in and around Gothenburg — places to explore
It has been one beautiful month here in Gothenburg — with so many highs and very few lows and weather has been too good to all over here. I have already written about my experience of witnessing the Northern Lights in the first month itself — story link. In this post I write about places I explored in first few weeks and you can do the same. I am no localite here and this actually adds a different perspective the story — so called outside perspective. If you have been to these places, or have more suggestions or just want to correct the information I have provided — please feel free to comment at the end of the post — would Love to hear from you.
Public transport is really great and city or routes are divided into zones — I am in zone 1 and the places I have explored are in the same zone. This is similar to zone divisions we have in UK and I am sure in other European nations too. Again, like UK — here there is a public transport app too — Västtrafik — that helps you pick the best option to go from point A to point B. You can also buy the tickets through the app and it is very very user friendly and intuitive to use.
Islands — Generally it is Best to save the Best for the last but not here — Islands or Archipelago of Gothenburg or something similar. I have been to three different islands (Styrsö, Brännö and Asperö) so far and there are many more to explore. What I like about islands is calmness — you can take different routes to walk or cycle on the island. Connectivity — there is tram number 11 which will take you to Saltholmen and from there you can catch a ferry to go to any of the islands. Frequency is good and I have been on the islands till 10 pm and there were ferries available at 11 pm and later too. If you like nature or want some peace — better to go here. One more thing — on some of the island you can also find cafés where you can chill with your friends over drinks. Now-a-days on the weekends — I run from my place to Saltholmen (ferry terminal), that is like 13 kms and then take tram 11 back to my place :)
Slottsskogen — this is another park and some 4–5 kms from central station. You can go there after office hours too and it has lots of ups and downs and you can choose how hard you want your walk/run to be. You get to see Penguins in this park and much more too — first time I went there mainly for Penguins. Also, this and other parks make me think — here I already feel less pollution, plus there is good greener around and on top of that there are so many parks in and around where I stay — feels so good. Then again — take into perspective that I have been here for only a month and I have no idea how severe the winters are and may be there is some connections here and there. This is nice park for running and just strolling around too. This is my park to go when I have to do a 5 miler — I run till the park and then run 1–2 kms more inside and then head back to home.
Botanical Garden — this one is opposite to Slottsskogen and a decent place too. Frankly I liked Slottsskogen more than Botanical Garden. Each has its own beauty and if you have spare time then there is no harm in going to as many parks as possible. Also, all these parks you can easily visit after office hours too — especially during summers when sun sets after 9 pm.
Eriksberg — You can see it as a tall crane and that is how I remember this place. Reason I mention this is close to this place there is a nice footover bridge and you can get stunning photos there. It is a residential area and very very calm and peaceful. You can just walk in the neighbourhood or get going with photoshoot. This is close to my office location — and I have been there only once. You might want to read more about Eriksberg if you plan to go there.
Haga and Skansen Kronan — this is where I went to see the Northern lights. There is a small climb to reach to Skansen Kronan and from there you get a really good view of the city — again a good place for photgraphy. Haga — you can think of it like old town with traditional vibes — and you can just stroll around for a while and take some pics too. Haga is on the way from Friggagatan to Slottsskogen and I pass it everytime I go for 5 miler. Also — if you want to buy souvenirs — then this is one of the economical shops I found till now. It has good collection and owner there is really Jolly Good Fellow !
Let us head just a bit away from the Nature and other places to go to —
Volvo Museum (link) As on the date of writing — I am employed with Volvo Trucks and I highly recommend going to Volvo Museum. It opened this April and has a good blend of vehicles, history and modern developments. I will be going there next month but I have just heard good things about it. You can easily spend three hours or even more there. You get to experience few driving dynamics and also operate some of the construction equipment/machines. There is a restaurant/café in the premise for you to enjoy a good meal over a cup of coffee.
Liseberg — an amusement park — link — if you want adrenaline boost then this is the place to go. 15 mins max from Central station and you can be there. You need to be sure about the timings and also the prices keep changing — so better to plan in advance. There is an option to take an entry ticket and just go around the park. Another extreme option is to take the all ride pass and then you can enjoy any and all the rides. Better to go on weekend since you might end up spending lot of time there.
Aeroseum — link— this is a bit far but again covered in zone 1 — it is aeroplane museum. This what net says — Cold War museum in a subterranean hangar with historic aircraft, photos & a flight simulator. When we reached the venue and took the ticket — we were frankly bit disappointed and thought this was not worth it. Then we enter the hangar and keep walking and let me tell you the experience is worth more than what you pay for (130 SEK when I visited). You have many aircrafts, helicopters lined up with stories behind each of them. You can get into few of the planes and many of the helicopters too. There are flight simulators too but I would suggest to go early and book a slot for one of them. It has many educational games for kids and seriously must visit if you are coming to Gothenburg with kids.
Avenue / Valand / Brunnsparken — These are places or stops near Central station and must visit if you want to explore the night life / pubs and what not. Saturday night is the best place to be out — I mean one Saturday I was catching a tram at 1 am to go back home and people were getting down from it to go to the Pubs — so that is when their night started. Saturday night the streets look so different than usual — ie it is filled with people, loud music and no pin drop silence anywhere. People even keep dancing in the Trams :D Then — Sunday — 5 pm — 7pm no matter what — it is a totally different world — you will hardly see anywhere. Almost all restaurants are closed early and you won’t believe that just 12 hours early this was bubbling with people.
Same is with many of the shops and restaurants — they close early — 7pm — 8pm (early as compared to Mumbai) and at times on Sunday they are completely closed too. If you want to do shopping then you need to be mindful of this. Having said this the busses and trams are mostly operational till midnight and later to.
That is all I have to say for now for this post. Would Love to hear from you about your experience and feedbacks on this post.