Where to stay in Uppsala
Most visitors stay in the city centre, the wedge of streets between the cathedral and the Fyrisån where the university, the main square, and the station all sit within a short walk. It suits anyone who wants to arrive by train and never touch a bus. Rooms here range from old commercial hotels to small guesthouses.
Around Fjärdingen and the cathedral, the medieval core puts you among cobbled lanes and student nations, lively in term and quiet through the long summer break. Luthagen, just north-west, is a calmer residential grid of early-twentieth-century blocks, an easy cycle from the centre and popular with visiting academics. For lower rates and a younger feel, Studentstaden and the streets near campus lean practical over pretty.
Kungsängen, south toward the river meadows, mixes newer build with quick access to the E4. Pick the centre first. Everywhere else is minutes away by bike.
Things to do in Uppsala
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
- Geijersgården Heritage-listed — historic Swedish farm
- Upsala–Lenna Jernväg — working life museum
- Bror Hjorths Hus
- Linnémuseet
- Uppsala konstmuseum — organization and art exhibitions at Uppsala Castle and service of visitors
Churches & Religious Sites
- Uppsala domkyrka Heritage-listed — Swedish cathedral
- Helga Trefaldighets kyrka Heritage-listed
- Vaksala kyrka Heritage-listed
- Salabackekyrkan Heritage-listed
- Sankt Pers kyrka Heritage-listed
- Almtunakyrkan Heritage-listed
4 more
- Vindhemskyrkan S:ta Birgitta Heritage-listed
- Eriksbergskyrkan Heritage-listed
- Årstakyrkan Heritage-listed
- Korskyrkan
Castles & Historic Sites
- Uppsala slott Heritage-listed — the castle played a major role
- Ärkebiskopsgården Heritage-listed — the present palace was built 1737-1744
Stadiums & Sports
- Fyrishov
- Recoverhallen — indoor bandy venue
- Svandammshallarna
Landmarks & Notable Places
- Upplandsmuseet Heritage-listed — regional museum
- Evolutionsmuseet Heritage-listed — natural history museum
- Gustavianum — university building
About Uppsala
What is Uppsala known for?
Two institutions define Uppsala: its university and its cathedral. Uppsala University, founded in 1477, is the oldest in Scandinavia, and its students still set the tempo of the streets each term. Domkyrkan, the largest church in the Nordic countries, rises over the old town in twin Gothic spires.
Carl Linnaeus worked here. The Celsius scale carries the name of a professor who taught here too.
What are the main landmarks in Uppsala?
Domkyrkan, Scandinavia's tallest cathedral, holds the tombs of Gustav Vasa and Carl Linnaeus beneath its brick vaults. Uppsala Castle looks down from the ridge above. The great royal burial mounds of Gamla Uppsala rise north of the centre, a pre-Christian seat of power older than the unified kingdom of Sweden itself.
Two museums anchor the rest: the Gustavianum, with Olof Rudbeck's anatomical theatre, and the Uppsala konstmuseum within the castle. See the mounds at dusk.
What is the history of Uppsala?
Uppsala's roots run deeper than its charter. The burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala mark a centre of Norse kingship and ritual that chroniclers abroad were already describing in the eleventh century. Power later shifted south to the present town, where the archbishop's seat settled and the cathedral slowly rose.
Learning followed. Uppsala University opened in 1477 under a papal bull, faltered, and was re-founded in 1593 to stay for good. The Thirty Years' War brought unexpected fortune, when manuscripts seized on the continent flowed north to form the core of the Carolina Rediviva library.
Kings came and went. The university endured.
Where is Uppsala?
Uppsala lies in the eastern part of Uppsala County, set on the flat Uppland plain that rolls north of Stockholm toward the Bothnian coast. The Fyrisån runs through the middle of town and drains south into Lake Mälaren. A low gravel esker, the Uppsalaåsen, lifts the castle and the cathedral well above the valley floor, the only real relief for miles.
Open fields, runestones, and drainage ditches stretch out beyond the last streets. It is famously level. Cyclists rule here.
What is the climate of Uppsala?
Uppsala has a humid continental climate, shaped by its inland position in eastern Sweden. Winters are long, cold, and often snow-covered from December into March. Summers are mild and bright, and around midsummer the slow northern dusk stretches the evenings so far past nine that the dark barely arrives at all.
Spring comes late but fast. Autumn turns grey and wet before the first frosts settle over the plain.
How do you get to Uppsala?
Uppsala Central Station ranks among Sweden's busiest rail hubs outside Stockholm. Fast intercity trains reach Stockholm in well under an hour, and the line carries on north toward Gävle and the Bothnian coast. Commuter and regional services thread out to smaller towns across the county.
Trains to Arlanda need no change in the capital. The E4 motorway skirts the eastern edge of the city. Bikes do the rest.