DAY 1

Gothenburg Botanical Garden, amazing!

Botaniska trädgården i Göteborg, Carl Skottsbergs gata 22A, 413 19 Göteborg
 

We start our journey with a whole day in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, which was established in 1923 with the intention of being both a botanical garden and a recreation area for the city’s residents. It’s a big place. Botaniska, as its also known as, consists of 20 000 plant species from more than 130 countries. There really is tons to see and explore. The award winning formal garden, the rhododendrons, the perennials, the Japanese Dell and the herb garden with its pretty summerhouse are just some examples of what we can experience and enjoy. We easily spend most of the day here. There are lots of places for those of us with our own food to sit and eat and those preferring to go to a cafe or restaurant also find them here at Botaniska. The garden borders the Änggårdsbergen nature reserve where there’s a 55 hectare arboretum. The tree collection impresses us. We end our visit by admiring the unique Handkerchief Trees in the Japanese Dell, which usually blosssoms at the end of May/beginning of June. We fully understand why around half a million visitors come here every year. Botaniska is truly a one off! Because we’re in Gothenburg there’s an endless choice of accommodation so we take the easiest option and check recommendations on vastsverige.com.
 

DAY 2

Day two promises a castle in an English landscape park and a visit to the middle of Gothenburg city centre, where one of Europe’s best preserved 19th century parks lies.

Gunnebo Slott och Trädgårdar, Christina Halls väg 10, 431 36 Mölndal
Trädgårdsföreningen, Slussgatan 1, 411 06 Göteborg

We start the day at Gunnebo House & Gardens. Gunnebo is about 20 minutes by car from the centre of Gothenburg. After we’ve parked we walk up the grand path leading up the slope to the House and its gardens. Gunnebo is a neoclassical villa with a terraced French garden and large restored kitchen garden. Everything is surrounded by an English landcape park. Majestic isn’t the word for it! We walk along the lovely paths feeling impressed by the whole thing, including an orangery which has recently been rebuilt in its original position. A guided tour of the house beckons and when we get to hear the story of John Hall the place and its history comes even more alive for us. John Hall, who at the end of the 18th century was one of Sweden’s richest men, had Gunnebo built as his summer residence. After a deep dive into history we’re ready for a fika and we’ve heard good things about both the cafe and the restaurant. While we’re sitting enjoying our food we talk about the short car journey we’re about to make back into the centre of Gothenburg, a journey that in John Hall’s time was done with horse and carriage and took a lot longer than the just over 20 minutes we have ahead of us.

We now find ourselves in the city centre, more exactly in Trädgårdsföreningen, or The Garden Society Of Gothenburg in English. The neatly mown lawns, winding paths and adjacent canal are the first things we notice after we walk through the magnificent entrance gates. The well known Paddan boats float by on the canal, and we hear the guide’s voice over the water. The Garden Society was founded in 1842 and is one of Europe’s best preserved 19th century parks. There’s an impressive rosarium here, filled with thousands of roses. Walking the paths here and smelling the fragrance is
delightful. We’re feeling peckish again so we sit outside at the Rosencaféet and have a lovely fika. The Garden Society feels like the Gothenburger’s own living room, but outdoors. Children are playing, people wander around and colourful picnic blankets are dotted all over the place. It really is an oasis in the middle of the cityscape. A final visit to the Palmhouse awaits and we head there. The Palmhouse, in the middle of the park, is a very elegant glass house built in 1878, and both palms and other tropical plants thrive here. It’s like we’ve momentarily arrived in the Mediterranean. The exterior of the Palmhouse is like a glittering piece of art, in glass and wrought iron. Our second garden day in Gothenburg comes to an end and we’re looking forward to checking out both the city’s restaurant choice and its accommodation possibilities. See vastsverige.com for suggestions.
 

DAY 3

Day three brings us unique gems along a pretty walking trail and an award winning manor house garden.

Växtrum i Lerum, Aspenäsvägen 12, 443 30 Lerum, Sverige
Jonsereds trädgårdar, William Gibsons väg 17, 433 76 Jonsered

We start the day in Lerum, a municipality neighbouring Gothenburg. We’re visiting Växtrum i Lerum which involves a walk along the Säveån river where we’ll explore a total of eleven different garden rooms, created through a joint collaboration of different garden designers and working groups of people from Lerum. It’s a very exciting project that has been very successful. The goal is to create a sustainable society and the vision is to inspire, envision and invite people to work together. We start our walk at Aludden Park & Restaurant, and pass the different garden rooms, each seeming more impressive than the last. The biodiversity is palpable and the commitment that has been put into developing the garden rooms is clear. We choose to walk the entire 3.6 kilometre stretch. We’re glad we have plenty of time because there’s a lot to see and take in. The flowing water of the Säveån is by our side the whole time, which contributes to the lovely atmosphere. At one point we think we see a water sprite playing its violin, but that might have been our imagination. There are plenty of nice places to have a fika and in Lerum town centre, which is right next door, there are several options for anyone wanting to get lunch. Satisfied, and with a good number of steps on the pedometer, we now move on to the last destination of our trip.
 

Jonsered Gardens, where our garden journey ends, is about 10 kilometres from Lerum. Jonsered Gardens is a loosely recreated 19th century mansion house garden, in the grounds of Jonsered Manor. Four quarters make up the organic garden and consist of the formal garden, the kitchen garden, the English rose garden, the ruin and show garden. In the latter well known garden loving Gothenburgers have been invited to create their own personal garden. We have a good laugh at the long johns hanging from the washing line in Tomas von Brömssen’s Haga inspired garden. The characters Albert and Herbert from his Gothenburg based comedy series feel very present. Jonsered Gardens is set on a hill, and just before the entrance we pass a majestic beech forest. There are several walking trails around the gardens and below the manor Lake Aspen glitters in the sun. The surroundings are captivating. There’s a show beehive with educational information on the bees’ impressive work inside, for anyone interested in beekeeping, and a biodiversity trail where we learn how to create the right conditions for hedgehogs, beetles, bumble bees and frogs, for example. In the garden there are many spots for those of us with picnics to sit and eat, but there’s also Jonsereds Trädgårdskafé where we are tempted, among other things, by a fantastic salad and something sweet with our coffee. We end with a visit to the garden shop, Lilla Trädgårdsbutiken, where we happily get our wallets out, there’s so much lovely stuff we want to take home with us.

Satisfied with our three-day trip, we can say that Sweden's lovely second city and its surroundings gets high marks from us.