Tag: GOTHENBURG

Gothenburg – a Mini Guide

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It’s time for another mini guide to another Scandinavian City I visited this summer – lovely Gothenburg! The second largest city in Sweden is located on the west coast. It’s hilly, known for its trams, fishing and being the home of Volvo. But what makes a visit here so lovely is the people who live here; they are really warm and friendly and have a very specific type of humour! Also, in Swedish the city is actually called Göteborg, with a soft “y” sound.

I took my boyfriend here for a few days last summer, so that he could experience a bit more of Sweden now that he could visit again and we had such a lovely time! It’s easy to get around and lots to see and do, especially in summer!

Where to stay

We stayed at Clarion Hotel Post, a two minute walk from the train station which suited us well as we travelled there by train. We really liked it! It was nice and good value for money for the very central location. Great breakfast too! It’s big but still feels quite cosy. It was a tiny bit tired interior wise but very clean. Other hotels I would consider without having stayed there are Gothia Towers, Upper House, Hotel Pigalle or Sankt Jörgen Park.

Where to eat

I used to come to Gothenburg a lot until a few years ago, so I have quite a few favourites, but we tried some new places on this trip. We started with the famous prawn sandwich at Heaven 23 with lovely views over the city, and for dinner we went to a lovely spot a friend of mine recommended on Instagram; Bord 27. A super cosy restaurant with lovely food. We walked there and back, which was so lovely!

A true and tested favourite of mine is Restaurang Familjen, but I also really like Björns Bar. Places on my to try list that I have heard great things about are restaurant Bar la Lune, and Bar Bruno and Champagnebaren for drinks.

Fika culture is huge in Gothenburg so I highly recommend a visit to my favourite cafe, Da Matteo, or Condeco which is a really good chain. Or why not go all out and visit Mr Cake, which has some swoon (and instagram) worthy pastries?! Read more about it here.

If you want to eat the biggest cinnamon bun of your life, there is a lovely café in Haga, Café Husaren, selling them. Haga is also a lovely leafy area to walk around.

What to see and do

Even though I have been to Göteborg plenty of times it was my boyfriend’s first visit so we were proper tourists. We went to the Volvo museum (it’s far from the city centre but we got there quickly with a cab and braved three trams on the way back). There are more lovely museums but the weather was too nice to be indoors, so we only did one. But would love to visit Maritiman (The Maritime Museum) another time.

On our second day we went to Brännö, one of the islands in the Southern Archipelago and met up with an old friend of mine and her children. I highly recommend visiting the archipelago because it’s both easy and cheap to get there (it’s the same type of ticket for the ferry as the trams and buses all around town) and so beautiful. We walked around, had a nice fika (and ice creams!), explored the island and had a lovely day in the sunshine. If the weather is good a trip to the islands really can’t be beaten!

The shopping in Göteborg is great, and I wish we had had more time to peruse shops, but I made one quick visit to one of my favourite interior shops ever (it’s amazing!), Artilleriet. They have two shops near one another so make sure you look in both. Another place I like to go to every time I visit is Saluhallen; the lovely food market with both shops and restaurants.

One of the biggest attractions in Göteborg is undoubtedly Liseberg, the big amusement park. It’s super central and really pretty with it’s green and pink colours, and a real institution. Kids and adults alike will love a visit!

How to get around

I recommend walking around Gothenburg as much as possible. It’s a fairly small city, right by the waterfront and really pretty to walk around. There are pretty houses and nice parks to look at and I think it’s be best way to get a feel for what any city is really like. The trams are also great, especially if you’re going a bit further and easy to navigate. There are also plenty of buses, and you pay for them all on the Västtrafik app which is so handy. Cabs (Uber too), as always, are great if in a hurry or if you’re wearing heels.

Lunch at Amanda Boman, Gothenburg

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On Friday morning when I arrived in Gothenburg the sky was grey and the rain was pouring down. Much like London a few weeks ago.

Since the weather was so miserable I didn’t really want to be outdoors and suddenly I was standing outside Saluhallen, a covered food court with both shops and restaurant. Of course I went it and had a look around. I wanted something warming for lunch and settled for a bouillabaisse at Amanda Boman.

Included in the lunch was also a side salad, freshly baked sourdough, coffee or tea and three types of cakes and biscuits for afters.

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The fish soup was fresh with plenty of vegetables as well as chunks of fish and seafood. The two big dollops of lime aioli made it delicious. The bread and cakes were lovely too, and really liked this little oasis in the food court.

Amanda Boman, Stora Saluhallen, 411 17 Göteborg, Sweden

Familjen restaurant, Gothenburg

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When reading Charlotta’s Gothenburg guide, Emma and I liked the sounds of the Familjen (the Family) restaurant and booked a table for Saturday. We arrived already at 6pm, when the first session started, it was either that or 8.30pm onwards.

The restaurant had a cosy feel about it, and was decorated with both sofas and tables, red lights and very nice and familiar staff.

As soon as we sat down the tray above appeared with crisp bread, sourdough, butter and a mackerel spread. The bread was lovely and Linus adored the mackerel, I did not try it myself.

We all chose the same starter; forest mushroom soup with beef tartar and cheesy croûtons. The soup was nice, although a bit thin, and it desperately lacked salt. There were no salt or pepper mills on the table so I had to ask for salt at the bar. With added salt the flavour was really nice, but it could still have been a bit thicker.

The mains lacked no seasoning and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Emma and I chose hake loin with fennel, crab and tomato confit. I always think that fish needs a nice sauce, and that was lacking here, but I realised that it was not necessary for the dish. The lovely tomatoes burst and worked as the sauce and the flavours of this dish were suble but lovely. Linus chose the manliest maincourse;  valde en manligare varmrätt; veal entrecôte, red wine jus, roasted new potatoes and bread with bonemarrow. He really enjoyed it.

After two courses we were too full for dessert and decided to go home and make cocktails instead.

I thought this restaurant was good, but that it had potential to be even better. What I liked the most was the cosy athmosphere and the nice staff, but it should be more focus on the food really.