Travel in Europe: This Swedish city is perfect in case of rain

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If there’s one thing we check before going on holiday, it’s the weather. Often with one obsession: avoiding rain. Yet, there’s one city in Sweden where this precaution isn’t necessary. And that city is Gothenburg. Indeed, when 40% of your year is spent in the rain, you have two options: either deny the obvious and base your tourism offerings on those of less rainy cities – and you’ll flop – or you play to the strengths that nature has dealt you. This is the approach taken by the authorities of this Swedish city of 600,000 inhabitants.

How? By adapting the city and its activities to abundant rainfall. Bringing your children? They’ll have a blast. The playgrounds make the most of water: it’s easy to create mini-rivers and dams, and the hollows in the ground are deep enough to allow for great splashes, explains this report from the British newspaper The Guardian. This type of park is part of an ambitious—and deliberate—city plan called Rain Gothenburg, which aims to turn the usual bad weather into a real asset.

The main playground dedicated to rain is located in a vast park in the south of the city, Renströmsparken. Opened in 2018, it’s an ode to imagination, especially that of children. To the north, Näsan i blöt does the same, offering play areas completely sheltered from the elements, without being surrounded by a concrete jungle. A giant sculpture, in the same vein, is also expected to be unveiled soon.