Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden, Travel Guide

Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden

Haga District, Gothenburg, Sweden (cc)

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Discover a working-class port city with Neoclassical and Functionalist architecture, crisscrossed by canals and pale-blue streetcars, and endowed with an atmospheric old district with pedestrianized cobblestone streets lined with charming little shops and seafood restaurants. There are also themed arts and music festivals year-round and a legacy tied to death-metal bands.

Gothenburg Travel Guide

Introduction

Gothenburg, Göteborg in Swedish, is a city of the sea. It's the largest seaport in Scandinavia, surrounded by water, not unlike Stockholm, crisscrossed by canals lined with classical old buildings, and overlooked by a magnificent statue of Poseidon, god of the oceans. It's also a city of both industry and culture, home to the iconic Swedish automobile Volvo which was invented here in 1927, and to atmospheric quarters with charming, centuries-old cobblestone streets packed with shops and seafood restaurants, and scores of music, arts and themed festivals throughout the year. There are lovely gardens in the city, spacious public squares, bridges across the water seemingly everywhere you look, marinas filled with sailboats, first-class museums and galleries, universities of standing, and the ubiquitous, pale-blue streetcars plying the city's streets to offer up the largest tram network in all of Scandinavia. Ultimately, Gothenburg is a working-class city, where Neoclassicism and Functionalism triumph, right alongside the amplified sounds of At the Gates, Dissection and Dark Tranquility, the city’s homegrown death metal bands.

Location

Gothenburg is situated off the North Sea coast, at the mouth of the Göta Älv River, approximately equidistant from three Scandinavian capitals, Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. Its unique location also makes it an ideal base for exploring Västkusten, Sweden's scenic West Coast.