Uppsala, Sweden
Uppsala, the oldest and fourth largest city in Sweden, once a thriving Christian center, today is a university town with a rich history, not deprived of a bit of provincial charm.
There is something similar to Amsterdam in Uppsala – perhaps these are its waterways, rows of bicycles and young people scurrying back and forth.
How to get there
Uppsala is located 35 km from Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, serving most European airlines, as well as a number of American and Asian carriers. Getting from the airport to Uppsala is not difficult: the best option is the commuter train Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (abbreviated as SL), which will reach your destination in just 17 minutes! From the airport, the train leaves every half an hour between 05:16 and 00:46 on weekdays and from 04:50 to 1:57 on weekends. A one-way ticket will cost 135 SEK. Check jibin123 for customs regulations and visa requirements of Sweden.
Every hour, high-speed trains run from Stockholm to Uppsala run by the national company SJ (40 min, 80-110 SEK). An alternative here can be trains of the same SL, running every half an hour and following with stops (55 minutes).
And, finally, the most budget option is Swebus buses connecting Uppsala with Stockholm Airport, Gothenburg, Malmö and other cities in Sweden. In addition, UL buses run from Västerås, Strängnäs and Sala to Uppsala.
Transport
Bus service is well developed in Uppsala, and stops are located no more than a few hundred meters from each other. A bus ticket for 90 minutes costs 25 SEK, and you can pay for it by SMS! To do this, you need to send a message with the text “UV” (those who are 20 years old or over) and “UU” (19 years old and younger) to 72472. True, this option only works when sending SMS from a Swedish SIM card. For the rest, payment by credit card is provided directly in the bus.
The Furis River divides Uppsala exactly into two parts: historical – on the western side of the river and residential – on its eastern side.
Entertainment and attractions in Uppsala
The Furis River divides Uppsala exactly into two parts: historical – on the western side of the river and residential – on its eastern side. Most of the sights of Uppsala are concentrated in the western, historical part of the city. The main dominant here is the Cathedral of the city – the largest in Scandinavia (118.7 m).
Gustavianum
Opposite the cathedral is the Gustavianum (1625), which served as the main building of the university for almost the entire 19th century, and now functions as a museum. Today, the Gustavianum presents extensive collections of Northern and Egyptian antiquities, an exhibition on the history of the University of Uppsala, as well as the University’s coin office, which in its collection is one of the largest in the country. There is also an anatomical theater preserved from the 17th century, which was once used for public autopsy. The Gustavianum Museum is open to visitors every day except Monday from 10:00 to 16:00, the entrance ticket costs 50 SEK. The museum’s coin office is open on Tuesdays from 13:00 to 16:00 from April to October, the rest of the time – by appointment only, admission is free.
University
Across the road from the Gustavianum rises the new main building of the University, built in 1879-1986. in the style of the Italian Renaissance.
Not far from the University is the University Library (1820-1841), the largest in Sweden with more than 5 million volumes and about 60 thousand manuscripts.
Lock
To the southwest of the library, on a hill 35 meters high, rises the castle, the construction of which was begun in 1549 by King Gustav I, the founder of the Vasa royal dynasty. Today, the castle houses the administration of Uppsala County, the City Museum of Art, the House of Peace and the Wasaborgen Wax Museum. The Museum of Art is open to visitors every day except Monday from 12:00 to 16:00, on Wednesdays until 20:00, admission is free. The House of Peace receives guests every day except Monday from 15:00 to 18:00, Sat-Sun. from 12:00 to 16:00, admission is free. Wasaborgen is open daily from 30 June to 11 August from 10:00 to 16:00/17:00.
Old Uppsala
5 km north of the city lies Old Uppsala, where from pre-Christian times, in addition to several burials, three huge burial mounds dating back to the 5th-6th centuries, a pagan temple built in 1164 and restored after a fire in 1240, and an open museum sky. You can get here by bus number 2 from the city center. The mounds are open for visiting daily from 10:00 to 16:00 from May to August and from 12:00 to 16:00 from September to December, the entrance ticket to the museum is 80 SEK, group tours are organized.
