This Midsummer, we found ourselves on a coastal road trip, travelling through Gothenburg and up the breathtaking West coast of Sweden. Being commissioned by Visit Sweden to capture the magic we see on our travels around the different regions of this beautiful country has to be one of the highlights of my freelance career so far. Fancy a whirl around this beautiful, inspiring and very relaxed city with me?
We landed in Gothenburg airport and hopped on a bus (so easy and right outside the airport door), our bus dropped us a couple of streets away from our home for the night – Hotel Flora, after checking in we grabbed a coffee from the lobby and prepared for a couple of days getting acquainted with this super friendly and relaxed city. Feeling hungry we nipped around the corner to find Jinx Food Truck – recommended to us and a definite if you are in the city – the steamed bao bread Vegan buns are amazing!
It just so happens that possibly the best shop in the whole of the city is right next to Jinx too – Artilleriet. This place is so inspiring and we LOVED everything, you may have seen it on IG, The Kitchen department is the most stunning collection of kitchen and dining wares.
We did a little bit of shopping, picking up some interior books and magazines and a new tea towel (nothing too extravagant packing scantly keeps us strict on purchases), then walked across the river to The Garden Society of Gothenburg and to find the famous Palm House.
Free to visit, this stunning glasshouse towers high above you and houses a camelia room, giant lily pads and all kinds of tropical delights. After climbing the staircases, viewing the palms from on high and taking in all the green air, we headed a bit further downtown to café St. Agnes for more coffee and the first sweet cinnamon buns of our trip.
Strolling along the river banks we meandered further downtown to the Haga district. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in Gothenburg, the old-fashioned streets with traditional houses and industrial buildings house a mix of antique shops, cafes, independent boutiques, modern and traditional restaurants.
We loved the store Thrive for ethical clothing, En Deli Haga for quick and healthy vegetarian food, Fafangans Antik for glittering trinkets and Haga Tratoffel for awesome clogs and traditional crafted clothing.
We loved all the old traditional buildings that are now home to bustling shops and cafes.
Dinner was vegan pizza with craft ale for him and a cocktail for me at Brewers Beer Bar. A cosy and relaxed place a few steps up with a view of a bustling and festoon lit street.
Day two in the city we found ourselves riding the trams everywhere we could, we headed for the Botanical gardens to get our fix of cacti and Mediterranean plants – if green is your thing like ours – Slottsskogen is just across the road for more wild and open space just a short ride out of the city. I love trams and really wish we still had them here, love seeing old photos of them chugging along the black and white streets of our town back in the day. Luckily awesome countries all over the world including Sweden still have them!
After a second day exploring we found ourselves in the Klippan and Majorna neighbourhoods, up and coming, these are places where you will find new businesses popping up – What’s the Deli, Cum Pane, Röda Sten Art Centre, Äkta Mos grill and the very popular retro – KORVKIOSK Sausage stand!
We headed to restaurant Syster Marmelad for some nordic plant-based gastronomy – the owners were so lovely taking the time to chat with us about their food and ingredients all the while waiting on the edge of their seats for their first baby to arrive! The food prepared by our chef Marcus was almost too pretty to eat, so delicious.
