Gävle, gatekeeper and the oldest city in Norrland. Situated along the east coast of Sweden, 150km north of Stockholm. A town full of proud history as one of the most important harbours in Sweden back in the day. This fact led to a huge increase of trade and enterprise. Among others, Gevalia, Läkerol and the most sold ”car” in the world Ahlgrens bilar are all born in Gävle. 

Gävle was a cosmopolitan centre with big visions in the 18th and 19th century and this is still shown in the architecture of the city. You will for example find our theatre built in 1878 inspired of L’Opéra Garnier in Paris, our beautiful city garden Boulognerskogen inspired of Bois de Boulogne and also a great, green and gorgeous esplanade running through the central parts of the city. Most of the tourists coming to Gävle thinks that the city is wonderful and beautiful.

And these tourists haven’t had the inside information that we will give you here.

The five most essential things for us at Fico that we can travel a long way to experience are: good food, alternative/underground music, modern art, wine and of course inspirational fashion. So the following text is about how to fulfill these parts in an optimal way in Gävle.

For the best experience of Gävle and to make sure that you will not miss out on any of our favorite spots, we recommend that you arrive for Friday lunch. And as every place in Gävle are in walking distance, we suggest that you leave the car in the garage all weekend.

After you have checked in at our favorite hotel Elite Grand, a hotel built in the early 20th century that has been carefully renovated by Elite. You should take a walk through Alderholmen, the old ports storehouse area, on your way to Salt Studio for lunch.

At Salt, situated in the old gasometer area, you will meet the young talented couple Rasmus and Evelina. They serve amazingly tasty dishes in a fresh innovative style. Only two dishes on the lunch menu, one vegetarian and one with meat or fish. The options change everyday and everything is amazingly tasty. But 95% of the times we go for the vegetarian dishes, because they are so delicious. Salt also has a small deli where you can buy their selected favorites of cheese, olives and oil. So it´s totally worth the short 2km walk from the hotel.

After you have finished your lunch and if you are lucky to get a seat. You can cross the street from Salt and catch an early movie in one of the coziest cinemas we have attended. Also situated in one of the old gasometer buildings, the cinema is called Bio 7:an and are only showing quality movies. But be aware, they only have 20 seats!

Now it´s time to go downtown to do some shopping. If you are looking for inspirational contemporary fashion with high quality and design, then of course the only choice for you is Fico. You will find our physical store on the biggest shopping street in the centre of Gävle. On our self-designed furnishings, we show a carefully curated assortment of fashion from the best brands in Scandinavia. In addition to fashion you will also find vinyl records, perfumes, shoes and other carefully selected items. Our well educated and discrete staff will help you find the outfits of your dreams. Always with you, the customer, in focus.

When the outfits are bought and you feel satisfied, it´s wine o’clock. So you just sprint 100 meters from Fico to Verovin. This wine bar has been nominated as one of the top 3 wine bars in Sweden. And for good reason, the wine list is extremely good and reasonably priced. The food is also excellent, so you could camp your tent here for the whole night. But we have so many places to visit and so little time. So for this visit we will recommend you to reserve a seat in the bar and suggest that you order the charcuterie and cheese plate together with a Fleur Cardinale -05. 

After Verovin, it´s time go change gear, so back to the hotel before a late dinner.

For this special Friday evening we will take you to Matildas. This restaurant is as classic as it gets. It started in a simpler way in the beginning of the eighties. But for 15 years the chef couple Johan and Frida have been serving a menu of extremely well cooked French-Scandinavian classics. This is the local neighborhood restaurant with a discrete and lovely fine-dining touch. Perfect for a date! You can also visit their lounge area for some snacks and a nice glass of Viré-Clessé. Matildas always score big points when the food guides visit.

Aprés-dinner cocktails! After a lovely dinner, you need to have some cocktails. And the place to be is Noun. This restaurant serves both fantastic cocktails and food. If you are a real meat lover, this is heaven for you. In addition to their à la carte menu, they have a meat cabin with a changing assortment of dry-aged details. But their small intimate bar is the reason for tonights visit. Here you will meet great people that zips on crafted cocktails while listening to dj:s playing alternative gems. It´s the perfect ending of your first night in Gävle.

Rise and shine! With breakfast in our stomachs it´s time for a walkabout. So put on your power walk gear and running shoes because you will in total walk around 10km. From Elite Grand you cross the bridge over Gavleån and then you will directly reach Gävleborgs museum. Here you will find exhibitions about the history of the regions Gästrikland and Hälsingland, together with an art collection with both classic and modern pieces.

When you are ready with your tour in the museum. We recommend that you take a stroll through the old town just behind the museum. Some of the cobblestone streets dates back to the Middle Ages and the houses are from the 16th century. And here you will find where the world known artist Gunnar Cyrén lived and crafted his silver and glass creations. You will also find a museum dedicated to protest singer Joe Hill. A worker union hero with a fascinating and intriguing story.

After this and before we lead you on the longest walk of your trip, you need to get some energy in your body. So let’s get some burgers and beers. The perfect place to do that will be at Bastard Burgers. This is a hamburger chain that started in Norrland and they serve great smashed burgers. The restaurant isn’t the coziest, but with our busy schedule you don’t have the time to sit here for too long anyway. We recommend that you order the burger named after the city where it all started, Luleå, together with an IPA.

With a burger and perhaps two beers in your stomach we send you in the direction to Boulognerskogen. On your way there you will pass the castle of Gävle and the prison museum. If you feel that you have the time, this prison is totally worth a visit. It´s very interesting to see the old prison cells and the exhibitions about how the life in prison was back in the day.

But the planned stop before we enter our city garden is Gävle Konstcentrum. At this place you can enjoy changing exhibitions from exiting modern artists. Search Konstcentrums website for information about who is showing their creativity when you are visiting. The art centre is located in a building that is an architecture masterpiece. And has a very soothing and relaxed atmosphere. A perfect environment to reflect on the fantastic pieces and performances that are shown.

With a day full of historical and cultural elements it´s now time to be recreational in they way that the locals have done it since the 19th century. By taking a walk in our Parisian city park, Bois de Boulogne. In this park you will find a lot of statues and sculptures, for example the beautiful Milles Angels with a view over looking the concert hall. In the summer, this park is bustling with activities, you will see people playing miniature golf, brännboll, going for a swim, sunbathing and having big family barbecues.

When you have done your trip around Boulognerskogen it´s time to head back to the hotel. Because we still have one more place to visit in the evening.

NeoNeo is the place where you will have dinner on Saturday night. And there are several reasons for that. This restaurant serves small to midsize dishes with inspiration from the Japanese and Korean kitchen. These kind of dishes are perfect for sharing and will create a lively buzz around the table. And the taste is also really good, more high end and totally different from other Asian restaurants in the city. Hoist down all the goodies with a bunch of Japanese beers or a Kabinette Riesling. In addition to the great servings we have also chosen this restaurant for it´s after dinner qualities. On Saturday nights this is the place to get good drinks, listen to great house and to spot people that have made an effort with their outfits.

Corona have taken it´s toll on Gävle’s club life, due to this we will round things up when Neo closes at 02.00. But it´s possible to go down to the cellar underneath Neo, to the nightclub Echo. It´s a nightclub for the younger crowd. We hope for better night club days soon. Because Gävle usually have a nice underground movement for electronic music with dedicated followers.

On Sunday you should rest, as all the locals also do. But if you miss breakfast or are in desperate need to cure a bad hangover. We have the perfect place for you, a place with the best comfort food Gävle has to offer, Bistro Tullhuset. This place is a newcomer in our city and gets our hearts to move a bit faster when we take a big bite on our Reuben sandwich and when we drip honey over our Sobrasado. 

If you want to experience Gävle even more, we encourage you to look for concerts in Gävle Konserthus and Musikhuset. See if the Theatre is putting up a good play or if Gävle’s proud hockey team Brynäs IF has a game. And of course we have many more restaurants you can visit.

With that said, welcome to Gävle! We will great you with open arms.