A Winter Tradition: Our Anniversary Escape to Gothenburg
Every year, we have a bit of a tradition to escape for a couple of nights away to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It falls on 28th December, right in that lovely in-between time after Christmas and before New Year. For the past few years, we have found ourselves drawn to Scandinavia. There's just something about the whole experience, the festive atmosphere, the cosy winter feel that makes it extra special. It also helps that the flights at this time of year are often surprisingly reasonable which makes the whole trip feel even more doable.
For 2025, we decided on Gothenburg, Sweden's 2nd largest city located on the west coast that felt like the perfect mix of charm and energy for a short break. We caught an early morning flight from Heathrow and before we knew it, we had landed, hopped on the airport shuttle and were wandering through the beautiful city centre by lunchtime.
When it came to choosing where to stay, we kept it simple , location, price and (very importantly for me) access to a swimming pool. We settled on the Scandic Europa, right in the heart of the city. It is fair to say it's not the most glamorous hotel we have ever stayed in, but it ticked all the boxes. The location was spot on, the price felt right and it had everything we needed. Clean and practical, sometimes that is exactly what you want for a city trip like this.
After dropping our bags, we headed straight back out to explore. Our first stop was the Gothenburg City Museum, which was a great introduction to the city, taking you through its history all the way back 12,000 years. For people like us, with a love of history and a real desire to understand the places we visit, it was exactly our kind of stop. It is the sort of place where you can happily lose a few hours without really noticing.
A couple of coffee stops followed (as they always seem to when we're in Scandinavia), before we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. That evening, we had a reservation at Familjen, just a short cab ride away. Listed in the Michelin Guide, it definitely lived up to expectations. Everything we tried was really good and one ingredient in particular, parsley root, caught our attention, simply because it was something we had never had before.
Day 2: Trams, Rainforests and a Festive Amusement Park After Dark
We decided to try the trams on our second day, which proved to be a super easy way to get around the city. Our first stop was Universeum, a massive science museum that features a giant indoor rainforest, a huge aquarium and lots of other amazing exhibits. We were genuinely surprised at how quickly the time went.
As it started to get dark outside, which is early in Scandinavia in winter, around 3:30pm, we made our way next door to Liseberg Amusement Park. A lovely old-fashioned park, full of Christmas lights, great atmosphere and roller coasters. It was beautiful, we loved just wandering around and taking it all in for a few hours.
After that, it was back on the tram to the hotel to get changed before heading out for dinner again, this time to Natur, a top 10 restaurant on TripAdvisor. Once again, it didn't disappoint and we enjoyed an exceptional meal to round off day two.
Day 3: Cinnamon Buns, Cobbled Streets and an Ocean Bus Finale
For our final day in Gothenburg, we started by heading to Haga to stroll through one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, famous for its pretty wooden houses, cobbled streets and the amazing cinnamon buns. We followed this by spending some time wandering around the shops in the centre before doing something completely different, The Ocean Bus tour.
This is sightseeing with a twist: an amphibious bus that takes you around both the city streets and out into the harbour. Our guide was fantastic, hilariously funny and full of Scandinavian charm. Add in plenty of Swedish music to sing along to, and it turned into one of those unexpectedly brilliant experiences, we absolutely loved it.
Then just like that, our time in Gothenburg was up. We hopped back on the airport shuttle and flew off to London.
Final Thoughts
Gothenburg turned out to be a really fun trip, amazing food, an unusual museum experience, plenty of festive spirit and lots of laughs along the way.
The Ocean Bus alone is worth doing, particularly if you don't take yourself too seriously and just want to have fun.
Another December trip, another set of memories made and exactly why this little anniversary tradition means so much to us.