Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Welcome to the Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Destination Guides

bthere! Destination guides

Previous issues for Gothenburg

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy,
please confirm event/venue details in advance.

Sweden : Gothenburg - April 2010

Country Code: Dial for Sweden

Sweden’s second largest city and constant rival to Stockholm, Gothenburg is a lot more laid-back than the capital. Explore its unpretentious nightlife, modern gastronomy and easy access to water as the weather warms up. Veronica Svanberg shows you round her town

Getting around

Landvetter

Bus: Flygbussarna airport coaches stop at Nils Ericson Terminalen (the main bus station), Kungsportsplatsen (for the old town), Park Avenue (on Avenyn) and Korsvägen. A return ticket costs €15/SEK 140 and takes 30 minutes, with departures every 20 minutes during peak times.
Taxi: Taxis offer a fixed price for the 30-minute journey into town (about €36/SEK 338).
Tourist information: The main tourist office is located at 2 Kungsportsplatsen (2500, goteborg.com).

CENTRUM

The geographical centre of the city is home to party artery Avenyn, café-lined Vasagatan and Gothenburg’s prettiest park, Trädgårdsföreningen.

Sleep soundly – Five-star Elite Plaza Hotel (3 Västra Hamngatan, tel. , elite.se, rooms from €120/ SEK 1200) is classy and comfortable. For a real treat ask for the Maharadja suite, laid out over 120 bright square metres.

Culture vultures – Trädgårdsföreningen (entrances on Slussgatan, across from the Central Station, and Södra Vägen) is a gorgeous park for exploring the first signs of spring – April should see the orchids in full bloom. The park’s centrepieces include the Palmhuset, an ornate greenhouse dating from 1876.

Must eat – The awards have been raining down on Swedish Taste (6 Sankt Eriksgatan, 2780) since it opened in 2000. Come here for a Scandinavian culinary extravaganza.

Must drink – Soho (16 Östra Larmgatan) is a living room-like oasis at any time of the day, but afternoon tea may be the sweetest offering.

Dance the night away – Most clubs on Avenyn are huge and sprawling, but the loungey Glow (8 Kungsportsavenyn) is intimate, and tends to attract a slightly more mature audience. It’s open until 5am nightly.

Shop til you drop – NK (42 Östra Hamngatan) is the city’s renowned luxury department store, with a long history and well-to-do customers. It’s a great place to get familiar with Swedish fashion.

LINNÉSTADEN

Lined with shops and cafés, Linnégatan is the main drag in this cute and largely cobblestone-lined neighbourhood. It’s home to Fiskekyrkan – a famous seafood market housed in a church-like building – and the rolling green hills of Slottsskogen.

Sleep soundly – Hotel Riverton (26 Stora Badhusgatan, tel. , riverton.se, rooms from €76/SEK 845) is a four-star boutique hotel that features gorgeous views of the harbour from the sky bar and a restaurant on the top floor.

Culture vultures – Pustervik (12 Järntorgsgatan) is the place to go for all kinds of artistic expression – from edgy live music and cutting-edge performance art to theatre and poetry readings. It attracts a mixed crowd.

Must eat – Byns Bistro (13 Tredje Långgatan, 2003) is a reliable local favourite, with excellent food and a low-key ambiance. The vegetarian three-course dinners are especially delicious and innovative.

Must drink – At Gyllene Prag (25 Sveagatan), locals love the large and lively dining room, the hearty, inexpensive Central European food and, of course, the honey-coloured Czech beer. But if you’d rather sample the best concoctions from the Swedish microbreweries, head to The Rover (12 Andra Långgatan) – a meeting place for beer connoisseurs.

Shop til you drop – Local label Twist & Tango (31 Haga Nygata) sells simple and stylish everyday clothes, often made from organic cotton.

MAJORNA

Once this was a mostly working-class part of town, later it morphed into a bohemia and now it’s a gentrified and largely residential neighbourhood, with a genuinely relaxed atmosphere. Take the streetcar number 11 to Saltholmen and transfer (on the same ticket) to one of the gorgeous islands of the archipelago.

Sleep soundly – Housed inside an old brick building that was once a porter brewery, Novotel (1 Klippan, tel. , novotel.se, rooms from €90/SEK 890) is a comfortable and relatively inexpensive option overlooking the harbour.

Must eat – The Tapas craze shows no sign of slowing down, and Mañana (6 Karl Johansgatan, 1 7 91) is always packed with big parties looking to have a good time. Or cosy Café Marmelad (17 Mariagatan, 1390) offers a huge menu and patio dining for nice spring days.

Shop til you drop – Bengans (1 Stigbergstorget) is a Göteborg institution and a mecca for music lovers and film buffs. Housed in an old cinema, the place holds over 700 square metres of music and movies.

Compiled by Veronica Svanberg