What to do in Gothenburg

Gothenburg is a wonderful, vibrant city with a lot of history to tell. There are beautiful, historic buildings all over, but that’s not it!

We took a tram down the road from our campsite to get into Gothenburg. Mum and Dad bought a one-day travel card each (about £8 each), allowing them to travel around on as many public trams, buses and ferries in Gothenburg as they liked, for the day.  Amy and I travelled for free!

Amy and I were set a challenge by our parents to research a building or location in Nordstaden (the main area in Gothenburg). We then had to be tour guides for the rest of the family, providing information about our choice of location. I chose Kronhuset, the oldest non-residential building in Gothenburg, built to store equipment over the years and now used as a concert hall. Amy chose to take us to Ullevi stadium, a sport and music stadium that hosted the European Athletic championships Olympics and the final of Cup Winners Cup. The name Ullevi comes from the Norse god Ull, the god of games and play. These were just two of the many different locations around Gothenburg that you can get to by foot, tram or bus.

We also used our travel cards on ferries; rather than get an expensive boat trip we used the cards to explore the Gothenburg archipelago. These leave from Saltholmen; we got a ferry from Lilla Bommen to Kilppan and then got a tram to Saltholmen. There a many different ferries that visit the various islands fairly regularly throughout the day. We took a round trip to Vargo (a nature reserve); it was a scenic ride that let us escape from the city and explore the islands as well as view the city from a different angle, literally. We were lucky to do this on a hot and sunny day; otherwise it wouldn’t have been so enjoyable.

One of the main attractions in Gothenburg is the Liseberg amusement park. With around 40 attractions, this certainly is the biggest amusement park in Scandinavia! There’s a rabbit land with small rides for young children and bigger, more adventurous rides like Helix, Aero-spin and AtmosFear (a 90m tower that you free-fall down!!) for the older kids and adults.  This park is open all year round, including on Halloween and at Christmas!

Our favourite attraction in Gothenburg though was the Universeum. With sections about the rainforest, space, science, technology and one of Europe’s largest aquariums, this museum sure kept us busy!

We had two full days in Gothenburg and we still hadn’t done everything! There are lots of activities to do for families and it is well worth a visit!

by Ella (aged 11)