Buy a Volvo and See Sweden for Free

Have you heard of the Volvo Overseas Delivery Tourist Program? We hadn’t either until Volvo and Visit Sweden contacted us to help them promote the program. We’re here in Sweden right now, and though we didn’t buy a Volvo, we’re experiencing all of the aspects that a customer who has opted to enjoy the Volvo Overseas Delivery Program would…and more. Though we’re only mid-trip, we think this program is pretty awesome!

What is the Volvo Overseas Delivery Tourist Program?

It’s actually pretty simple. US customers order the Volvo of their choice at their local Volvo dealer and Volvo gives you two round trip airlines tickets to Sweden, plus hotel and transportation to and from Volvo, so that you can pick up your brand new car right from the Factory Delivery Center in Gothenburg (or at any official delivery location in Europe). With 15-day European car insurance coverage, including Swedish temporary registration, you can test out your new Volvo on Sweden’s roads with one of their tours like the Explorer tour we’re on right now.

When you’re ready to head back home, just drop your Volvo back off in Gothenburg or any official drop-off location in Europe and Volvo will take care of shipping it to your authorized Volvo dealership back home. They even take care of the paperwork involved when importing a car, from excise taxes to import duties. What’s not to love?

Volvo Museum

One of the perks of the Volvo Overseas Delivery Program is a free visit to the Volvo Museum and if you’re a car lover like us, car museums are always a lot of fun. Like any car museum we’ve been to from Ferrari to Porsche, the museum walks through Volvo’s nearly 90-year history. Volvo began right here in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1927 and the car company calls April 14th its official birthday in honor of the very first road-ready Volvo to roll off the assembly line.

The Volvo Museum is a cool collection of classics from the good ‘ol days, passenger buses with fun stories about the first public buses in Sweden, and even a set of quirky racing 18-wheelers. Of course, you don’t have to be a Volvo customer to visit the Volvo Museum. You can just head on over to check it out; there really is a lot for everyone to experience.

The Volvo Museum is open Monday – Friday from 10am – 5pm and Saturday – Sunday from 11am – 5pm. Closed June 20 and 21. Admission is free to Volvo Overseas Delivery customers.

Volvo Factory Tour

Photographs aren’t allowed in the Volvo Factory for security reasons, even for press like us, so you’ll just have to take our word for it that a visit is definitely interesting! Volvo Overseas Delivery customers hop aboard the Volvo Blue Train and it takes you through a guided tour of the production plant. The plant can produce 52 cars per hour and is highly automated with a number of robots working on various parts of the production process. Of course, the robots are all supervised by humans to make sure everything is always in order.

One of the things we learned and found most interesting is that all of the cars in production in the plant are already sold. So you won’t find any of these cars just sitting on a lot and waiting for an owner. The plant produces the car models in the sequence the car orders were placed, so you could be seeing any number of models on the production line during your tour. It’s pretty cool to see everything from components being made to the body parts being welded together.

A 4-star Stay in Gothenburg

Volvo also puts their customers up in style while you’re in Gothenburg. We’ve experienced both the Radisson Blu Scandinavia, located right in the heart of the city, and the stylish 4-star design hotel Radisson Blu Riverside. Though we loved the location of the Radisson Blu Scandinavia because so much is literally steps away, the Radisson Blu Riverside has a more boutique hotel feel and stunning views of the harbor and city.

Between the Gothenburg’s public transit system and your Volvo, Radisson Blu Riverside’s location isn’t at all an issue. We loved the rooftop spa facilities and definitely took advantage of reviving our weary bones in the sauna and jacuzzi. The rooms are spacious and unique with custom designed wallpaper and a variety of hip furniture created especially for the hotel. And you’ll love the quirky Cuckoo’s Nest restaurant that plays on the hotel’s location in the Lindholmen Science Park with scientific equations scrawled on the glass, vintage apothecary tables, and a Waco bi-plane flying overhead.

What to do on Your Trip to West Sweden

We won’t give it all away just yet – you’ll have to continue following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X formerly Twitter all this week. Of course, as you can always expect here on Luxe Adventure Traveler, we’ll have info-packed posts on what adventurous things to see and do in West Sweden once we’ve experienced it all to give in order to you the best recommendations. So stay tuned!