Gothenburg: A Weekend Of Coffee & Cycling

Two weeks ago, I went to Gothenburg for a weekend. I’d been to Stockholm 2 years prior and really enjoyed the city, considering it one of the highlights of my European trip back then so I was very keen on seeing what another Swedish city would be like. I don’t know if this little snippet of information is true or not, but I once read that Gothenburg has the highest number of cafes per capita of any European city – as good a reason as any to visit. Given the quality of the coffees, I was not disappointed. I didn’t have one bad coffee that weekend, and I tried quite a few at various cafes.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

Gothenburg is a small city, and a perfect for a weekend away. The city is very walkable and there is a bike hire scheme which is great and easy to use. Also, just as was the case in Stockholm, the people were super friendly and customer service was excellent.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

There are lots of design shops and clothing shops in the city. I’m going to bring up a stereotype here, but if you like Ikea, you’ll love all the little design shops with various useful bits and pieces for the house.

gothenburg sweden things to do

Östermalms Saluhall is a neo-gothic red brick building, and is home to an amazing food market, which is full of food stalls serving all kinds of great fresh produce and meals. It’s been around since 1888 and is still going strong, serving the same purpose that it always has.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

The “Big 4” metal tour happened to be on in Gothenburg during the same weekend that I was there. I’m not a huge metal fan but even I knew that Metallica, Slayer, Megadeath and Anthrax at the one event was a big deal for metal fans. Gothenburg has a reputation for being somewhat of a mecca for metalheads and there was no shortage of metalheads walking about this weekend.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

There are quite a few parks and lots of greenery in the city. This park had a mini golf course in it which my girlfriend and I made use of. She won… just!

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

The Haga district near the university has lots of bars and cafes. It was rather quiet, I assume because it was summer break.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

There is quite a mixture of dock related activity, industrial (mostly seemingly empty) activity just outside of the centre.

gothenburg sweden things to do

gothenburg sweden things to do

There was quite a lot of this style architecture in the ”suburban” areas. The ground floor is concrete and the upper levels are painted wood. It must have something to do with insulating against the cold during winter.

gothenburg sweden things to do

There was a path to the side of one of the housing units that led through some bushes to this. It looked very much like a drug den, and I got as close as I could before I started to feel uncomfortable. There were little things like this dotted around here – proof that even the quaint, nice cities have an underbelly.

Some warehouses around the dock area.

I really enjoyed visiting Gothenburg. I got to see a lot in two days and despite it being a great city for a weekend trip, there was still quite a lot left unexplored for next time.

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