Entertainment

In the summer, Gothenburg is a wonderful place to be, being situated by the sea and having lots of cafes, vibrant street life and beautiful areas for pedestrian exploration. In May, when the bars and restaurants open up their outdoor seating, the nightlife seems to explode in a way that never fails to surprise you. The town is not that lively in the wintertime, but since it is the second largest town in Sweden, there are a lot of concerts, museums and theatres to visit. And when it comes to cinemas, Gothenburg may even have Sweden's best selection of non-mainstream films. And all of the box office hits as well, naturally.

Gothenburg is sometimes described as a large town. Almost, but not quite, a city. This means that nothing is very far away, and if you are in any of the central parts of town, like Vasastaden, Lorensberg or within the moat, you'll find that everything is within walking distance – it may even be quicker to walk than to take a tram or bus. Another aspect of this is that festivals and events such as The Gothenburg Film Festival, Göteborgskalaset and Göteborgsvarvet manage to really permeate the town, both physically and psychologically. That kind of festival atmosphere can be hard to find in larger places. But Gothenburg is still large enough to have plenty of entertainment on offer to everyone, regardless of age or taste.

If you want to reach the sea a car is your best bet, but there are buses heading south (GL Blå and bus 58), where a number of beaches can be found. And there is a tram line (number 4) heading west to Saltholmen, where you can go swimming or take a ferry to the southern archipelago, which offers beautiful scenery and charming wooden houses with lush gardens.

Theatres

Gothenburg has a lot of diversity within the theatre scene, with several stages at Stadsteatern, a number of independent theatre companies, and a fairly new opera house.

Stadsteatern offers a mixture of new drama and classics, often performed in a grand and theatrical manner. The theatre is situated at Götaplatsen, at the far end of Avenyn, and has a number of stages. The old and beautiful venue Stora Teatern, at the other end of Avenyn, is also used for some of Stadsteatern's productions.

Teater Bhopa and Teater Jaguar, two of Gothenburg's independent companies, are located in Vasastaden, within easy walking distance from the city centre. They frequently stage less well-known plays and they tend to be more innovative than the large theatre institutions. Pusterviksteatern and Folkteatern at Järntorget also offer a similar kind of repertoire.

Backa Teater and Angereds Nya Teater are both situated in the suburbs and play mainly for younger audiences, something which is made quite evident by their heavy focus on lots of music and newly written plays. Teater Uno lies by the Central Station and is even more stronly focused on younger audiences. They are unorthodox and innovative. Lilla Teatern is a children's theatre near Järntorget.

The primary venues for farces and cabarets are Lorensbergsteatern near Avenyn, and Lisebergsteatern at the amusement park Liseberg. Their productions are rarely favoured by the critics, but attract large and faithful audiences.

Göteborgsoperan, the Gothenburg Opera House, is fairly new and the building dominates the cityscape by the river. It has a main stage for classics and other large productions, and a smaller stage which is mainly used for newly written operas. The opera enjoys a solid reputation for innovative and technically advanced set designs.

Cinemas

The large cinemas are mainly located along Kungsgatan, and these are the venues to visit if you want to see Hollywood movies or major Swedish films. The two competing cinema complexes, Biopalatset and Filmstaden, are situated near the dome within one block of eachother. And if you follow Kungsgatan you will come to Victoria and Palladium, both of them older cinemas with large beautiful auditoriums and large screens. Along Avenyn, you will find another of the older cinemas, Royal.

If you pass outside of Vallgraven (the moat), the films shown are generally more alternative. In Haga and Linnestaden, you will find Capitol, Svea and Hagabion, which all show films from a wide variety of different countries, as well as some independent films. The ticket prices are often a bit lower than at the downtown theatres.

The largest and most beautiful cinema in Gothenburg, Draken, is mainly used for conferences nowadays, something which is sorely lamented by film lovers. But once a year, this large cinema comes back to life during The Gothenburg Film Festival in February.

There are also some cinemas outside the central city. For instance, Möllan in Mölndal, Frölunda Bio and Angereds Bio in Frölunda and Angered respectively, and the old cinema Aftonstjärnan at Lindholmen on Hisingen (north of the river). All of those, with exception for Aftonstjärnan, mainly show the latest American box office hits.

Almost all foreign films are subtitled in Sweden, which means that foreign visitors can enjoy the films as much as, or perhaps even more than, Swedish-speaking people. Children's movies are usually dubbed, however.

Museums

Most of the museums in Gothenburg are spread out around, but still close to, the city centre. In a large English park–Slottskogen–you will find The Museum of Natural History on top of a hill. This is the place to go if you're interested in the diversity of life on our planet. At the end of Avenyn, the impressive Art Museum looms in yellow brick over Götaplatsen. Röhsska museet is dedicated to design and to Chinese collections, and can be found at Vasagatan, which crosses Avenyn. Down in the harbour, a destroyer, a submarine, and a number of other ships make up Göteborgs Maritima Centrum, which is said to be the largest ship museum in the world.

Music

The main venues for classical music in Gothenburg are Konserthuset and Göteborgsoperan. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra also gives a free concert in Slottskogen every year.

In other genres, major concerts and events are often held at the indoor arena Scandinavium, at Lisebergshallen or at Rondo. If an even larger venue is needed, the football stadium Nya Ullevi is sometimes used. But Gothenburg also has a lively music scene for small bands, with a number of venues. Most of them are situated west of the city centre, within the moat and stretching west towards Haga and Långgatorna. Sticky Fingers and Kompaniet usually have rock and metal concerts, Nefertiti has daily jazz concerts (sometimes world, blues or soul), and the small restaurant Jord nearby has a similar selection. Jazzhuset is located in Vasastaden and, in spite of the name, they frequently hold concerts with new and interesting rock and pop bands. Jazzå in Linnestaden has country music on offer, as does Oakley's Country Club, which is located nearby. The restaurant Louice, situated in the same area, often features blues bands and the same is true for Henriksberg a bit further west.

Clubs and Bars

There are primarily four districts in Gothenburg which feature a lot of bars and nightclubs: the city centre, Vasastaden, Avenyn and Linnegatan. That is not to say that there is no night life outside of these areas, however. The outlying districts usually have their own local pubs, like Götas in Majorna or Halta Lottas at Redbergsplatsen.

Avenyn is the undisputed centre of Gothenburg night life, with a lot of bars, late hours and throngs of people. Most places close at 3, but it is easy to find places that are open until 5, at least on the weekends. The average age varies from place to place, from Valand which caters to a younger crowd to places like Bubbles which cater to the 30+ visitor. Most bars here are fairly mainstream, but the unofficial dress code varies from casual at Dancin' Dingo to smart Latino suits at Havanna and sophisticated fashion at XLNT. Most places play a combination of the latest hits and older favourites, and at Valand you can catch nostalgia acts like Samantha Fox or The Village People on a regular basis. Avenyn is a very safe bet when it comes to finding large crowds and a party atmosphere, but some people find the places here a bit too noisy.

Vasagatan intersects Avenyn, and if you go west on Vasagatan you will find yourself in Vasastaden. The atmosphere here is often a bit more relaxed than on Avenyn. The places close earlier, they are smaller and seldom have dance floors. Vasastan is a good place to find casual pubs like Skål (featuring lots of Elvis and Sinatra) and the perhaps even more casual pub Cheers, which is a bit of a sports bar. But there are also new and hip bars like Vasastaden (which fills up fast on the weekends), the sharp Kafe Japan and the tidy Noon. Oji and Klara have been around for a while and have a large number of regulars.

Linnegatan has a number of bars, and these are at their best in the summer when the large outdoor areas can be used. Unfortunately, most of them close early. Karlsons Garage has a relaxed atmosphere and serves homely fare, Bitter is new and trendy, Restaurant + has a wonderful terrace, and Linnes Trädgårdar attracts a somewhat older crowd.

In the actual city centre there is not much nightlife to be found, but as you get closer to the moat you will find some places. The area around Kungsportsplatsen is similar to Avenyn, both when it comes to the style and the crowds. This area is home to the sports bar O'Learys, the Irish pub Dubliners, and Bärs o Bar which caters to a younger crowd. A bit further west lies another night club district which has more in common with Vasastaden. This district features the jazz club Nefertiti with their tremendously popular weekend club nights (and queues to match!), the rock club Sticky Fingers, the salsa barge RioRio, and Kompaniet with a young crowd and a lot of metal rock fans.