Sjöfartsmuseet The story of the sea When thinking about Gothenburg,you think harbor. You think of the sea. The harbour is à really important part of our beloved city, Gothenburg. Why you may ask, as a visitor from another country. Well,the harbor is important because it was a really big money-source back in the 16th century. Many People (men of course) used to do fishing and sell it forward to people from other countries, making Gothenburg the capital fish-city and providing good money,which was really positive.And also, Gothenburg was a huge place for trades. (It still is) Making the past be the present So 200 years ago,there were men fishing,ships all over the sea,trading going on,but now that's over and it is In the past.But what if the past could be in the present? Is it possible?? No, of course. Kind of. You can though go to "Sjöfarts museet" and see how it was in the past. There is a lot of expo's of the sea-life that people used to have. There is exhibitions of seamen,the ships,the trades and much more about the history of Gothenburg. Seeing these things, you can visualize things in your mind, and that kind of makes the past be the present. If you are like a 350 years old turtle who has lived in Gothenburg every year of your whole life and you go to Sjöfarts museet today, you will have an amazing flashback! And that is why it is so important to see "Sjöfarts museet" You really get to know how it was in the past. Seeing is visualizing and that will happen to you if you go to Sjöfarts museet. That will make your trip really fun and exciting.
Archipelago
If you are to visit Gothenburg, you have to reach outside the city’s walls and discover arguably the most beautiful scenery on the west coast of Sweden. This piece of Swedish coastline was awarded to be one of the top 7 most beautiful natural sceneries in the world, beating Uttarakhand, a small but stunning piece on scenery in the Himalayas! So with the right weather conditions, a sunset could be something out of the ordinary!
This island paradise though is without doubt best experienced by boat, so my recommendation would be to resort to one of the many boat-rental-companies out by the coast. Otherwise there are many organized boat trips to simply join into. However, if the coastline happens to be covered in thick, impenetrable ice during wintertime, one could even walk from island to island and enjoy a day with shining sun and blue sky!
During summertime crab fishing is a popular activity among the kids, while the little more adventurous could jump from the many high cliffs into the glimmering water!
Vinga
A popular island to visit is Vinga, situated 1h 30min of boat ride from the main land. With the Gothenburg city card the ride is free of charge, and once you’ve arrived you are free to discover the history and nature of this fantastic place. There is a fantastic old lighthouse, just like the ones in old movies and on posters, that helps your mind to build up a picture of Vinga, 450 years ago. Also by nighttime, you get a fantastic clear view of the night sky.
Marstrand
Another island not to be missed is the tourist paradise Marstrand, which is accessible by boat, bus or by car. This mesmerizingly beautiful idyll, with its tight alleys, long sweeping cliffs and wonderful cafés is really everything one could want from a holiday on the Swedish west coast. It has got its share of history too, with a majestic fortress on the top of the island, with guided tours that run through all its prison chambers, alleys and great towers. If one wants to discover the island for themselves, there is a walking path that runs around the entire island, which is as easy for small children as for old people with bad hips.
Nature Gothenburg Botanical Garden – If you are interested in flowers, you should definitely try to visit the Botanical garden in Gothenburg. The entry fee to the garden is optional but the entry to the greenhouses is mandatory. The garden contains a lot of different and amazing variations in color. The Botanical Garden was inaugurated 1923 and the one to get the mission to lay out a botanical park was Carl Skottsberg. Gothenburg Botanical Garden is 175 hectare big and is one of Europe’s largest. The cultivated part occupies about 40 hectare and in a total in the open and in greenhouse there are about 16 000 species and culture shapes. Gothenburg Botanical Garden and the employees have received a lot of both national and international awards throughout the years. Slottskogen - A lot of people associate slottskogen with well-cut lawns and paved walkways but in fact the largest part of the park consists of natural forests and some of the trees can be up to 300 years old. Slottskogen is a scenic park with winding paths leading up to three hills and was constructed by August Kobbs year 1874. In the northern part, you can find the highest point in the park and enjoy a wide view over Gothenburg. Beside the view you can also look at what is known as the “jättegrytorna” which is giant hole carved out of the rock by the Inland ice over 12 000 years ago. The contrast between a constructed park and a natural forest can be seen in the wildlife. After visiting the red deer and the moose in the zoo, you could meet a flock of wild deer in the park. Slottskogen is also rich in birdlife, including the blackbird, wood pigeon and one and another tawny owl. The ponds attract all kinds of water birds of all possible species and migratory birds.
Architecture in the city!
There´s a lot of things to see in the city of Gothenburg and it´s easy to forget the architecture is one of these things.
In Gothenburg there´s many beautiful buildings from long time ago but there´s also new, modern ones. If you like history and architecture you should absolutely take a walk around the city, just look at the houses and how they are constructed because there´s many reasons why the buildings looks like that, there´s a story behind every building.
Some building worth to see:
Feskekyrkan: Feskekyrkan is a indoor fish and seafood market, located near the Rosenlundskanal in Gothenburg city. Feskekyrkan is drawn by a very talented architect named Victor von Gederfelt. Victor has drawn others famous building In Gothenburg city as well, the Chalmers instituted for example. The building itself reminds a bit of a church with seven widows on each side, a facade with yellow bricks and a huge gable roof. The seven windows are supposed to bring the daylight from outside the building to the inside of it. The gable roof is something very common in Sweden, because of the long winters with a lot of snow. The gable roof has a very steep angle and because of this the snow easily falls of.
Eriksberg- Eriksberg is an area situated on Hisingen in Gothenburg. The cool thing about Eriksberg is that for a couple years ago, the place was completely different. Today there´s many modern and exclusive apartments in Eriksberg.Only a few years back in time there was nothing else but a builder placed there. So if you appreciate modern architecture you should absolutely take a look at beautiful Eriksberg.
Haga-Haga is a lovely district located in the heart of Gothenburg, it´s popular and there´s a lot of people who would love to live here. Haga is the opposite to the modern apartments in Eriksberg. Here the buildings are older. There´s a special type of building called “landshövdingehus” and these are very common in Gothenburg. The special thing with these houses is that the ground floor is made up of stone but the upper floor is made of wood. The stone bottom should prevent the house from catching fire. We recommend you to visit Haga if you like older architecture and if you have kids, bring them! They will love it! Ostindiefararen Götheborg - The original Ostindiefararen Götheborg was built at Terra Nova in Stockholm. The boat was done in 1738. Even though the boat was built in Stockholm it got the name Götheborg because of that the ”svenska ostindiska kompaniet” had its headquarter in Gothenburg and all of its expeditions started and ended in Gothenburg aswell. Ostindiefararen sank in 1745. It is the biggest ocean classified ship that is built out of wood. 1986 they started a marine archeological expedition to bring the original ship over water. A new construction of Götheborg was started in 1995 and was ready for sailing eight years later. The new Götheborg was meant to look as similar as possible compared to the old one. Building the new Götheborg with modern standards for safety, speed and strength while still make a look alike of the old boat was the hardest things in building the new boat. Today the boat is mostly in the Gothenburg docks outside Eriksberg but can also be seen across the river from majorna or stigberget.
Poseidon - The statue of Poseidon, better known only as Poseidon, is currently placed on Götaplatsen, Gothenburg. Poseidon is a bronze statue made by Carl Milles. Poseidon is placed in the middle of the Fountain. Placed on the fountain there is six smaller sculptures of different behemoths, tritons, naiads, fishes, and mermaids. The statue was first meant to have the name Neptunus, the name the romans gave the god of the sea. But at last Carl Milles decided on the name Poseidon, the name that the god of the sea has in the Greek mythology.
The Gothenburg Opera - The Gothenburg Opera opened 1994. It is placed at Lilla Bommen in the Gothenburg harbor. The opera got two stages. The larger stage is 500 square meters. The opera got 1117 rooms and can have a public of 1301 people. The opera has 250 000 visitors in a year and got approximately 270 performances. Some international stars has performed on the Opera, some of them are Nina Stemme, Peter Mattei and Katarina Dalayman. The stagecraft on the opera was world class when the opera was built, and after the improvement in 2009 it is once again competing as one of the best operas in the world.
Sjöfartsmuseet
The story of the sea When thinking about Gothenburg,you think harbor. You think of the sea. The harbour is à really important part of our beloved city, Gothenburg. Why you may ask, as a visitor from another country. Well,the harbor is important because it was a really big money-source back in the 16th century. Many People (men of course) used to do fishing and sell it forward to people from other countries, making Gothenburg the capital fish-city and providing good money,which was really positive.And also, Gothenburg was a huge place for trades. (It still is) Making the past be the present So 200 years ago,there were men fishing,ships all over the sea,trading going on,but now that's over and it is In the past.But what if the past could be in the present? Is it possible?? No, of course. Kind of. You can though go to "Sjöfarts museet" and see how it was in the past. There is a lot of expo's of the sea-life that people used to have. There is exhibitions of seamen,the ships,the trades and much more about the history of Gothenburg. Seeing these things, you can visualize things in your mind, and that kind of makes the past be the present. If you are like a 350 years old turtle who has lived in Gothenburg every year of your whole life and you go to Sjöfarts museet today, you will have an amazing flashback! And that is why it is so important to see "Sjöfarts museet" You really get to know how it was in the past. Seeing is visualizing and that will happen to you if you go to Sjöfarts museet. That will make your trip really fun and exciting.
Archipelago
If you are to visit Gothenburg, you have to reach outside the city’s walls and discover arguably the most beautiful scenery on the west coast of Sweden. This piece of Swedish coastline was awarded to be one of the top 7 most beautiful natural sceneries in the world, beating Uttarakhand, a small but stunning piece on scenery in the Himalayas! So with the right weather conditions, a sunset could be something out of the ordinary!
This island paradise though is without doubt best experienced by boat, so my recommendation would be to resort to one of the many boat-rental-companies out by the coast. Otherwise there are many organized boat trips to simply join into. However, if the coastline happens to be covered in thick, impenetrable ice during wintertime, one could even walk from island to island and enjoy a day with shining sun and blue sky!
During summertime crab fishing is a popular activity among the kids, while the little more adventurous could jump from the many high cliffs into the glimmering water!
Vinga
A popular island to visit is Vinga, situated 1h 30min of boat ride from the main land. With the Gothenburg city card the ride is free of charge, and once you’ve arrived you are free to discover the history and nature of this fantastic place. There is a fantastic old lighthouse, just like the ones in old movies and on posters, that helps your mind to build up a picture of Vinga, 450 years ago. Also by nighttime, you get a fantastic clear view of the night sky.
Marstrand
Another island not to be missed is the tourist paradise Marstrand, which is accessible by boat, bus or by car. This mesmerizingly beautiful idyll, with its tight alleys, long sweeping cliffs and wonderful cafés is really everything one could want from a holiday on the Swedish west coast. It has got its share of history too, with a majestic fortress on the top of the island, with guided tours that run through all its prison chambers, alleys and great towers. If one wants to discover the island for themselves, there is a walking path that runs around the entire island, which is as easy for small children as for old people with bad hips.
Nature
Gothenburg Botanical Garden – If you are interested in flowers, you should definitely try to visit the Botanical garden in Gothenburg. The entry fee to the garden is optional but the entry to the greenhouses is mandatory.
The garden contains a lot of different and amazing variations in color. The Botanical Garden was inaugurated 1923 and the one to get the mission to lay out a botanical park was Carl Skottsberg. Gothenburg Botanical Garden is 175 hectare big and is one of Europe’s largest. The cultivated part occupies about 40 hectare and in a total in the open and in greenhouse there are about 16 000 species and culture shapes. Gothenburg Botanical Garden and the employees have received a lot of both national and international awards throughout the years.
Slottskogen - A lot of people associate slottskogen with well-cut lawns and paved walkways but in fact the largest part of the park consists of natural forests and some of the trees can be up to 300 years old. Slottskogen is a scenic park with winding paths leading up to three hills and was constructed by August Kobbs year 1874. In the northern part, you can find the highest point in the park and enjoy a wide view over Gothenburg. Beside the view you can also look at what is known as the “jättegrytorna” which is giant hole carved out of the rock by the Inland ice over 12 000 years ago.
The contrast between a constructed park and a natural forest can be seen in the wildlife. After visiting the red deer and the moose in the zoo, you could meet a flock of wild deer in the park. Slottskogen is also rich in birdlife, including the blackbird, wood pigeon and one and another tawny owl. The ponds attract all kinds of water birds of all possible species and migratory birds.
Architecture in the city!There´s a lot of things to see in the city of Gothenburg and it´s easy to forget the architecture is one of these things.
In Gothenburg there´s many beautiful buildings from long time ago but there´s also new, modern ones. If you like history and architecture you should absolutely take a walk around the city, just look at the houses and how they are constructed because there´s many reasons why the buildings looks like that, there´s a story behind every building.
Some building worth to see:
Feskekyrkan: Feskekyrkan is a indoor fish and seafood market, located near the Rosenlundskanal in Gothenburg city. Feskekyrkan is drawn by a very talented architect named Victor von Gederfelt. Victor has drawn others famous building In Gothenburg city as well, the Chalmers instituted for example. The building itself reminds a bit of a church with seven widows on each side, a facade with yellow bricks and a huge gable roof. The seven windows are supposed to bring the daylight from outside the building to the inside of it. The gable roof is something very common in Sweden, because of the long winters with a lot of snow. The gable roof has a very steep angle and because of this the snow easily falls of.
Eriksberg- Eriksberg is an area situated on Hisingen in Gothenburg. The cool thing about Eriksberg is that for a couple years ago, the place was completely different. Today there´s many modern and exclusive apartments in Eriksberg.Only a few years back in time there was nothing else but a builder placed there. So if you appreciate modern architecture you should absolutely take a look at beautiful Eriksberg.
Haga-Haga is a lovely district located in the heart of Gothenburg, it´s popular and there´s a lot of people who would love to live here. Haga is the opposite to the modern apartments in Eriksberg. Here the buildings are older. There´s a special type of building called “landshövdingehus” and these are very common in Gothenburg. The special thing with these houses is that the ground floor is made up of stone but the upper floor is made of wood. The stone bottom should prevent the house from catching fire. We recommend you to visit Haga if you like older architecture and if you have kids, bring them! They will love it!
Ostindiefararen Götheborg - The original Ostindiefararen Götheborg was built at Terra Nova in Stockholm. The boat was done in 1738. Even though the boat was built in Stockholm it got the name Götheborg because of that the ”svenska ostindiska kompaniet” had its headquarter in Gothenburg and all of its expeditions started and ended in Gothenburg aswell. Ostindiefararen sank in 1745. It is the biggest ocean classified ship that is built out of wood. 1986 they started a marine archeological expedition to bring the original ship over water. A new construction of Götheborg was started in 1995 and was ready for sailing eight years later. The new Götheborg was meant to look as similar as possible compared to the old one. Building the new Götheborg with modern standards for safety, speed and strength while still make a look alike of the old boat was the hardest things in building the new boat. Today the boat is mostly in the Gothenburg docks outside Eriksberg but can also be seen across the river from majorna or stigberget.
Poseidon - The statue of Poseidon, better known only as Poseidon, is currently placed on Götaplatsen, Gothenburg. Poseidon is a bronze statue made by Carl Milles. Poseidon is placed in the middle of the Fountain. Placed on the fountain there is six smaller sculptures of different behemoths, tritons, naiads, fishes, and mermaids. The statue was first meant to have the name Neptunus, the name the romans gave the god of the sea. But at last Carl Milles decided on the name Poseidon, the name that the god of the sea has in the Greek mythology.
The Gothenburg Opera - The Gothenburg Opera opened 1994. It is placed at Lilla Bommen in the Gothenburg harbor. The opera got two stages. The larger stage is 500 square meters. The opera got 1117 rooms and can have a public of 1301 people. The opera has 250 000 visitors in a year and got approximately 270 performances. Some international stars has performed on the Opera, some of them are Nina Stemme, Peter Mattei and Katarina Dalayman. The stagecraft on the opera was world class when the opera was built, and after the improvement in 2009 it is once again competing as one of the best operas in the world.