Thinking of taking advantage of cheap flights to Gothenburg. Whats to do / see in the area? Are there hills / fjords or anything else naturally bootiful to see and do?

Q:What to do/see?

A:Women

But take lots of spending money.

we went to gothenburg last year for a friends wedding. We stayed at the Gothia Towers hotel – which is a big international sort of thing. it is right next to Liseberg, which is a amusement park with some reasonably good rides – think alton towers but without the chavs and the grottiness. There are some great restaurants in that part of town and we ate out quite a lot. Don’t miss the massive prawn sandwhich on the top floor of the gothia towers. The swedes go mad for them.

We had a rental car from the airport and went up to Tjorne (for the wedding) – which is about an hour from gothenburg. Fantastic for mountain biking. but then, the whole of sweden appears to be. A bit rural if you like eating out and partying.

the gothenburg area has strange weather, it is on the same latitude as Edinburgh – but has mediterrean summers. Expect 30’C + from July to late August. We are going to go on summer hols there instead of the med.

everything seems pretty clean, swedes are fab, most speak english, totally maxxed out on beautiful blondes. My (also blonde) wife felt like a little fish in sweden compared to being eyed up all the time when out on the town here in blighty.

gothenburg has a cracking friday/saturday nightlife – they go completely crazy.

great beaches to be had if you are into that sort of thing.

and yes, its expensive (but worth it)

oh, and the picture postcard fjords are in Norway.

Fantastic for mountain biking. but then, the whole of sweden appears to be. A bit rural if you like eating out and partying.

sounds perfect, if I was taking the bike…

Göteborg is pretty ok rapiddescent, but I wouldn’t go as far as you do in praising it…

Whats to do / see in the area? Are there hills / fjords or anything else naturally bootiful to see and do?

Other than the locals… hills, not a lot. Islands and sea, yes, plenty. Good climbing and bouldering along the Bohuslän Coast (basically from Göteborg north), fantastic sea kayaking in the same area, good for swimming and sailing too. Loads of small islands, many uninhabited, you can roll up for a few days and have the place to yourself, even in high summer. If that sounds good, take some camping stuff and hire a kajak for a few days. Good biking in places, much better than most of Sweden (which is nothing special until you get into the north or Hoga Kusten, Bohuslän etc, but then you’re not taking the bike). If you have the time, I particularly like the area west of Tanum (accessible via train/car within a couple of hours where there are some pretty cool bronze age (?) rock carvings in the forest and a top visitor attraction if you like that kind of thing). The coastline is great in this area (around Grebbestad to Kungshamn is accessible and plenty of stuff to do), but if you don’t have the time to get up here there are nice areas closer to town too- take the tram to the end of the line, then get a ferry out. If that’s too much, the botanics is ok, and Slottskogen is really worth a wander around if the weather is good (or if you like animals- elk, seals, goats… other stuff in the free zoo bits) and is right in the centre of town. On the weather thing, I wouldn’t expect 30 degrees plus from July to August, that would be pretty exceptional.

Nightlife is pretty good, some ok places, some dross. As for crazy, it depends what you’re used to. Decent music coming out of the city (and Sweden as a whole) over the last few years isn’t always reflected in the scene in the city, but there can be some good gigs. Classical/Opera are worth seeing if there’s something you like on. Don’t forget to go early to Systemet to get your alcohol to avoid the queues, especially if it’s a holiday weekend.

Basically, depending on time, I’d recommend a couple of days in the city, fika-ing, relaxing in Slottskogen and doing culture/nightlife things, then if you have the time, a few days on the Bohuslan coast doing stuff in or beside the water. That should give you some things to google.

c_p – thanks for that, plenty to google indeed. All sounds good.

And shes a National Champion at it.

Gothenburg is a fine city, but then I would say that as I’ve lived here for the last 3 years!
Most of what rapiddescent said is true, but don’t be fooled by his weather comment as it can be very changeable in the summer with lots of very heavy rain, more so than the UK!
You’ll pay way over the odds for that prawn sandwich he mentioned too, way cheaper and better ones are easy enough to find!
Its not a really a hilly place, but it does have some good rolling terrain.
There a lot of good parks within reach of the city centre.
Slottsskogen, Delsjön, Änggården/Botanical gardens are all worth a mooch around.
Boat trips (Paddan) around the canal system and out into the river are a good way of seeing the city.
The Haga is one of the old parts of the city, pretty cobble lined streets, wooden buidings, lots of speciality shops and cafes.
Lots of museums, Volvo museum, Hassleblad centre, Röhsska museum, Maritime museum, if that’s your thing!
The southern archipelago is 20 mins tram ride from the city and well connected by the regular ferry’s. You can do a tour of the islands on just the one ferry or spend all day island hopping on the mostly car free islands.
It can be expensive if you’re going out a lot, but cheapness can be had by avoiding the Avenyn, the main tourist drag in the city centre full of soulless places such as Hard rock cafe and other overpriced establishments.
Järntorget, Linnégatan, Vasagatan, Andra Långgaten are all good places to explore the more independent bars and clubs, Andra Långgaten is worth a visit for its weird mix of porn shops, strip clubs, feminist political oragnisations, left wing political organisations, antique shops and some really good pubs and bars, all next door to each other!
There are Fjords here, but they’re a few hours north of Gothenburg.
Remember, most of the blonds here are actually aeroplane blondes!
Its a shame you’re not bringing a bike as there is an amazing amount of riding right from the centre of the city…

What kind of things do you like doing???? There is a wide range of things to see and do here, (I live in Gothenburg)it just depends on what type of thing you are looking for.
Check out http://www.goteborg.com for some ideas.
Daniel

Know if there’s any rock climbing about by any chance?

jimmy- try here for the coast… site in English (or bits are anyway) or here for Goteborg. Google or Youtube ‘Klattring’ or Bouldering and Goteborg/Bohuslan and see what that brings out…

Potential for decent bouldering, sport or trad climbing and deep water soloing in various places…

Stockholms worth a visit to. You can get cheap tickets if you book on SJ in advance.

id go to a footy match….

I was told as a youngster that Swedish ladies were cold. I recommend checking if it has become true (wasn’t then).

In addition to what others have said, try some of the coffee shops for ‘fika’ around Slottskogen, as they do a great selection of cakes, pastries etc. and most seem to have a nice relaxed atmosphere.

Have a look at the Göta älv river, and the ships moored in the harbour if the weather’s nice.

Göteborg is great – you’ll like it 🙂