Canals, seafood and islands by tram

Gothenburg was laid out in 1621 with the help of Dutch engineers, and the centre still follows their plan: a moat, straight canals and a grid of streets inside the old fortifications. Blue-and-white trams run through all of it. Along Kungsportsavenyn, the boulevard everyone calls Avenyn, the city strolls uphill to Götaplatsen and Carl Milles’s bronze Poseidon in front of the art museum.

The west coast sets the menu. Prawns, langoustines, oysters and mussels come in from the cold water of the Skagerrak and the Kattegat and are sold at Feskekôrka, the fish hall shaped like a church, which reopened in 2024 after a four-year restoration. The other fixed ritual is fika: coffee and a cinnamon bun, taken seriously among the wooden houses of Haga.

What sets Gothenburg apart is how quickly the city gives way to rock and sea. A tram to Saltholmen and a short ferry crossing lead to the southern archipelago, where there are no cars, only footpaths, red boathouses and smooth granite to swim from. In summer the evenings stay light until late; in winter the Liseberg amusement park turns into a Christmas market strung with lights.