Exploring the Christmas markets of Gothenburg

As winter sets in over Northern Europe, there’s something atmospheric about a Christmas market. In Gothenburg on the West coast of Sweden, we found an atmosphere that make you feel cosy and full of seasonal spirit.

On our winter weekend break in Gothenburg we set out to explore some of the many Christmas markets around the city. In between, of course we managed to fit in plenty of eating and drinking!

Kronhuset Christmas Market

Our goal was to visit the Maritiman Maritime Centre on the harbour, but we were disappointed to find it was closed in winter. On the way we passed what I thought looked like an Almshouse that one might find in Bristol.

Old buildings were set around four sides of a courtyard. The is the Kronhuset – the oldest building in Gothenburg, built in the 1650s as an artillery store.

It looks a bit incongruous surrounded by more modern buildings, with a red brick façade and unusual green copper window shutters.

Inside the Kronhuset, we found a Christmas craft market was in full swing. The hall was packed with small stalls selling anything from pottery to Christmas decorations. There were several stalls raising money for charity and definitely a touch of the Women’s Institute in the atmosphere

Outside there were a few more stalls, mainly selling cute fir tree decorations in the shape of dogs and other animals. I noticed that pine branches (as if you had cut up a Christmas tree) are widely used to decorate window surrounds.

Branches were also spread on the ground at the foot of building walls, sometimes with fairy lights over the top. I’m not sure whether the purpose is purely decorative or if it helps to stop snow and ice damaging the buildings.

Café Kronhuset

We looked around the interesting gift shops that were in the old buildings around the courtyard. Later we enjoyed a coffee in the extremely cosy Café Kronhuset.

There was a fire burning on what looked like an original fireplace of a forge with a metal anvil. Many people were tucking into appetising salads and open sandwiches. Since we’d had the full hotel breakfast so we saved ourselves for later.

Röhsska Design museum

I was on the lookout for pretty and unusual Christmas gifts. We stopped by at the Röhsska Design museum in the Vasastan neighbourhood. Here there was the Julform craft market with stalls set up in a side room off the Museum lobby.

On sale were gifts that looked as if they were largely the work of design students. This was just the place to buy interesting jewellery or even the odd bit of furniture. However, nothing was especially cheap.

Liseberg Christmas Market

If the Christmas markets at Kronhuset and Röhsska Museum were small and intimate, the Christmas market at Liseburg was quite the other end of the scale.

Liseberg is the largest amusement park in Sweden, with rides for all ages from carousels to a traditional timber roller coaster. There’s restaurants, food stands, and at Christmas the park is transformed with 5 million lights.

We’ll have to trust them on that as I can’t say I counted every one. But as we came through the entrance I could believe it, as it seemed that every twig, on every branch, on every tree had lights twisted around it.

I feel sorry for the people who have to put them up and then take them all down again after Christmas.

Surging through the gates, we were not really sure where to go. We took the two sets of escalators up to an area where there were stalls of designer gifts from Scandinavian brands.

On coming down the escalators again, we caught the end of the ice show as skaters performed to Christmas music and even some cute young skaters spun around impressively.

Once we’d done the circuit it was starting to rain quite heavily. At the end of this long day we were starting to flag, with little enthusiasm for a damp and scary roller coaster ride.

We retreated from the crowds to the nearest place we could find for a cup of tea. We found ourself in fast food hall filled with families eating Scandinavian versions of burger & chips. 

Although the lights were magical, the Saturday night crowds were not and we decided to head back to the calm of Hotel Elite Plaza.

Haga Christmas Market

On Sunday morning we found our perfect Christmas market in the old fashioned neighbourhood of Haga. The pedestrian streets of Haga are full of interesting shops and cafes.

To these were added more stalls, some an offshoot of the shops, selling mainly foods such as interesting sausages, breads, cakes and a few gifts.

The scene was full of Christmas atmosphere as a choir of students stood on the street corner singing us a Gud Jul. There were hopeful looks for a few silver coins thrown into the tin in front of them.

As their impromptu concert came to an end we heard band music and followed it down the street until we found the source. We found a junior marching band with teenagers dressed in bright blue uniforms.

Cheer leaders at the front twirled their pom poms, led by a majorette with her baton. Here was the Christmas music and atmosphere that I’d been hoping to find.

We followed the band as they marched down the main street of Haga Nygata. Then we dived into Cafe Kringlan, one of those cosy traditional cafes where the cinnamon and saffron buns were piled high. Get your fika break over a steaming mug of coffee or hot chocolate.

If you’re visiting Gothenburg in December, you can take your pick of Christmas markets. There’s the full-on bright lights of Liseberg to the Swedish designer gifts at Röhsska Museum. Or, the traditional charms of Kronhuset and Haga.

Visitor Information for Gothenburg or Göteborg

The local tourism site Göteborg.com is full of information on the best things to see and do.

For information on West Sweden visit West Sweden Tourism. Another useful site for all things Gothenburg is I Love Göteborg.

During our long weekend in Gothenburg, we stayed at the lovely 5 star hotel, Elite Plaza Hotel which is right in the centre of town. Check for the best hotel prices in Gothenburg and book here.

For flights to Gothenburg from London Heathrow, we flew with Scandinavian airlines.

Thanks to the West Sweden Tourism Board who hosted* our long weekend in Gothenburg.

Read Next

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* More info on my policies page

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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