Things to do in Uppsala
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Uppsala
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall: Linnaeus sites open, gardens in flower, Valborg energy and long light.
Late August to mid-September: warm lakes early on, students back, Kulturnatten and mushrooms.
Peak summer: near-19-hour days and swimming, but the university empties and some restaurants close in July.
Winter: worst for sightseeing with 6 to 7 hours of daylight, but All Light, Lucia, skiing and low prices compensate.
Shoulder months: neither gardens nor ice and frequent grey rain, but the cheapest real Uppsala in full student term.
What's on
- Valborg / Sista April 30 April
The event of the year: raft race on the Fyris, white caps below Carolina Rediviva and nation parties.
- National Day 6 June
Quieter in the city as Swedes leave for the countryside.
- Midsummer late June
Public celebrations with maypole and dancing at Gamla Uppsala, Wik and Fjällnora.
- Uppsala Reggae Festival late July / early August
Scandinavia's largest reggae festival, with hotel pressure to match.
- Kulturnatten (Culture Night) second Saturday of September
Hundreds of free events across the centre until late: arguably the best-value weekend of the year.
- All Light on Uppsala November
Light festival turning the cathedral quarter, river and castle into installations in the darkest month.
- Lucia 13 December
Cathedral Lucia concerts that sell out, plus Christmas markets on Advent weekends.
Best things to do in Uppsala
Uppsala Cathedral
Scandinavia's largest cathedral, burial place of kings and Linnaeus, with a treasury of medieval textiles.
Gamla Uppsala
Royal Viking burial mounds, a wider burial field and a 12th-century church in open ancient landscape.
Gustavianum
Uppsala's best museum: a 17th-century anatomical theatre and the Augsburg Art Cabinet under one cupola.
Linnaeus Garden
Sweden's first botanical garden, restored to Linnaeus's 1745 plan, with his house as the museum.
Uppsala University Botanical Garden
Year-round garden below the castle with a baroque layout and a tropical greenhouse for bad weather.
Uppsala Castle
Pink 16th-century castle worth the climb for the view, with a free art museum inside the vaults.
Carolina Rediviva
University library holding the 6th-century Silver Bible, written in silver ink on purple vellum.
Bror Hjorths Hus
Sculptor Bror Hjorth's preserved home and studio, small and intimate, with a modern exhibition wing.
Where to stay in Uppsala
Fjärdingen
first trip, best all-round base
The historic cathedral quarter: quiet, pretty lanes with every main sight at your door.
City Centre / Dragarbrunn
value, nightlife and one-night stays
The commercial centre by the station: bigger hotels, restaurants and bars within five minutes.
Luthagen & Kåbo
quiet and longer stays
Leafy villa districts beyond the cathedral quarter, with apartment hotels and almost no tourists.
Out-of-town manors
a countryside night, not a city base
Manor and castle hotels on Lake Mälaren and Ekoln, beautiful but car-dependent for sightseeing.
Think twice about
- Gottsunda
Police-listed vulnerable area with organised-crime presence, 5-plus km from every sight and essentially no visitor hotels.
- Fyrislund / Boländerna and Gränby
Charmless, car-oriented industrial and big-box retail districts: Uppsala prices to sleep beside a motorway junction.
- Flogsta
Corridor-room student housing, not a visitor base: no hotels, shared kitchens, and the nightly 10pm scream outside your window.
Best restaurants in Uppsala
Hambergs Fisk
Uppsala's consensus best restaurant: a serious seafood house handling Swedish fish in the classic register.
Villa Anna
The cathedral quarter's fine-dining room: modern Swedish cooking and a serious vaulted wine cellar.
Peppar Peppar
Modern Swedish dining famous for fillet of beef with pepper sauce, plus tasting menus in season.
Jay Fu's
American steakhouse meets Asian fusion above the market hall, the closest Uppsala gets to a big night out.
Miss Voon
Pan-Asian small plates and cocktails on a top floor with castle and cathedral views.
Domtrappkällaren
Seasonal Swedish classics served in medieval stone vaults below the cathedral steps.
Restaurang Sverre
Small Scandinavian dining room with the mid-range's highest scores and a loyal local following.
Stationen
The 1866 station house as brasserie, bar and café: a versatile all-rounder from lunch to late drinks.
Outdoor things to do in Uppsala
Upsala Golfklubb
Sweden's serious golf here: 36-plus holes including a championship course rebuilt to acclaim.
Söderby Golf
Relaxed 18-hole parkland course plus a pay-and-play short course, better for beginners and society days.
Uppsala Fotbollsgolf
Kick a football around an 18-hole footgolf course in open countryside: two hours, no skill floor.
Fjällnora Friluftsområde
The locals' lake area: swimming beach, boat rental, forest trails, skiing and skating in winter.
Hammarskog Nature Reserve
Manor, bathing spots and oak woodland on Lake Ekoln, where Uppsala swims in Mälaren water.
Stadsskogen
In-city pine forest minutes from the centre, connecting to river-valley reserves and the Uppland Trail.
Paddling the Fyris River
See the city from water level, paddling south under the bridges toward Lake Ekoln and open meadow.
Cycling the Fyris Valley
Flat, bike-laned riding along the river to Gamla Uppsala or Ekoln: transport and experience in one.
Best hotels in Uppsala
Hotel Villa Anna
Uppsala's best hotel: 11 design-led rooms 100 metres from the cathedral, with a destination restaurant.
Clarion Hotel Gillet
Full-service grande dame with spa, pool and the most complete facilities list in the city.
Radisson Blu Hotel Uppsala
Big, dependable modern hotel steps from Central Station, with castle views from upper floors.
Grand Hotell Hörnan
Family-run since 1907 in a turreted riverside building: mid-range money buying atmosphere.
Elite Hotel Academia
Modern rooms in the renovated post-office palace by the station, with Miss Voon on the top floor.
Best Western Hotel Svava
Practical, air-conditioned hotel by the station, often the cheapest branded central bed.
Akademihotellet
Simple, calm hotel near the university with breakfast included and a loyal academic clientele.
Uppsala City Hostel
The central hostel: dorms and private rooms walkable to everything in the city.
Is Uppsala expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | SEK 1,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | SEK 2,100 a person |
| Splurge | SEK 4,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- A Guided Walk Done Properly: a few days ahead
- Upsala Golfklubb: a few days ahead
- Paddling the Fyris River: a few days ahead
- Hotel Villa Anna: months ahead
- Hambergs Fisk: weeks ahead
- Villa Anna: weeks ahead
- Peppar Peppar: weeks ahead
- Miss Voon: a few days ahead
- Valborg on 30 April sells out hotels and restaurants: book months ahead or avoid the date entirely.
- Hambergs Fisk, Villa Anna, Peppar Peppar and Sverre need reservations Thursday to Saturday, 1 to 2 weeks ahead in May, June and September.
- Seasonal closures are the real trap: Linnaeus sites open May to September only, and Gustavianum closes Mondays. Check each venue's own site.
- Graduation, semester start and Lucia concerts spike Fjärdingen properties first; Villa Anna's 11 rooms go months ahead.
Is Uppsala safe?
- The centre is safe and well lit; pickpocketing at the station, in Valborg crowds and on nation club nights is the main petty risk.
- Gang-related violence in Sweden is targeted between criminal networks and concentrated away from the visitor centre: base centrally and skip unfamiliar outer estates at night.
- Very drunk student crowds on Friday and Saturday nights are the risk you will actually meet. Emergency number: 112.
Uppsala travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Doing Uppsala as a 3-hour Stockholm day trip: do the cathedral and Gustavianum properly instead of grazing all three big sights.
- Fyrishov as an attraction: local families love it, but visitors should not spend a short stay there.
- Expecting a Vasa-scale museum at Gamla Uppsala or furnished royal apartments at the castle: neither exists.
- Judging the city by the station's concrete east side: it improves dramatically five minutes west across the river.
Getting around Uppsala: public transport and more
- Trains run Uppsala to Stockholm in about 38 minutes and to Arlanda in about 18 minutes; buy intercity tickets in the SJ app.
- Walk first, cycle second, bus third: most sights sit inside a 15-minute walk, and UL buses take no cash, so pay in the UL app or by card.
- You do not need a car in the city, but rent one by the day for Fjällnora and the Sigtuna and Skokloster loop.
- Sweden is effectively cashless. Alcohol beyond low-strength beer is sold only in Systembolaget shops, closed Sundays.
- Use established taxi companies and confirm the price before moving: inflated fares from station ranks are the classic local scam.
Who Uppsala suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Uppsala your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store