Sauna hopping and seaweed foraging in Sweden’s second city – Gothenburg

Rain pelts down as I lower myself, step by step into the pitch-black, ice-cold water, the night sky above. Just 30 seconds, I tell myself, shivering as my shoulders dip under the surface of the Kattegat, an arm of the North Sea.

This kind of cold water to sauna ritual is part of the culture here in Sweden – although usually taken part in day time (and preferably without the heavens opening). Still, when in Rome…

It’s autumn on the island of Vrångö, one of the 20 major islands that make up Gothenburg’s archipelago, on a ‘floating sauna’ at Kajkanten Vrångö, that guests can book privately for up to 12 people to enjoy in the harbour

The darkness might be unnerving but it somehow makes the heat of the sauna even sweeter. Moving between cold water and the dry heat expending from a sauna wood burner – also known as contrast therapy – is said to boost circulation, muscle recovery and improve mental wellbeing.

Sauna culture is deeply rooted in Northern Europe – the word itself originates from the Finnish language, Sweden’s easterly neighbour. Cold water immersion has roots in many ancient civilisations though, including the indigenous Sami community of northern Sweden. It was said to help build resilience for brutal northern winters.

I move (three times!) between the dark sea and the spacious sauna. Each time I gain a little more confidence that I can brace the cold for longer and, each time, the high feels higher. Eventually the rain stops and I peel the cover off the hot tub and sink in, gazing out into the still dark sea, grey clouds swirling like a painting in the black sky above.

Dinner is delivered to the small kitchen-diner on the floating pontoon. “It’ll be whatever the fishermen have caught today,” owner Madeleine had said, and I’m handed the most generous tray of shellfish I’ve ever seen, piled high with langoustines, mussels and crayfish, homemade dips and bread.

The seafood on the west coast of Sweden is famously good, thanks to the cold, clean waters which give it a rich flavour (for which I can attest), while Gothenburg has the biggest harbour in Northern Europe with an important fishing industry.

The islands are easily accessible from the centre of the city itself – just a 35-minute bus ride to Saltholmen, where public transport ferries take passengers to and between the larger islands, like Vrångö, Donsö and Styrsö – where I’m staying.

At Kusthotellet Styrsö, a new wellness hotel that opened in August 2025, my room, the floor-to-ceiling window of the sauna and the heated infinity pool, all overlook the sea and a pretty village one island over. It’s got an understated elegance (it is Sweden after all) and an excellent seafood restaurant.

With good weather, the views standing on the top deck of the ferry are more than worth the cold breeze; clusters of red and white houses perch on the edges of islands, picturesque fishing villages, and smaller rocky outcrops, sweep by.

“Gothenburg’s archipelago feels wilder,” says Karolina Martinson, a local chef and ‘seaweed diver’ living on the island of Styrsö, when I ask her how Stockholm’s 30,000 islands compare. “If the sun is shining in the morning on the eastern, you know it’s going to shine, here, on the western coast, we have to be more flexible.” Gottenberg’s location means both the landscape and the weather is slightly more rugged, but it really adds to its beauty. One morning I take the short, gentle hike up to Stora Rös – the island’s highest point – as the sun rises, not a soul in sight, just the stillness of the 360 views and my own breath.

To explore, we hop on bikes and take to the gentle hills and car-free roads (only working vehicles are allowed). “I notice when people come from all over the world, to here, their shoulders drop,” Karolina says. It’s true that there’s an incredible calmness to the idyllic surroundings of Styrsö – a ‘living island’ (i.e. with enough amenities to live here year-round) in the centre of the archipelago. Yet it’s extremely quiet. “Where are the people?” I ask, only half joking.

We stop as she spots beach mustard, a wild herb with lilac flowers, growing between rocks on the shoreside – “Taste this!” It’s mustardy alright. Rosehip berries grow nearby too.

“I see nature as my pantry as part of my core,” says Karolina, a former restaurant chef who now spends her time foraging for seaweed and taking people on ‘seaweed safaris’ (1,300SEK/£104pp including lunch). The term includes various species of marine algae and there are benefits for both health and sustainability. Historically it’s been used in Sweden for food for animals and even insulation for walls. “The Vikings ate a lot of seaweed but we lost the knowledge”, she notes.

There are 350 different types of it in Sweden and the west coast is a particularly good place for it – seaweed needs more salt to survive and the Baltic sea on the east coast of Sweden is significantly less salty. But foraging for it (mostly by freediving beneath the water for Karolina ) must be done sustainably too, by leaving most of the plant.

We stop at a row of boathouses along a harbour,  Karolina owns one with her husband, their small boat tied up outside. I prepare a salad with finger kelp,  dressed in dashi made from seaweed, as she fries up cabbage and seaweed pancakes, topped with seaweed caviar and a few of the beach mustard flowers we picked up earlier. Seaweed is even in the vanilla ice cream she serves for dessert – atop a sweetened rosehip soup (made from the aforementioned road side berries, and a local delicacy) and shards of sugar kelp.

Sustainability isn’t just high on the agenda in Gothenburg, it’s part of the culture. “Everyone takes really big pride in it. This is who we are,” Lisa Axelsson of Gothenburg & Co says. The city has just been named the newest sustainability hub for the UN (only the second in the world) and 90% of the hotels are eco-certified.

There’s a lot to love about the city itself– “Stockholm’s quirky younger sister,” as Lisa says, “It’s the polar opposite – Stockholm is speedy, there’s a different pulse.” There’s certainly a cool, small-town feel to this walkable city (just be careful of the many electric trams).

Locals keep referring to Gothenburg as ‘Little London’ when they hear where I’m from, but Dutch architects built a lot of the city and their influence feels a more notable comparison, with canals that connect the city to the Baltic Sea. The Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel provides a perfectly located base, with the very sophisticated spa, Hagabadet Drottningtorget (700SEK/£56pp), in the same building for more sauna opportunities, this time alongside red light therapy, warm baths and hammocks.

Beer is big here too – the city now has 40 microbreweries – as are vintage fashion stores, which you’ll find in abundance on the charming street of Magasinsgatan. While Haga Nygata is a cosy neighbourhood with independent stores, cinnamon buns piled high in bakery windows, and an interesting history – the city threatened to tear down the ‘landshövdingehus’ style houses built originally for the working class, before an uprising in the Seventies where residents refused to leave.

For one last sweat, I decide there’s no such thing as too many saunas and head to the reopened Jubileumsparken, a free, public one above the river Göta älv, made out of recycled metal and a large window, making it a distinctive landmark and a memorable place to flush out some toxins – with a city view.

How to book:

Rooms at Kusthotellet Styrsö cost approx. 1,295SEK/£103 per double room inc breakfast. Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel cost around £70.90 per double room inc breakfast. A 72-hour Västtrafik city transport pass costs 240SEK/£20 and is valid on trains, buses, trams and ferries link here. Kajkanten Vrångö costs between 2,500SEK/£200 and 4,250SEK/£340 for three to five hours, depending on the time of day.