Gothenburg city tour

This tour lets you spend a morning getting to know Sweden’s gregarious second city, Gothenburg, with a private guide. Compact and eminently walkable, the city is known for Amsterdam-style canals and leafy boulevards, as well as its vibrant, welcoming atmosphere. The walk offers an excellent way to get your bearings and learn a little more about city’s history and culture.

Your exact route and what you’ll see will be tailored to your particular interests, whether that’s the city’s high culture or its maritime history. However, you’re likely to see many of the most popular sights, including Gustav Adolfs torg, a stately square in the heart of the city, and Carl Milles’ Poseidon statue in Götaplatsen Square. From here, it’s a short stroll to other highlights like the City Theatre, the Art Museum, the Opera House and the Concert Hall.

Your tour, which usually takes about three hours, begins when your guide picks you up at your hotel. What you’ll see on your tour will be tailored to your interests, whether that’s the city’s rich maritime history or its abundance of culture.

A likely place to start is Gustav Adolfs torg, a stately square that’s centrally located and has acted as the city’s political heart for centuries. You’ll be able to admire the grand city hall and Wenngrenska Villa, which are both typical of the 18th century’s grandeur.

Nearby you might opt to visit Gothenburg Opera, an angular glass-and-steel building, or Lilla Bommen, known to locals as The Lipstick thanks to its ultra-modern shape and the red floors at the angled top.

You might also choose to walk past the Konstmuseum, a massive yellow building that houses the city’s largest concentration of art. Artists featured include Nordic superstars like Munch, Bruno Liljefors, Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson. In front of the museum, you can see Carl Milles’ Poseidon statue — if you’re interested, your guide can tell you about the scandal that erupted over the statue’s generous endowment when it was first erected.

Finally, you might want to finish at Liseberg (Gothenburg’s historic amusement park), the Scandinavium or Ullevi sports parks, or Avenyn, the city’s main boulevard, before your guide escorts you back to your hotel.