Our sunsets are for the history books, and they beckon to the west, Denmark, the Atlantic and the promise of America. Photo: private.

Gothenburg, a naval city

It comes with the territory, and this city owes everything to the sea, our history is one with the ocean, the islands lining our coast are pearls you don’t want to miss, and our sunsets late at night (as late as 10:12 pm) on a beautiful summer’s day are quite something. Why not visit us soon and let us show you around? Contact us today!