World of Volvo

More than a car museum

World of Volvo is the brand's experience centre, opened on 14 April 2024 - Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, and the opening fell on the company's 97th anniversary. Rather than simply displaying cars, the building tells the story of a city and its most famous company: Swedish design philosophy, the idea of safety, and a look towards the future. It replaced the earlier Volvo Museum in Arendal, which closed in December 2023.

The centre sits at Lyckholms Torg 1 in the events district near the theme park Liseberg, and pairs well with a day spent in the south of the city.

Timber architecture

The building itself is an attraction. Danish practice Henning Larsen Architects designed a round structure of around 22,500 m² in glued laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT). Three central timber columns fan out tree-like towards the top, carrying the hall like a forest of trunks and crowns. The open hall with its shop and café is free to enter, so you can experience the building without a ticket, for instance as a stop on the way to Liseberg.

What to expect in the exhibition

The exhibition itself revolves around safety, design, the future and storytelling, mixing historic exhibits with hands-on stations. Highlights include:

• the Volvo Experimental Safety Car (VESC), a safety prototype
• the Swedish Red Cross "White Bus" from 1945
• Irv Gordon's Volvo P1800, recognised as the world's highest-mileage private car at over 3.2 million miles
• the historic Volvo ÖV 4, the brand's first production model

For families, the Traffic School is the centrepiece: an outdoor road-safety course where kids can get behind the wheel themselves at weekends and learn traffic safety through play (Sat 11:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-15:00). World of Volvo suits families just as well as car enthusiasts and architecture fans.

Tickets, prices and how long to allow

Admission is charged only for the exhibition, the timber building, hall, shop and café stay free. The official site quotes price ranges rather than fixed amounts, because tickets are sold dynamically via the Tickster portal: adults approx. 220-250 SEK, children aged 4 to 12 approx. 120-160 SEK, youth aged 13 to 18, students up to 25 and seniors 65+ approx. 165-190 SEK. A family ticket (two adults plus up to three children) costs 640-665 SEK, with children under 3 free. Booking online saves around 10 percent (tickets from 120 SEK). Want more: a guided tour costs an extra 50 SEK, and the factory tour starts from 175 SEK. Book everything on the official ticket page.

Allow 1.5 to 2.5 hours for the exhibition. If you only want to see the building, hall and café, 30 to 45 minutes is enough. The centre is open year-round and makes a good plan for a rainy day.

Opening hours and getting there

The exhibition is open Mon-Wed and Fri-Sat 10:00-18:00, Thu until 19:00 and Sun until 16:00; the shop and the CENO café/brasserie keep their own, slightly different hours. On several public holidays in 2026, shortened hours apply (10:00-16:00), and on a handful of days

• including New Year's Day, Good Friday, Midsummer, Christmas and New Year's Eve, the centre stays closed. Exact dates are listed on worldofvolvo.com.

From Gothenburg Central Station, take tram 4 or 12 to Liseberg Södra or Almedal. Beneath the building is the five-storey Liseberg Södra car park with around 1,500 spaces (160 with EV chargers), run by Göteborgs Stads Parkering. Travelling with children? The nearby science centre Universeum and Liseberg both make good follow-on stops, more in our guide to Gothenburg with kids. For getting around the city, see our guide to public transport in Gothenburg; for the bigger picture, see our top Gothenburg attractions.