Malm's whale
Sixteen metres, in a pavilion built for it.
C316097 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gunnar Creutz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gunnar Creutz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gunnar Creutz — CC BY-SA 4.0
Gothenburg's Museum of Natural History is **the oldest museum in the city**, founded in 1833, in a building of 1923 inside Slottsskogen park. Its collection runs to about ten million specimens, but there is one thing people come to see: **Malm's whale, the mounted blue whale** — the only mounted blue whale in the world. A young sixteen-metre animal stranded in a fjord near Gothenburg in 1865; the city bought it, it was mounted over several years, and a pavilion was built for it. The odd detail is that its interior was originally fitted out as a sitting room with benches and carpet and opened to visitors — then closed permanently after a couple was found inside. It now opens twice a year. The rest of the museum is large and old-fashioned in the good sense: halls of skeletons, birds and mammals in glass cases, an African elephant, and a bird collection among the largest in Europe. **Entry is free**, and it is excellent for children.
Sixteen metres, in a pavilion built for it.
Glass cases and skeletons as they were.
Slottsskogen park, Gothenburg
SlottsskogenSlottsskogen is Gothenburg's largest park at close to a hundred and thirty-seven7 minutes walk4.7
Gothenburg Botanical GardenGothenburg's botanical garden is the largest in Sweden and among the largest in 9 minutes walk4.6
Skansen KronanSkansen Kronan is an octagonal stone redoubt standing on a rocky hilltop above t10 minutes walk4.6
HagaHaga is Gothenburg's oldest suburb, laid out in 1648 outside the city walls to h14 minutes walk4.6
Masthugg ChurchMasthugg Church stands on a rock hill west of central Gothenburg, and its red br14 minutes walk4.4Gothenburg's largest and most used park, about a hundred and thirty-seven hectares south-west of the centre. What matters most for children is that it is **a free open zoo**: Scandinavian animals in large enclosures — elk, reindeer, sheep and wild boar — plus a **penguin pool** and a **seal tank**, all without a ticket. It also has a children's farm with animals to touch, playgrounds, lakes and this museum. Entry is entirely free and it is always open — the best free family day in Gothenburg.