First leg of the journey is up the TroUhattan Canal to TroUhattan, as good a place as any to aim for if all you have time for is a short trip out from Gothenburg. Beyond here, though, other enjoyable lakeside towns vie for your attention, with attractions including the medieval kernel of Mariestad (on Vanem) and the huge fortress at Karlsboig (on Vattem). For most of the places covered in this chapter, you could use Gothenburg as a base, though there is goodvalue accommodation to be found in nearly every town and village. Transport is good, too, either by regular trains which serve most of the region or local boats and ferries. And if you really want to strike off aeep mto the countryside, consider renting a bike in Gothenburg or one of the smaUer towns roundabout. GOTHENBURG TENBURG (Goteboig in Swedish) by ship provides an abmpt, Hamich я Scandinavia's largest port. Ferry arrivals from of colos snuttled m alongside the docksbewn river, a ride offering gUmpses fleeting '°ncentration. Coming from Denmark, the images are less Although thp • "P of the port and shipyards, effects of Ше rusting and abandoned dry dock bears witness to the pressed bv th the shipping industry, ifs difficult to remain unim bulk of the surviving and working hardware. ARRIVING BY.FERRY Gothenburg is the major port of entry Ыо Sweden for ««'fe™®® from England, Denmark and Germany. Hiere's a roundup of the routes and schedules below, together with UK telephone reservation numbers. Journey Tim 24 hours Scandinavian Seaways , («0255240240) Scandinavian Seaways (e0255240240) Stena Line (e0233647047, askioT Scanbridge) 39гSWEDEN: GOTHENBURG AND AROUND •f To Oslo ч Vnorway'' To Sdefjord, Halden » drikstad (Norway), IlliJNil I'll Schedule: Operator: From: 1 daily midJune to midAugust, 3 weekly rest of year 1 weekly midJune to midAugust Harwich Gothenburg 24 hours Newcastle Gothenburg 3 hours 15 minutes 36 daily Frederikshavn Gothenburg 14 hours Idy Kiel Gothenburg Stena Line («0233647047, askior Scanbridge) G 0 T H E N В и R GIЗЭ9 Beyond the shipyards though, Gothenburg is the prettiest of Sweden's cities. "Idings here reflect the vast trading wealth upon which the city was founded 1 ost four hundred years ago. Trafficfree streets and broad avenues are split d ringed by a canal system of simple elegance, while trams, gardens and uares all add to the impression that the planners for once got it right. But here's a downside too: keeping traffic out of the centre has pushed it onto swirling interchanges on the city's outskirts, and driving in or out can be a nightmare. Gothenburg has been a sort of transit camp for business and travel since the days of its seventeenthcentury charter. People tend not to stay long and those that stop at all are often businesspeople, which means that hotels and restaurants in the centre can be flash and expensive.