Gothenburgtours Archives - Gothenburg Tours

100+ tips for places to see and things to do.

Having moved here decades ago, I was highly interested in this country and the region. I’ve helped visitors discover Gothenburg and the west coast ever since. I know a thing or two about the area. While my specialty is to guide people with very distinct tastes and the highest demands, I understand that there is a market for other types of tours, from walking tours of an hour or two to hop-on-hop-off tours, etc. All good. Hence the Gothenburg DIY guide.

“I’m a backpacker…” or “I just don’t need a tour guide”

Spring is in the air, and the sun is shining.

I hear you. I’m not unlike you. I love to discover places on my own. Not always, but sometimes. A couple of years ago, heading to Madeira, we contacted a local guide who’d put together a list of his fifty personal favorites. With that list, we were able to prepare for an amazing vacation, all by ourselves. Perfect for our family vacation.

Therefore, I figured, why not provide a list of my personal favorites as well? And not just include sights, but also include a couple of personal favorites when it comes to hotels, restaurants, cultural places, and even sporting arenas. And I’ve been to all of them, so I know what I’m getting you into… Although, with sports, there’s no guarantee your team will win!

100+ places, and it’s yours if you want it.

There are over one hundred places listed. This list is updated regularly. Some you’ll see in five or ten minutes, and others might take you weeks. Some are within the city, some are almost 200 km away. Still West Sweden. It’s a large county.

Some are expensive, some are dirt cheap, free even. I think there’s plenty for most people. And here’s how it works. Download the Gothenburg DIY guide to the left.

The Gothenburg DIY guide is free! A thank you email or a tip is appreciated if you find it useful.

So why would anyone still need a guide?

Easy! Many people don’t want to sieve through a ton of information, read tourist guides, etc. Also, they want to be able to ask questions and learn more about each site. Sometimes I don’t know the answer, but I know where and how to find it, in a timely fashion, while the guest simply enjoys their stay, a view, or a snack.

Most of my guests will simply tell me about their interests, likes, and dislikes and they trust me to prepare a tour that will satisfy those expectations and hopefully exceed them. Preparing for every guest individually takes time, and that time needs to be paid for somehow, hence a higher cost than for an off-the-rack tour which requires no preparation, as it’s the same, every time.

I hope you’ll enjoy this guide. As always, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

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.

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…

Tag: Gothenburgtours

Gothenburg on your own? Download our Gothenburg DIY guide!