Gothenburg is a smorgasbord of festive fun during the winter festive period.
This amazing city is the home to the largest Christmas market in Sweden, at Liseberg amusement park, the city is transformed into a light and food filled extravaganza over the festive period, making it ideal for a short break to soak up the festive atmosphere.
Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, is located on the west coast and is fast becoming a creative hub for innovation. For six weeks each year, the Liseberg Amusement Park is transformed into Scandinavia’s largest Christmas market – with 700 Christmas trees, decorated with over five million fairy lights! More than 70 market stalls sell Swedish arts and crafts, decorations and gift ideas in a wonderfully Swedish setting. Shoppers can also expect traditional festive foods, ranging from marinated herring and roasted reindeer meat served by the indigenous Sami people, through to seasonal Swedish goodies, such as marzipan pigs and ‘glögg’. The market also features an ice skating rink, the chance to meet Santa Claus and hitch a sleigh ride with white reindeers from Sweden’s far north. The Liseberg Christmas Market is open daily from 4 to 23 December, and 26 to 29 December.
From the Centralstationen at the northern end of town, shop-lined Östra Hamngatan leads southeast across one of Göteborg’s few 17th-century canals, through a verdant green Kungsparken (King’s Park) to the city’s ‘Champs Élysées’. The shop-lined ‘Avenyn’ culminates at the dramatic (and once scandalising) Poseidon fountain and Konstmuseet, one of many fine museums around town.
To the west, Vasastan, Haga and Linné districts buzz with creativity. Fashionistas design fair-trade threads, artists collaborate over mean espressos and street artists sex up forlorn facades. Stockholm may represent the ‘big time’, but many of the best ideas originate in this grassroots town.
When the sun shines, hop on a boat for a blissful cruise along the Göta älv (Göta river). Alternatively, catch a tram and head out to the nearby archipelago for a mellow spot of island-hopping. The city is also well-connected to most cities in Sweden, and its neighbouring countries Norway and Denmark, by an extensive route network of bus and train services.
