Uppsala

Introduction

Uppsala is the capital of Uppsala County and one of Sweden's larger cities, following Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. It is a place where you can experience a rich cultural heritage alongside the lively atmosphere of a student city.

Before you go

Uppsala sits about 70 km north of Stockholm on the Fyris River, and its centre is compact and easy to navigate thanks to a rectangular street grid laid out in the 1640s. The city keeps a low skyline so that the towers of the castle and the cathedral stay visible from a distance, and the historic core is small relative to the population. The river still loosely divides the city: shopping is concentrated on the eastern side, while university campuses, student nations and most historic landmarks lie to the west.

Because of its northerly latitude, daylight swings sharply through the year, from under six hours around the winter solstice to more than eighteen in summer. Winters are cold but milder than other places at similar latitudes, spring tends to arrive in mid-March, summer runs from mid-May to late September, and autumn lasts until late November. The city is generally safe, though weekend nights around the centre and Central Station call for extra attention, and if you head into the forested countryside, guard against ticks by covering up and checking yourself afterwards.

Getting there

Uppsala has no commercial airport of its own, so you'll arrive through one of Stockholm's airports — most likely Stockholm-Arlanda, which sits closer to Uppsala than to Stockholm itself. From Arlanda, trains are the quickest option: SL commuter trains and Mälartåg run every 30–60 minutes to Uppsala Central in 18 minutes, with low floors and wide doors that make boarding easy with wheelchairs or bulky luggage. SJ also runs irregular trains on the same route. All trains for Uppsala leave from Arlanda Central station inside the airport's Sky City, not from Arlanda South or North, and you must buy your ticket before boarding. Buses are another option: UL bus 801 by day and SL bus 593 at night run from beneath terminals 2, 4 and 5 to the bus terminal at Uppsala Central, taking about 30 minutes, and the night bus may be your only transport between midnight and morning. Flexibus also runs budget buses from Terminal 5, cheaper but far less frequent. Taxis wait in front of terminals 2, 4 and 5 and offer fixed prices to Uppsala — ask for the fixed price before you set off, or you may be charged per kilometre. Major car rental companies have desks in the arrivals halls, and the E4 brings you from Arlanda to Uppsala in about 30 minutes.

If you fly into Stockholm-Bromma, you'll find domestic and short-range flights. Skavsta, far to the south in Nyköping, is served by budget carriers; from there, take local bus 515 to Nyköping Central and change to a regional train for Stockholm Central, where you change again for Uppsala, or take the Flygbussarna air coach to central Stockholm and continue by train. Västerås Airport, west of Uppsala, is served by Ryanair; take a local bus into Västerås and change to regional bus 774 or 773. By train, SJ runs regional express trains from Stockholm every half hour, complemented by occasional Linköping–Norrköping–Stockholm–Uppsala–Gävle services, and all trains from Norrland call at Uppsala, including the Sundsvall express and night trains from Luleå and Narvik. From west of Stockholm or south of Linköping, you'll usually need to change at Stockholm Central. Regional commuter trains also run Älvsjö–Stockholm–Uppsala twice an hour, stopping at Arlanda, Solna, Odenplan, Södermalm and Älvsjö, though they take longer and have no toilet on board; because Uppsala and Stockholm are in different counties, ordinary Stockholm local tickets won't get you all the way. Long-distance buses are often cheaper than the train but much less frequent — Flexibus runs coaches from Stockholm's Cityterminalen and to destinations including Gothenburg, Borås, Jönköping, Kalmar, Linköping, Norrköping, Södertälje, Gävle, Umeå, Härjedalen and Arlanda, while Ybuss heads north along the Norrland coast to Umeå and Tapanis Buss runs from Stockholm to Tornio in Finland. By car, the E4 passes east of the city, and Road 55 to Enköping is a slower but more scenic alternative that avoids Stockholm's tolls and traffic. All of this converges on Uppsala Central Station, the city's main travel hub, where you exit west for the city centre, local buses and taxis, or east for out-of-town services.

Getting around

Biking is a good way to travel here, especially if you plan on leaving the city centre for the peripheral districts or the countryside. There are paths parallel to nearly every road, many places to store bikes outside, and the surrounding terrain is rather flat, so it is easy going even for inexperienced cyclists — the city has enough cyclists to have earned the nickname "Bike Town." The cheapest rental option is the local bike-sharing company EU-Bike, whose easily recognisable green bikes are unlocked through their smartphone app by scanning the bike's QR code; electrical scooters can be rented in a similar manner via the local company Voi, and several conventional bike rental places also operate in the city. Locals have a saying that everyone who lives there has had a bike stolen at some point — it's more a reflection on the popularity of biking than any level of crime, but it's probably a good idea to lock your bike.

• Uppsala also has an excellent bus system, operated by the regional company UL, where the closest bus stop is never more than a few hundred metres away. Local buses, called "Stadstrafiken", are green and numbered 1–31, while regional buses are yellow and numbered 100 and above.
• Most local bus lines pass by either the central station, city hall or the main square, all within a few hundred metres of each other, making transfers easy.
• Tickets can be bought in advance at machines at the central station, or by credit card on the bus; cash is not accepted on board. Travel fund cards can be bought and charged in the train station or at one of UL's sales agents, marked out with yellow UL-flags.
• If you would like to travel by taxi, use the three major taxi companies: Uppsala Taxi, Taxi Kurir and Taxi 020. Smaller companies might have their own view on what you should pay and might also have less geographical knowledge, so be sure to negotiate the fare in advance of getting in the taxi if no guaranteed fare is posted. Ride-hailing apps Bolt Uppsala and Uber are also available.

Where to stay

Uppsala's accommodation ranges from riverside camping to grand historic hotels, with most options clustered around the central station and the city core. If you're travelling on a budget, you'll find hostels and budget hotels in the centre: CityStay Hotell offers free wi-fi, guest computers, laundry facilities and a self-catering kitchen, with breakfast available for purchase in budget rooms; Hotell Centralstation sits right in front of the station with a 24-hour front desk, shared kitchen and bathroom, and a breakfast buffet; Uppsala City Hostel has separate ladies' and gentlemen's dormitories and a well-equipped kitchen; and Hotell Kungsängstorg, set in a 19th-century rectory, includes breakfast and wi-fi. Slightly further out, Hågadalens Hostel & Vandrarhem sits in the Hågadalen-Nåsten nature reserve south of town with free parking, while Selmas Hytt & Salong is a floating hostel aboard a barge docked on the eastern shore of the river harbour, with a lounge serving hot and cold drinks and lighter meals. For camping, Fyrishov Stugby och Camping is the only site within walking distance of Uppsala, offering pitches for tents, sites for RVs and trailers, and four-bed chalets with a small kitchen and shower, plus boule, beach volleyball, mini-golf, football and rental canoes.

Mid-range choices are plentiful and mostly central. Akademihotellet occupies a 1930s building with free wi-fi, breakfast, sauna, kitchenettes and laundry facilities; Best Western Hotel Svava is a comfortable hotel in a modernised historic building attached to a shopping centre, with a breakfast buffet and tea/coffee makers in the rooms; Clarion Hotel Gillet is a central option with a free gym, spa and breakfast, a rooftop bar and a Manhattan-themed restaurant; and Elite Hotel Academia, a former post office, offers a free gym, sauna and breakfast, plus an Asian restaurant and rooftop bar on its upper floor. Scandic Hotel Uplandia provides a gym, bar, restaurant, sauna, laundry, bikes and a mini shop, while Park Inn by Radisson includes a gym, sauna, restaurant and lobby bar. Arenahotellet, near the Gränby sports area, is the largest hotel in Uppsala and caters to active athletes. For a grander stay, Grand Hotell Hörnan is a neo-Baroque landmark on the river bank with a lounge bar and fine dining restaurant, Hotel von Kraemer is a luxurious modernist hotel in modern Scandinavian design, and Radisson Blu Hotel offers a fitness area with gym and morning yoga, 24-hour room service, a restaurant and two bars. At the top end, Villa Anna is a luxury hotel in a renovated 1874 building by the cathedral, with suites featuring whirlpool and sauna and a fine dining restaurant serving Nordic cuisine, and Wiks slott is a castle in Vik, southwest of Uppsala, reachable by bus.

Food & drink

As a university town, Uppsala isn't a city for grand fine dining, but you'll find plenty of good restaurants, most of them close to the main landmarks. Lunch is generally cheaper than dinner. If you're after something lighter, most cafés serve sandwiches, quiche, lasagna or salad, and most pubs offer at least simple pub food like burgers — some, such as Bierhuis and Bryggeriet Ångkvarn, are full-fledged gastropubs. Several hotels run their own restaurants, including the Manhattan-themed Kitchen & Table at Clarion Hotel Gillet, the Asian-Scandinavian restaurant and rooftop bar Miss Voon at Elite Hotel Academia, and the Nordic fine dining restaurant Villa Anna. To cook for yourself, head to the market hall 2 Saluhallen at S:t Eriks Torg, which sells quality ingredients such as seafood and cheese.

On most days at least one of the 13 Nations serves simple, well-cooked meals, and though few locals realise it, their lunches are open to non-students too; a nation guest card also lets you dine at the Nations, and Nationsguiden lists which are open each day. Virtually every restaurant has at least one ovo-lacto vegetarian dish, and the city is vegan-friendly — many places have a vegan option, and even those that don't can usually improvise if you ask. For plant-based food, try the vegetarian restaurant Légume on Drottninggatan. Budget eaters can rely on food trucks selling hot dogs and falafel around Svartbäcksgatan, Vaksala torg and Sankt Eriks square, which stay open late enough on weekends to catch students heading home from the bars. Cheap and casual options include Ahaan Thai for genuine Thai food, Dog Bar for hot dogs with beer or champagne, Dylan's Grill for burgers, Jalla Kebab for big portions of kebab, hamburgers, salads and pizzas, Luthagens Kök & Bar for pizzas and à la carte, Munin Salladsbar for build-your-own salads, Rosa Pantern for late-night takeaway kebab, and Yukikos sushi for sushi and dumplings. Mid-range choices range from Italian at Aaltos and Il Forno Italiano to French crêpes and galettes at Crêperie Lemoni, traditional Chinese at Golden China, kitschy Thai at Koh Phangan, Ethiopian and Eritrean at Messob, British and Anglo-Indian pub food at Holmes' English Pub, and Greek at Tzatziki by the river. For a splurge, Domtrappkällaren serves Swedish cuisine in a building dating to the 13th century that was once a student prison, with a neighbouring pub called Domcraft specialising in beer and gin & tonics; Dryck och Mat in the old station building builds its food menus around the drinks; and Hambergs began as a seafood store.

What to see and do

Uppsala rewards you with history at every turn, much of it free to see. Start with the rune stones: no fewer than 38 have been found in the city, and many are still visible. You can find seven on the lawn just east and south of the Cathedral, and another nine in the University Park between the University Hall and Gustavianum. Most date from the 11th century and carry both pagan and Christian motifs, usually commemorating a deceased relative — though one, U 1011 in the University Park, is a rare exception, carved by a man for himself. The Cathedral itself dominates the skyline, a Gothic building that took a century and a half to complete, and holds the relics of Eric the Holy and Saint Bridget, the royal crypt of Gustav I Vasa, and the graves of figures such as Carl Linnaeus and Emanuel Swedenborg. Its northern tower houses the Treasury Museum, with royal regalia, historic textiles and the clothing worn by the Sture family at their 1567 murder. Just south, the Church of Holy Trinity is older than the Cathedral and its interior was decorated by the medieval painter Albertus Pictor.

Uppsala Castle, built by the Vasa dynasty as a royal residence and fortification, offers some of the best views in the city from its position on Uppsalaåsen, and contains large halls, paintings and several museums. Among them are Fredens Hus, with exhibitions on peace, conflict and human rights and a permanent display on Dag Hammarskjöld, and Uppsala Konstmuseum, showing contemporary Swedish and international art alongside Uppsala ceramics. The ruined 16th-century parts of the castle, Vasaborgen, include the dungeons where the Sture murders took place. Elsewhere, the Uppland Museum covers the region's prehistory and history as well as everyday life, the Museum of Medicinal History occupies a former psychiatric hospital area at Ulleråker, and the Old Cemetery makes a peaceful walk past the graves of poets, artists and Nobel laureates. For smaller art venues, you can visit Bror Hjorth's House, the sculptor and painter's former home and studio, or the galleries run by local artists' associations and independent exhibitors.

When to go

Uppsala has a humid continental climate, moderated by the Gulf Stream, so winters are milder than you might expect at this latitude. Daylight swings dramatically across the year, and that rhythm shapes when it makes sense to visit.

• Winter: Arrives in late November and brings very short days, with less than six hours of visible sunlight at the winter solstice. January is cold, with a daily mean temperature below freezing, though the Gulf Stream keeps conditions milder than other places on similar latitudes.
• Spring: Normally arrives around the middle of March, marking the transition out of winter toward the long daylight of summer.
• Summer: Usually starts in the middle of May and lasts until late September. Days are very long, with more than eighteen hours of visible sunlight at the summer solstice.
• Autumn: Typically continues until late November, when winter arrives.

Three days in Uppsala

Day one: Arrive at Stockholm Arlanda and make your way into Uppsala. From Arlanda you can travel by SL, Mälartåg or SJ services; Arlanda Central sits beneath Sky City between Arlanda South and North, while buses run by UL and Flexibus also serve the terminals, and taxis are available. If you land at Bromma, Skavsta near Nyköping, or Nyköping Central, you can connect via Stockholm Central or Flygbussarna. Once in Uppsala, settle in near Uppsala Central Station and take an easy first walk along the Fyris River to get your bearings.

Day two: Give the day to Uppsala itself, wandering the neighbourhoods at your own pace and following the river through town. Because the city is compact, you can cover a lot on foot, stopping whenever something catches your eye. In the evening, eat locally and rest early.

Day three: Use Uppsala as your base for the wider Uppsala County, or take a day trip south to Stockholm by train from Uppsala Central. Winters here are bitterly cold, while March, May, September and November each bring their own character, so dress for the season. Return to Arlanda by SL, Mälartåg or SJ for your onward journey.