What to do in Göteborg (Gothenburg): Hints for Beginners

Here are some brief suggestions on how to spend your spare time during the conference. We will have tourist maps of the city for everyone as a complement to this information.

Shopping

The main shopping center (claimed to be Scandinavia's biggest) is ``Nordstan'', located on the north side of Brunnsparken, just a hundred meters west of Drottningtorget and the Central Station. The main shopping area extends to the other side Brunnsparken (i.e. south of the canal Stora Hamnkanalen). In this area, next to Kunggsportsplatsen, you will find ``Saluhallen'', the city's well-known market hall.

Restaurants

Restaurants can be found pretty much all over the city, but there are two restaurant streets that we particularly recommend:
  • Kungsportsavenyn (or simply Avenyn}, from Kungsportsplatsen to Götaplatsen. This is the main tourist street, and has among other things a varied international (mainly Asian and Italian) cuisine.

  • Linnégatan, from Järntorget to Linnéplatsen. The Gothenburgers themselves prefer Linnégatan to Avenyn.
    • In both cases, there are many nice restaurants on the smaller side-streets. Göteborg is known in Sweden for its superb fish.

    Parks

    A beautiful stroll is to walk from the conference venue along the river east (towards the city center), passing under the magnificent bridge Älvsborgsbron to the area Klippan just beyond the bridge.

    There are also plenty of other parks in Göteborg. The biggest one is Slottsskogen (take tram 1 or 6 to Linnéplatsen, or tram 1, 7, 8 or 13 to Botaniska) which is a nice place for a walk, if the weather is OK. Look out for the elks!

    A somewhat more ambitious project is to take tram 11 to Saltholmen (only about 7 minutes from the conference venue), from where there are boats to several of the islands in Göteborg's beautiful archipelago.

    Museums

    There are several museums as well. The arts museum ``Konstmuseet'' at Götaplatsen is definitely worth a visit.

    Cinemas

    Most cinemas are located at and around Kungsportsplatsen. Typically, three quarters of the reportoire consists of American movies, with Swedish subtitles. Check one of the local newspapers (e.g. GT) for the current program.

    Public transportation

    Buy a magnetic tram/bus-card! They are available at the Pressbyrĺn shops and many other tobacco/newspaper shops, and cost 100 SEK. They can also be bought from the driver at the slightly higher cost of 120 SEK. When you start a trip within Göteborg city, insert the card in the ticket machine and press the "2" button. When changing to a different bus or tram, press the "BYTE" button. The card is valid for approximately 7 one-way trips (the ticket machine will yell at you when the card has run out of credits).

    The weather

    Rain or sunshine: be prepared for anything.