visit Gothenburg Archives

August 26, 2024August 26, 2024

We need to talk about “Swedish Fika”

“Swedish Fika” is the biggest tourist trap a visitor to our country can walk into. Why? Because it’s nothing but a four-letter-word and fancy marketing. Don’t be fooled by it. Certainly don’t let yourself be lured into paying extra for nothing special.

Jaw-dropping email

As a tour guide, you see everything. A couple of days ago my WhatsApp went crazy with a request from a faraway travel agent trying to book their guests currently in Gothenburg to arrange for a “tour” dubbed “Swedish Fika”. The idea? A guide takes you to a café to have a typical Swedish Fika. Cost? Yeah, plenty given that the company in question takes up to ten people on its tours…

What is a Swedish Fika, really?

The Swedish Board of Tourism claims that it is this unique Swedish tradition (it’s not!) to meet with friends in a café or at the workplace to have coffee/tea with something sweet. As a European immigrant to Sweden, I can vouch that other cultures meet up for tea (England for one) or coffee (Vienna, anyone?) with sweets as well. I mean let’s face it who doesn’t? Leaves us with the word “fika”, and that’s probably it. Right? I know of no other language (I’ve studied twelve) that has a word for “hot beverage with sweets” except Sweden.

From a fancy word to a tourist trap

If you walk into a souvenir shop in Sweden you’ll see a gazillion trinkets with the word “fika” on it, from spoons to mugs, cups, and platters, in the colors of the Swedish flag (cringe!) to the rainbow flag (not that I understand the connection there.) But when something is on every other item in a store, seriously threatening Sweden’s all-time favorite, the Dalecarlia Horse.

Would you buy a pen that says “five o’clock tea” or “high tea” on it? I have to hand it to our tourist board. They’ve really managed to hype this word into something it’s never been, a phenomenon, and even when you read their full shpiel it’s not factually false, but it’s not that big a deal either. We are not the only people eating cake with our coffee at a café. What else is there do to there?

Here’s an idea instead…

Now, before you pay €80 a pop to go to a café with a nanny, why don’t you spend that money on yourself? You don’t really need a guide to tell you to choose between a latte or an espresso or which cake to choose from. Instead, with the money left from your fika with your family or friends, go buy a great souvenir to remember Sweden by. If you’re here in Gothenburg, we are obviously famous for our streetcars which are available as fridge magnets or key chain accessories, but if you really want a typical West Coast souvenir, try to find a place where you can buy art from a local artist, e.g. a small painting or why not something made from wreckage goods. It’s a personal favorite of mine and typical for our region. It’ll beat a plastic fika plate any day with your loved ones. Here’s a local artist who excels at this, John Sanderson.

April 27, 2023November 12, 2024

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, and four (or maybe five depending on who you ask) distinct settlements, and also enjoy beaches and coastline.

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.

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!

Gothenburg on your own? Download our Gothenburg DIY guide!

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.

Download your copy here.

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.

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018

Getting ready for a trip… is half the fun! #GothenburgTours #Gothenburg #tourism #Sweden

Doing research, looking at images is part of the fun of getting ready for a trip

I travel a lot. In fact, as I type this, I have trips scheduled to the UK (2), the Netherlands, Switzerland (2), and the US (3) until the end of the year. Some destinations are new, others I’ve been to before. But no matter what, one of my favorite past-times is getting ready for those trips, researching online about what to do, what to expect, and – last not least – indulging in images.

Guidebooks

Long gone (it seems) are the days when you’d venture to a local bookstore and buy a guidebook. I still have an entire bookshelf filled with guidebooks from journeys all over the world. But those books had their challenges: updates! While they’re still being produced (and manually updated every now and then), for those of us who own them, they’re quickly outdated, at least with regards to the important sections about restaurants, hotels and other more volatile information. The Colosseum will always be in Rome, but that quaint restaurant on the corner around the Fontana di Trevi? Who knows.

No matter how old-fashioned a guidebook may be: they don’t require to be online to work. Worth considering in the roaming day and age…

Online guides

Instead, we use places like TripAdvisor, LonelyPlanet, Yelp or just plain good old Google to find information about the places we want to visit. I’ve been a frequent contributor on TripAdvisor, reviewing the hotels and restaurants I visit during my trips, and I often use it to find places during my own trips.

Here’s a tip though: Don’t disregard a place just because it has a few one-star reviews. Look at the reviewer. If it’s their first review, it’s likely just a one-off disgruntled customer. Disregard such reviews. instead, look at the reviews from people with dozens, hundreds of reviews even. They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t trusted contributors. Those are the views you can trust more but don’t just focus on the star-rating. What some people dislike may be exactly what you look for, e.g. casual dress v formal dress in a place.

Maps & Images

This is where I live, or a good twenty minute walk from my house, on the very west coast of our small island, looking back. Now you tell me it doesn't make you want to see this for yourself? — This is where I live, or a good twenty minute walk from my house, on the very west coast of our small island, looking back. Now you tell me it doesn’t make you want to see this for yourself?

I could lose myself in pictures. I love to look at pictures from our beautiful planet. If you have an Instagram account, looking for your destination is easy using appropriate hashtags, e.g. #gothenburg. We have this amazing account here in town, a woman who takes pictures for fun, all over our city, and just looking at a couple of them (I follow her), makes me feel proud about living here, and makes me want to visit a particular corner of it. You can follow her here.

I’m not a big fan of Pinterest, but that is also a place where you can find a ton of pictures (and links) about places to visit. Or Twitter, although it tends to focus more on verbal aspects, you can follow places you’d like to visit.

I love to use maps, be it Google Earth or just any map application. It helps me get my bearings, understand where I will stay, where the best restaurants are, what is within walking range etc. It just helps me sort the world. I’m a bit OCD that way, I like a certain order. An example: a few years ago, we visited Disney World and we booked times (FastPass) for certain attractions. Our son was two-years-old at the time and the attractions he could go on, limited. So we booked them online ahead of time. What we had failed to do was make sure we could get from a) to b) in time. We learned that lesson the hard time. Don’t make the same mistake, booking a restaurant you can’t reach after that museum visit across town.

Whatever you do, take time to get ready…

It doesn’t really matter if you prefer an old-fashioned guidebook, or if you go all ‘social media’ in your preparations. In fact, none is better/worse than the other. Just different. My point is this: be sure to actually get ready, not because I don’t like to keep some of the mystery until I get there, but because part of the enjoyment of visiting a new place is anticipation. And nothing helps us build anticipation like looking at images, reading menus and maybe even meeting people online, friends to be. For all the other stuff, you can contact me. I’d be happy to help you prepare an unforgettable stay.

February 13, 2018

#GothenburgTours: “But if I don’t know what to visit?” #tourism #gothenburg #sweden

Good question: what if you don’t know what to expect, what to see?

In a previous post here, I underlined the importance of talking to your tour guide, to let them know what you want to see, do. This has prompted some reactions, both online, on social media, but I’ve also received an e-mail, from Paul, living in Manchester. He writes:

“…but what if I don’t know what do see, what to do in a new destination? Clearly then, a standard tour may be a better option for me, to get a flavor of what the place is all about?”

Allow me to clarify…

don't know? Let me know what interests you, and I'll take care of the rest... — There are things to see for anyone and you can get really “nerdy”, e.g. the construction of a new bridge across Sweden’s biggest river.

First a big thank you to Paul for his e-mail. I do understand your point, and tour companies selling standard tours make it very well, in destinations all over the world. I’d not want to see my post or this company as a competitor to those offerings. We’re a complement, for the most part.

If you spend a week or more at a destination, if you have plenty of time, I think those off-the-rack tours can be very valuable. We recently spent two weeks on Madeira and spent one day on one of those hop-on-hop-off buses as a means to get an overview of Funchal.

There are pros and cons to everything

But with every offer, there are pros and cons. With a standard tour, you have no choice. You’re either in, or out. You get to see things you want to see, and you’ll be dragged to see things, or do stuff you don’t care for. As I exemplified in my very first post, one of my personal pet peeves is shopping on tours. For someone else, it may be architecture, or museums, or…

Trust your guide

I've lived in Gothenburg and guided people here since 1992. I know that most people will want to see Carl Milles' famous statue of the sea god Poseidon, even if they don't even know he exists... — I’ve lived in Gothenburg and guided people here since 1992. I know that most people will want to see Carl Milles’ famous statue of the sea god Poseidon, even if they don’t even know he exists…

So what if you don’t know what to do, what to expect. Trust your guide. We’ve lived in our cities for a long time, we know what people tend to like. I’ve guided visitors through Gothenburg since 1992, and I know what people like to see, and what they will wrinkle their noses at.

The whole point of customizing is to provide that little extra. Allow me to exemplify: say you love architecture, building techniques. I could spend days just showing you different buildings here, I could show you differences in Sweden’s building standards, fire safety and even take you to homes to see how we actually live. One tiny topic, we could ‘nerd’ for days!

Any information you provide makes your tour better

I maintain: the more information you provide your guide, the better and interesting your tour will be. You don’t need to know your destination, but I presume that you do know what you like, and if you tell me to just surprise you, I can do that, too. But you’ll forfeit the right to complain about my choices… 😉

Make sense? Welcome to Gothenburg. Contact us here.

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018

Welcome to Gothenburg, my beautiful and exciting hometown #travel #tourism #Sweden

“Göteborg, we love you!”

When I moved to Gothenburg in 1992, it was to study. It was a different city then it is now. The wounds (scars?) after the disappeared shipyards were still gaping on the north shore of Göta River, yet there was an optimism in town, something that really appealed to me.

Gothenburg Tours — The official logo of the 5th IAAF World Championships

Gothenburg had recently been awarded the IAAF Athletics World Championships and the year 1995 proved to be pivotal for how we locals viewed our town. Perfect weather, huge crowds, and amazing competitions made those days memorable to anyone who’d been there. In the local amusement park, our tourist organization kept showing a short movie while we waited to see the city from what was then a turning viewpoint (since turned into a freefall attractions) about various parts of town, and I’ll never forget the slogan: “Göteborg, we love you!”

A rapidly changing, but friendly city

Yeah, yeah, I know, corny. BUT, us Gothenburgers really do love our city, and we hurt when things don’t go well, and we love to show her to our visitors. As a Gothenburger, I am proud of the city I live in, the progress we make, the way the skyline is changing, new business sprouting, in life-science, computer science, new buildings, including landmark Karlavagnen.

The Gothenburg archipelago at dawn. Photo: Hans M Hirschi

I’ve lived here, in the archipelago, for over twenty-five years, and with all the cultural happenings, the infrastructure investments (roads, railway, tunnels), and all the new food places and cafés, this is an exciting time to visit Gothenburg. On this blog, I’ll share (weekly, that’s the plan) some of my favorite places. Keep in mind, there are loads of them, there’s so much to do, which is why Condé Nast, the Guardian, the Independent and many U.S. papers keep referring to Gothenburg as a top tourist destination. Did I mention that we are really friendly here?

What about that name?

You probably wonder: Gothenburg? Göteborg? Huh? They say a dear child has many names, and our city was built by Scots, Germans, Dutch, and Swedes, so it’s no surprise that it’s been translated, just like many other great cities. In Swedish, it’s Göteborg, Gotenburg is our German name, Gotemburgo our Spanish/Italian and Gothenburg our English one, but you can also hear “Goteborg” or “Göteburg”. But don’t worry, whatever name you use is fine with us! 🙂

Gothenburg Official Tourism logo

I’ll grant you this though, the aforementioned film uses the Swedish name. For a while, we had a mayor who insisted that we use the Swedish name, even in international marketing. The year after he retired, things slowly went back to normal and we now use Gothenburg again, mostly, but the city’s official marketing logo is still a reminder of that ‘era’, although I like their twist on it, using the internationally mostly inexistent “ö” and turn it into a call to action: GO to Gothenburg!

This blog

I moved to Gothenburg twenty-six years ago to study. I’m still here, and I love my hometown. I’ve learned a lot about our history, culture, and I know a great many places to visit. I’ve been showing people around here for as long as I’ve lived here. I’d love to show you around, too, virtually, here on this blog, and personally, during a visit.

I’ll add photos here, too, but let me finish with a tip of someone who uploads the most beautiful pictures of our town on Instagram, daily. Don’t miss her account: https://www.instagram.com/goagoteborg/

Meanwhile, if you have questions, feel free to reach out to us. Any tips on what to write about? Suggestions are welcome.