Slottsskogen in Gothenburg

Slottsskogen - '"The Castle Forest" is a great place to relax in the heart of the city of Gothenburg. It's right next to Haga, one of the trendiest cafe areas in Gothenburg. The seal pond and excellent playground mean you take take your children here for the afternoon and still manage to relax.

There are some walking trails and lots of picnic areas, crazy golf and usually some form of musical entertainment going on. There is an animal park, an open-air theatre and a bird house to check out. A perfect to place for us to visit after an afternoon of shopping in the city.

Gothenburg - a gastronomic journey

Of course you have to eat fish in Gothenburg. The Swedes are fish lovers and consume vast quantities of fresh seafood either at home or when eating out. And Gothenburg's location on the west coast means that the fish markets are some of the best in the world.

Gothenburg has four restaurants that have Michelin Stars, and 7 out of the 10 finalists in Sweden's Chef of the Year award come from Gothenburg. From the local hot-dog stand to your top class restaurant, the food won't come fresher, or with such variety.

If this is a first visit to Sweden, then you should probably try their berries. Sounds strange, but wild berries from the north of Sweden are delectable. Especially lingon berries and cloud berries. They appear on most Swedish menus either in the main dish or definitely as a desert. But simply serves with creamed milk and sugar, that is how they should be eaten for a first-timer.

Then of course there is sill. Swedish herrings, marinated in many different ways. My absolute favourite is Inlagd Sill. Marinated in aromatic oils, red onions and spices. I wasn't a herring lover when I first arrived here, but it's a tradition hard to avoid and now I'm converted into loving this dish.

Gothenburg's universeum

Day two of our trip was spent at Gothenburg's universeum. We travelled by tram through the city to get there for around 10am when it opened.

Universeum is Gothenburg's fantastic science museum. There is so much to see and do you can easily spend around 5 hours here with your children without them getting bored. The facitilites are excellent, with gift shops, restaurants and cafes and plenty of areas to sit and take a break.

We purchased a family ticket for SEK 550 for the entrance fee. Lunch was extra. Great value for money we thought. Your journey through universum starts with a walk through Sweden's waterways. The children get to see salmon, pike, snakes, lizards, toads and beavers to name just a few creatures. There is lots of information to read, but if your Swedish is non-existant then you'll have to ask one of the many museum guides to translate into English for you, which they happily do.

After the waterways comes the Ocean Zone. This was my chilren's favourite, As you walk through the dark tunnels, the glass tanks surround you and you come face to face with the sea creatures including sharks. The rays are very friendly and let the kids dangle their hands in the water tanks to feel them. Throughout each part of the tour they are numerous interactive experiments for the children to try and learn from.

The next area is called the Deadly Beauties, where the most venomous snakes from all over the world live. From here it's a walk through the rainforest. Expertly done, the Universeum have recreated a rainforest environment with anacondas, piranha fish, parrots, caymans, turtles, electric eels, butterflies, and tropical plants of all descriptions. My thought when I first walked in? it was south Florida all over again and almost made me homesick!

The Kalaido Zone should be your last stop on your journey through the museum. The children will love the interactive games and experiments they can try here. From the human body to outer space, there is all kinds of things try that will wear you out.

Time for a break, I think.