Uppsala

Uppsala is a university city in Sweden. While Uppsala sometimes stands in the shade of Stockholm it maintains a sophisticated identity of its own. Compared to the Swedish capital, Uppsala is less frantic, with more of a small-town atmosphere, influenced by the student culture and academic traditions of Uppsala University. It has a 16th-century castle, a 15th-century Gothic cathedral, and 11th-century rune stones. It is the country's fourth-largest city.

Understand
Uppsala is the capital of Uppsala County, and had a population of 167,000 in the city (2020) and a total population of 241,000 in Uppsala Municipality (2022).

It was once the political and religious centre of Viking-era Sweden, became seat of the Church of Sweden and is the home of the largest church in the Nordic Countries, the Uppsala Cathedral. Uppsala University was founded in 1477 as the first Nordic university.

Uppsala is north of Stockholm, on the Fyris River (Fyrisån) that flows south into Lake Mälaren. The name "Uppsala" is derived from the words "Up", as in "upstream", and "Sal", which means "hall", and was archaically spelt Upsala. Historically, Uppsala has been divided between "townies and gownies", with burghers residing on the eastern side of the river, while clergy, academia and royalty have resided on its western shore. To some extent, this division still exists today, as the main shopping area is in the eastern part of the city centre, while most university campuses, student nations, and historic landmarks are on its western side.

In 1643, Uppsala adopted its first city plan and got the rectangular street grid it still has today. The city limits were set to Kungsgatan, Strandbodgatan, Kyrkogårdsgatan and Skolgatan; it didn't expand past these limits until the latter part of the 19th century. Uppsala's city centre still fairly accurately coincides with this city square; it's rather small relative to the size of Uppsala's population. Due to its regular street patterns and its highly visible landmarks, orientation in Uppsala is rather easy.

The Uppsala area is very flat except for Uppsalaåsen &mdash; an esker which stretches across Uppland in a north-south direction. Uppsala Castle is strategically positioned at the top of the esker. Due to the flat terrain Uppsala's silhouette with the characteristic Castle and Cathedral towers can be seen from a great distance. In order to preserve this skyline, most other buildings in Uppsala are quite low.

Many famous Swedish authors have resided in Uppsala, often as students at the university. Notable examples include the playwright August Strindberg, the poets Gustaf Fröding and Karin Boye, and the Nobel Prize laureates Erik Axel Karlfeldt and Pär Lagerkvist. Most Swedish children recognise Uppsala as the city of Pelle Svanslös (Peter-No-Tail), a tailless cat whose life and adventures in Uppsala are described in a series of children’s books by author Gösta Knutsson. Cinema lovers will recognise the area surrounding St Erik's square from the movie Fanny & Alexander by Uppsala native Ingmar Bergman. Uppsala is also one of the main stops on Nils Holgersson's Journey Across Sweden. There is a map of important places related to notable Uppsala authors.

History


Since the Ice Age, the Scandinavian landmass has been rising from the sea. The Uppsala plains were below sea level until around 1500 BC. The country's youngest land became the cradle of the Swedish nation, and soon after its emergence from the sea Håga, some south west of Uppsala, became the centre of Bronze Age Sweden. In the area you can still find remnants of the hillfort Predikstolen, as well as Håga burial mound, the gold-richest Bronze Age burial mound found in the Nordic countries.

In the 5th century, Old Uppsala (Gamla Uppsala), some north of today’s city centre, became the political and religious centre of Sweden. According to legend, it was founded by the pagan fertility god Freyr, from whom the first Swedish kings claimed to descend. The site housed a famous pagan temple, a royal hall, and three monumental burial mounds which can still be seen today. It maintained its position as the most important place in Sweden throughout the Viking Age. In the 11th century, Sweden was Christianised, and the temple at Uppsala was destroyed. Instead, Old Uppsala became the archbishopric of Sweden.

The city we today call Uppsala was founded as a port-city of Old Uppsala called Aros. According to legend, the Swedish king Erik Jedvardsson was killed in battle in Aros in 1160. From his corpse sprung a well of fresh water, which remains today as a pump on St Erik’s square north of the Cathedral. Although never officially canonised by the pope, the Swedes considered "Erik the Holy" their patron saint, and his relics can still be seen inside the Cathedral. Aros eventually came to eclipse its mother-city and, in 1273, overtook Old Uppsala's role as an archbishopric, at the same time overtaking the name Uppsala. The same year, the construction of the Uppsala Cathedral began. The Cathedral was inaugurated more than a century and a half later, in 1435. In 1477, Uppsala University was founded, as the first university in the Nordic countries.

In 1527, the Protestant Reformation began in Sweden, and much power and wealth moved from the church in Uppsala to the king in Stockholm. Consequently, Uppsala declined during the 16th century. During this era, Uppsala Castle was constructed, partly in order to check Uppsala clergymen who disliked the reformation. In 1567, the new castle became a scene for the "Sture Murders": during a fit of madness, the Swedish King Eric XIV had six nobles thrown into the castle dungeons and massacred. The wars of the 17th century (including the Thirty Years War) established the Swedish Empire. The city and its university experienced a revival, and Uppsala became something of a second capital of Sweden. Much of the city burnt down in 1702. This did not prevent Uppsala from rising as a scientific stronghold during the Age of Liberty (frihetstiden) in the 18th century, with world-famous scientists such as Carl von Linné, founder of taxonomic biology, and Anders Celsius, inventor of the Celsius temperature scale.

During the early 19th century, professors and students at the university were heavily influenced by romanticism. Many of Uppsala's strong student traditions can be traced to this era, including the archetype of the typical Uppsala student as a sorrowless, punsch-drinking and serenade-singing youngling in a tailcoat and a student cap. This "student uniform" can still be seen at formal occasions and gasques (student dinner parties). Throughout the 20th century Uppsala and Uppsala University grew rapidly. During the tenure of the principal Torgny T:son Segerstedt between 1955–1978, more students were admitted to the university than during its entire previous history combined! In the 20th century, the eastern half of the city experienced an extensive urban renewal. The western half was, however, spared from most of the demolition due to its proximity to the cathedral and university, and has therefore preserved more of its historical character.

Climate
Uppsala has a humid continental climate and is on the 59th latitude north, comparable to Fort Smith in Canada and Saint Petersburg in Russia. Because of its northerly position, Uppsala receives less than 6 hours of visible sunlight during the winter solstice, and more than 18 hours during the summer solstice. Due to the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water from the Caribbean to the North Sea, Uppsala and Sweden are not as cold as other regions on similar latitudes. As an example, during January, Fort Smith has a daily mean temperature of, compared to Uppsala's daily mean temperature of. Summer usually starts in the middle of May and lasts until late September. Autumn typically continues until late November, when winter arrives. Spring normally arrives around the middle of March.

By plane
With no commercial airport of its own, Uppsala is served by the same airports as Stockholm. Indeed, the main airport, Arlanda, is closer to Uppsala than to Stockholm.
 * Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, south of Uppsala on the main road and railway route to Stockholm, is by far the largest aircraft hub in Sweden. To reach Uppsala the main options are trains, buses, car rental and taxis.
 * By train SL commuter train or pendeltåg and Mälartåg run every 30–60 min between 05:00 and 01:00 and take 18 min to Uppsala Central. A single ticket costs 162 kr, which includes the airport surcharge (compared to 81 kr to or from Stockholm. Attempts to exit at Arlanda with a ticket to Stockholm are surcharged). The trains have low floors and wide doors for easy access by passengers with wheelchairs or bulky luggage. The national train operator SJ also run irregular trains between Arlanda and Uppsala at rates and travel times similar to SL. All trains for Uppsala depart from Arlanda Central station ("Arlanda-C") within the airport Sky City &mdash; don't go to Arlanda South or North as these only serve express trains to Stockholm city. You must buy your ticket before boarding. There is a ticket counter and machines at the station.
 * By bus UL bus 801 (daytime) SL bus and 593 (at night) run from the stations beneath terminals 2, 4 and 5 to bus terminal C at Uppsala Central Station. They run every 30 min, taking 30 min. The fare is 117 kr. The night bus might be your only transport option between midnight and 05:00. You can travel on line 593 on a SL-ticket the whole way to Uppsala for 39 kr with the disadvantage of not including local busses in Uppsala, more info at UL. Flexibus run budget buses between Arlanda's Terminal 5 and Uppsala. At 30–60 kr these are significantly cheaper than UL's buses, but with departures about once every third hour they are also significantly less frequent.
 * Taxis are available in front of terminals 2, 4 and 5. They offer fixed prices to Uppsala, usually indicated by a large Fast Pris Uppsala-Arlanda or Arlanda-Uppsala sign near the back of the car. This is around 400–520 kr for 1–4 persons, so it's a good option for 3–4 persons, and avoids public transport costs within Uppsala city. You must ask for the fixed price before commencing the journey, otherwise the driver might charge per kilometre, which will be far more.
 * The major car rental companies have desks in the arrivals halls. Highway E4 will take you from Arlanda to Uppsala in about 30 minutes.
 * Stockholm-Bromma Airport in Western Stockholm is served by domestic and short-range flights.
 * Skavsta Airport, is in Nyköping, about south of Uppsala. It is served by several budget carriers such as Ryanair and Wizzair. From the airport, take local bus 515 to Nyköping Central Station and change to a regional train for Stockholm Central, where you can change to a train towards Uppsala. This costs circa 200 kr in total and takes about 2 hours to Uppsala. For 140 kr you can also take the 80 minute air coach Flygbussarna from the airport to central Stockholm where you can change to a train towards Uppsala.
 * Västerås Airport is in Västerås,  west of Uppsala. It is served by Ryanair, which offers flights from a handful of cities in Britain and Spain. Your cheapest and fastest bet is to take a local bus from the airport to downtown Västerås, then change to the regional bus 774 or 773 to Uppsala. The journey takes 2 hours and costs 66 kr in total.

By train


The national railway SJ operates regional express trains from Stockholm every half hour. This takes 30-40 minutes and costs 95 kr. These are complemented by occasional regional trains running Linköping–Norrköping–Stockholm–Uppsala–Gävle, with similar speed and costs. All trains from Norrland also call here, including the Sundsvall express and the night trains from Luleå and Narvik. From anywhere west of Stockholm or south of Linköping, it’s usually necessary to change at Stockholm Central.

Regional commuter trains (pendeltåg) also run the route Älvsjö–Stockholm–Uppsala twice an hour. A ride to or from Stockholm C costs 81 kr and takes about 55 minutes, as stops are more frequent. Aside from Stockholm C the trains also stop at Arlanda Airport, Solna, Odenplan in Vasastan, Södermalm and Älvsjö in Söderort. As Uppsala and Stockholm belong to different counties ordinary local Stockholm tickets and passes are not sufficient to reach Uppsala. Commuter trains do not have a toilet on board.

A few private travel companies also serve Uppsala. Snälltåget's night trains between the northern ski resort Åre and the southern city of Malmö pass through Uppsala.

By bus
Travelling to Uppsala by bus is often considerably cheaper than going by train, but departures are also considerably less frequent. Flexibus runs 80-minute coaches from Stockholm's Cityterminalen at rates from 30 kr. They also run budget buses between Uppsala and Gothenburg, Borås, Jönköping, Kalmar, Linköping, Norrköping, Södertälje, Gävle, Umeå, Härjedalen and Arlanda. Ybuss carry passengers from Stockholm northwards along to coast of Norrland to Umeå, stopping at Arlanda and Uppsala on the way. While tickets to Stockholm and Arlanda are rather expensive at 110 kr, they might be a good option for travellers coming to Uppsala from northern Sweden. Tapanis Buss has a route going from Stockholm to Tornio, Finland stopping at Uppsala.

The local public transport company UL operates services to Västerås and Sala. Tickets are 148 kr if bought on board, 120 kr if pre-purchased and 92 kr if bought with a travel fund. See the section Get around below for details on UL tickets.

By car
The north-south highway E4 passes east of the city and stretches south to Stockholm, Norrköping, and all the way to Helsingborg in southern Sweden. In the other direction it continues north past Sundsvall and Umeå to the Finnish border at Haparanda. Road 55 carry traffic to Enköping and continues to Norrköping where it reconnects with the E4. Even though it is some 10 minutes slower it might be a preferable alternative to E4 since it is more scenic and avoids Stockholm, thereby skipping tolls and minimising the risk of traffic jams. In Enköping route 55 crosses the highway E18 which continues westward towards Västerås, Örebro, Karlstad and Oslo, or from Örebro towards Gothenburg as highway E20. The smaller national roads 72 and 288 carry traffic to Sala and Östhammar.

Get around
Town maps are available from the tourist office "InfoPoints", scattered around town.

By foot
Most tourist sights are within the central area of Uppsala and can easily be reached on foot. A walk across the entire city centre takes no more than 20 minutes. However, to reach points of interest outside of the city centre, such as Gamla Uppsala or Linnés Hammarby, you will need some other means of transportation &mdash; or some really good walking shoes.

By bike or scooter
A good way to travel in Uppsala is by bike, especially if you plan on leaving the city centre and visit Uppsala's peripheral districts or Uppsala countryside. As any visitor will notice, there are a lot of cyclists here, enough for the city to earn the nickname "Bike Town." There are paths parallel to nearly every road, and many places to store bikes outside. As the terrain surrounding Uppsala is rather flat, it is easy to bike, even for inexperienced biciclysts.

The cheapest way to rent a bike is via the local bike sharing company EU-Bike. You rent one of their easily recognisable green bikes by acquiring their smartphone app, and scanning the bike's QR-code. The first 10 uses are free, while additional usage costs 5 kr per 30 minutes. In a similar manner, electrical scooters can be rented via the local companies Voi. The scooters cost 1.50 kr per minute, plus a 10 kr starting fee. There are also several conventional bike rental places in Uppsala (listed in the section on Sports). A typical price for a conventional rental bike is 200 kr for the first day and around 100 kr for every additional day.

As a side note, locals have a saying that everyone who lives there has had a bike stolen at some point in their lives. While this is not entirely true (it's more a reflection on the popularity of biking than any level of crime), it's probably a good idea to lock your bike.

By bus
Uppsala boasts 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, also 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 it easy to transfer between different bus lines. A map of the city-traffic network can be found here.

As of January 2024, a ticket for all of Uppsala county will cost you 39 kr and for 27 kr for ages under 20 and over 65 and will be valid for 75 minutes. A 24-hour ticket costs 135 kr and 95 kr discounted. Contactless payment might be introduced but mobile and travelcard tickets will remain. You will also be able to go all the way to Gävle and Sala by Mälartåg regional trains, due to the validity for the whole county and UL-busses in other counties.

Tickets can be bought in advance at machines at the central station. Tickets can also be bought 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 ~60 sales agents, marked out with yellow UL-flags. A list and map of sales agents can also be found here.

By taxi
If you would like to travel by taxi, use the three major taxi companies: Uppsala Taxi, Taxi Kurir and Taxi 020. There are also a lot of smaller companies, but they might have their own view on what you should pay and might also have less geographical knowledge. Be sure to negotiate the fare in advance of getting in the taxi if no guaranteed fare is posted.

Smartphone apps:
 * Bolt Uppsala
 * Uber

See
No fewer than 38 rune stones have been found in Uppsala, and many of them can still be seen today. On the lawn just east and south of the Cathedral you can find 7 rune stones, and in the University Park, between the University Hall and Gustavianum, you will find another 9. In general, these were written during the 11th century, showing both pagan and Christian motifs, usually commemorating some deceased relative. A notable exception to this rule is the stone U 1011, today standing in the University Park, reading the inscription "Vigmund had the stone carved for himself, the cleverest of men. God help the soul of Vigmund the ships' captain!"

Art and galleries
While Uppsala's largest art establishment is Uppsala Art Museum (in Uppsala Castle, listed above) there are also several other smaller art venues in the city.

Gamla Uppsala
'' north of Uppsala. Bus 2 and the hike "Eriksleden" (which starts at the cathedral) calls here. By car: Follow Svartbäcksgatan 4.5 km north, then take a right turn onto Ärnavägen and follow it another 1.5 km.''

This was the political and religious centre of Viking-era Sweden, with a royal estate, the "Thing of all Swedes" (political assembly) and a renowned pagan temple. The Viking heritage can still be seen in the landscape due to the three monumental burial mounds, historically attributed to the gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. In modern times it has become a centre for Norse Neopaganism, hosting a major blót sacrifice each spring! If you get hungry there is a nearby restaurant and café called ( M–F 10:00–16:00, Sa Su 10:00–18:00) which brew its own mead. Groups of 20 or more can book Viking feasts with traditional clothing and food.

With the help of augmented reality technology, you can also see what the site would have looked like at its historical peak in 650 AD. When looking at site through your smartphone, the app Augmented History: Gamla Uppsala adds an additional layer to reality, which contains all the different structures archaeologists have discovered on the site, including the old Temple at Uppsala and the Royal hall, enabling you to see and even interact with the Viking settlement. As of 2018, the app is only available on iOS. If you don't have your own equipment, visitors to Gamla Uppsala museum can borrow iPads for up to 30 minutes without any extra charge. The iPads are available between 15:00–16:00 during weekdays and 11:00–13:30 during weekends, and are booked at the museum counter.



Uppsala University
Uppsala University was established in 1477, making it the oldest university in the Nordic countries. It is associated with 8 Nobel Prize laureates and is frequently ranked among the best 100 universities in the world. University campuses are scattered around the western part of the city centre. If you want to experience the student life at Uppsala you should go to one of the 13 Student Nations (see infobox under section Drink).



Public baths
While Fyris River crosses the city, there are no official bathing areas within walking distance of the city centre. In effect, this means that there are no official, regular controls of the water quality in the river. However, occasional tests have indicated that the water is fully safe to bathe in. Generally, the water quality is better north of Uppsala, before the south-flowing water has crossed the city centre. In the part of the river north of the city centre, there are also several bridges with rescue ladders which can be used for bathing.


 * The old
 * Rowing boats can be rented at the mansion during weekends or at the carpentry (+46 18-727 03 96) during weekdays.
 * The old
 * Rowing boats can be rented at the mansion during weekends or at the carpentry (+46 18-727 03 96) during weekdays.
 * The old
 * Rowing boats can be rented at the mansion during weekends or at the carpentry (+46 18-727 03 96) during weekdays.
 * The old
 * Rowing boats can be rented at the mansion during weekends or at the carpentry (+46 18-727 03 96) during weekdays.

Hiking, biking & jogging trails
As the terrain around Uppsala is very flat, none of these hikes are very difficult, and could therefore be performed by inexperienced hikers or cyclists. For information about bike rentals, see section "Get around".
 * Eriksleden is a 6-km hike between Uppsala Cathedral and Old Uppsala Church. During the medieval era, Saint Erik was revered as the patron saint of Sweden, and his relics was carried in procession between these two destinations every year.
 * The Linnaeus Trails are eight different hikes which were created by Carl Linnaeus as biological excursions for his students. The trails measure from to  one way, and are marked up by blue signposts. 7 of the hikes start at the old city entrances, in today’s city centre, while the last one starts in the village of Jumkil. The trails are part of the proposed Linnaean UNESCO World Heritage.
 * The Yellow trail is a 10-km path which stretches through a continuous green belt within the urban area. The scenery include a 300-year-old pine tree forest as well as pastures. The trail starts by Studenternas sports stadium south of the city centre and leads down to the shores of Lake Mälaren by the southern suburbs of Uppsala.
 * Upplandsleden is an alternative for those who desire a longer hike. It stretches through the province of Uppland, from Lake Mälaren in the south to the Dal River in the north, and passes through the southern part of Uppsala. It is marked up with orange signposts.

Natural attractions and reserves




Sports
If you want to watch sports, the main outdoor sporting arena is (Ulleråkersvägen 6, on the western shore of the river just south of the City Gardens) while the main indoor arena is Fyrishov (listed above). The home team IK Sirius play soccer and the traditional Swedish winter sport of bandy in Sweden’s top divisions. The men's team Uppsala Basket and the women's team Sallén Basket play in Sweden’s top divisions for basketball. Uppsala 86ers was one of the first American football teams in Sweden, and play in the highest division Superserien.

Uppsala also has ample opportunities for doing sport.
 * Cross country skiing – There are several pre-plowed tracks for skiing around Uppsala. Major tracks include:
 * King Björn's track and the Hammarskog-track, which starts by "King Björn's mound" in Håga west of Uppsala centre.
 * Lunsen is a natural reserve with several tracks. You can start by "Planstskolan", next to road 255 south of the city, where you can find booklets with suitable tracks.
 * Tracks can also be found by Sunnerstabacken (see below by "Downhill Snowsports").
 * The safest bet for snow is the rather short kap-track, south of Studenternas IP, as excess snow is brought here from the sports stadium.
 * Curling
 * Downhill snowsports
 * Golf
 * Ice skating – Gränby ishallar (Råbyvägen 71) and the next door Relitahallen, northeast of the city centre are the main indoor skating arenas. Studenternas IP and Svandammen ("The Swan Pond", between Uppsala Castle and Fyris River) are often open for ice-skating in the winter. Natural ices can usually be found by Ekoln, a part of Mälaren  south of the city centre, and Fjällnora,  east of the city. Natural ice can be dangerous and should be avoided without proper equipment, training and company. Vikingarännet is the world's largest annual ice-skating race, from Uppsala to Stockholm. It is held in February, but the precise date is often decided on short notice depending on weather conditions. Some years the race has been cancelled all together due to poor ice conditions.
 * Golf
 * Ice skating – Gränby ishallar (Råbyvägen 71) and the next door Relitahallen, northeast of the city centre are the main indoor skating arenas. Studenternas IP and Svandammen ("The Swan Pond", between Uppsala Castle and Fyris River) are often open for ice-skating in the winter. Natural ices can usually be found by Ekoln, a part of Mälaren  south of the city centre, and Fjällnora,  east of the city. Natural ice can be dangerous and should be avoided without proper equipment, training and company. Vikingarännet is the world's largest annual ice-skating race, from Uppsala to Stockholm. It is held in February, but the precise date is often decided on short notice depending on weather conditions. Some years the race has been cancelled all together due to poor ice conditions.
 * Ice skating – Gränby ishallar (Råbyvägen 71) and the next door Relitahallen, northeast of the city centre are the main indoor skating arenas. Studenternas IP and Svandammen ("The Swan Pond", between Uppsala Castle and Fyris River) are often open for ice-skating in the winter. Natural ices can usually be found by Ekoln, a part of Mälaren  south of the city centre, and Fjällnora,  east of the city. Natural ice can be dangerous and should be avoided without proper equipment, training and company. Vikingarännet is the world's largest annual ice-skating race, from Uppsala to Stockholm. It is held in February, but the precise date is often decided on short notice depending on weather conditions. Some years the race has been cancelled all together due to poor ice conditions.
 * Ice skating – Gränby ishallar (Råbyvägen 71) and the next door Relitahallen, northeast of the city centre are the main indoor skating arenas. Studenternas IP and Svandammen ("The Swan Pond", between Uppsala Castle and Fyris River) are often open for ice-skating in the winter. Natural ices can usually be found by Ekoln, a part of Mälaren  south of the city centre, and Fjällnora,  east of the city. Natural ice can be dangerous and should be avoided without proper equipment, training and company. Vikingarännet is the world's largest annual ice-skating race, from Uppsala to Stockholm. It is held in February, but the precise date is often decided on short notice depending on weather conditions. Some years the race has been cancelled all together due to poor ice conditions.

Sports equipment can be rented at:

Annual events
Uppsala's tourist office has a calendar on their website listing various cultural and entertainment events.

Buy
Typical opening hours in Uppsala are 10:00–18:00 or 19:00 from Monday to Friday and 10:00–16:00 or 17:00 on Saturdays. On Sundays larger venues are typically open from 11:00 or 12:00–16:00 while many smaller shops, cafés and restaurants are closed, making the city rather quiet. The main shopping street is a pedestrian street which runs parallel to the river, one blocks East of the river and two blocks West of the train station. On it lays the main square Stora torget. The street is popularly simply referred to as "Gågatan" (The Pedestrian Street), but its official name is Svartbäcksgatan for the part North of the main square and Kungsängsgatan for the part South of it. Svavagallerian (Dragarbrunnsgatan 50), Forumgallerian (Dragarbrunnsgatan 43–45) and S:t Per-gallerian (Svartbäcksgatan 7–11) are three central shopping malls. They can't compare to the malls in Stockholm though.



Bookstores
Pressbyrån is a well-stocked magazine store chain with lots of international and Swedish magazines, which can be found at several locations in the city.



Fashion and clothing
Many international and national fashion warehouse chains such as Zara, H&M and New Yorker can be found on the main shopping street Svartbäcksgatan.

Gifts and souvenirs
Many museums, including the Cathedral, Upplandsmuseet and The Linnaean Garden have gift shops with general Uppsala souvenirs as well as souvenirs more closely related to their exhibitions. The best place to find Uppsala University themed merchandise are the gift shops in the University Museum Gustavianum and the University Main Hall.



Eat
Uppsala, being a college town, is not a city that is big on fine dining. There are a number of good restaurants to be found, however, and most of them are not far from the main landmarks in town. Lunch options are generally cheaper than dining options.

If you are interested in something lighter, most cafés mentioned below offer dishes like sandwiches, quiche, lasagna or salad. Likewise, most pubs at least offer simple pub food like burgers, and some of them, like Bierhuis and Bryggeriet Ångkvarn, are full-fledged gastropubs. Many hotels have good restaurants of their own, 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 in the hotel with the same name. If you plan to cook for yourself, the market hall (S:t Eriks Torg 8, M–Th 10:00–18:00; F 10:00–19:00; Sa 10:00–16:00) offers various types of expensive, quality ingredients like seafood and cheese.

Most days, at least one of the 13 Nations (see infobox under section Drink) serve simple, yet well-cooked meals. Unbeknownst to most locals, lunches are also open for non-students. If you have a nation guest card, you can also dine at the Nations. To know which nations are open any given day, check the calendar at Nationsguidien. Prices range around 50 kr for lunch and 70 kr for dinner.

Virtually all restaurants in Uppsala have at least one ovo-lacto vegetarian dish on the menu. Uppsala is also a rather vegan-friendly city. Many restaurants have some vegan dish on the menu, and even those which do not can usually serve something vegan if you ask the waiter. Especially good places for plant based food would be the vegetarian restaurant (Drottninggatan 12, +46 18-12 01 60, M–W 11:00–14:00, Th–F 11:00–14:00 & 17:00–21:00, Sa 16:00–22:00).

Budget
Budget-priced food trucks selling fast food like hot dogs and falafel can be found on the main shopping street Svartbäcksgatan, the square Vaksala torg and at Sankt Eriks square just north of the Cathedral. One falafel goes for about 50 kr. Typically they open around 11:00 and stay open until 20:00 on weekdays and significantly later on weekends (around 04:00 &mdash; late enough to serve drunk students on their way home from the bars).

Drink
As in the rest of Sweden, the government-owned chain of liquor stores (Dragarbrunnsgatan 48A, M–F 09:00–19:00, Sa 09:00–15:00) is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol. Additional Systembolaget stores can be found at Vaksalagatan 30 and by major shopping malls in the more peripheral districts of the city.

Uppsala has a long history of brewing, and there are four active breweries in Uppsala. Uppsala Brygghus is the largest in the region, and the one you are most likely to find in stock at Systembolaget; Jackdaw Brewery, specialises in Belgian-style beers; Tempel Brygghus, focusing on sour beer and Bryggeriet Ångkvarn, which was named "best brewery" at Stockholm Beer and Whiskey festival 2017. Punsch is a traditional Swedish arrak-based liqueur, holding a special place in Uppsala's student culture.

Bars and clubs in Uppsala are obliged to close no later than 03:00. Most student nations close at 01:00 unless there is a special event.

Cafés
While coffeehouse chains are not unheard of, cozy traditional independent cafés are abundant in Uppsala. Daytime in the weekends many of the student nations have cafés, which always have prices significantly below those of ordinary cafés. Both students and non-students are welcome. To know which nations are open any given day check the calendar at Nationsguidien. If you are looking for a more high-end kind of fika, you should check out the "afternoon tea" seatings held at the restaurant and hotel Villa Anna, Saturdays at 12.00 and 14.15

Lindvalls kaffe is a local family owned brand of coffee. Blåbärsprinsess is a blueberry sponge cake topped with marzipan which was invented in Uppsala, and Studentska is a local pastry made from shortcrust, chocolate truffle and icing. The name means "female student" since the pastries, just like the female students, are green and innocent on the outside but black as sin on the inside.



Stay safe
Uppsala is generally a safe city. In an emergency, always call 112 for SOS Alarm, for an ambulance, police, fire service, or priest on call. English-speaking operators are available. The national non-emergency number to the police is 114 14. As for other Swedish cities, drunk brawls are one of few risk factors to travellers. Stay extra attentive during weekend nights, especially in the city centre and around the Central Station.

If you venture into the forested countryside, beware of ticks. In Uppsala Municipality, there have been reported cases of both TBE and lyme disease. However, you can vaccinate against TBE, and lyme disease can be avoided by removing the tick within 12 to 24 hours. A simple precaution against ticks is to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers when moving through brushwood.

While there are several pharmacies in Uppsala, most of them close around 19:00–20:00, and none are open at night. The pharmacy with the best opening hours is (Kålsängsgränd 10C, +46 18-580 21 10) which is open from 08:00 to 22:00 every day.



Connect
Uppsala has 4G from all Swedish carriers, though the signal from 3 Tre is patchy. Some areas have 5G.

The city centre is a free public wifi-zone. The network is called "!uppsalawifi". Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences participate in Eduroam; a free-of-charge world wide web service which allow university students and staff wireless network access on the campuses of other universities.

Cope
Stockholm with many embassies is only a short trip away.

Go next
Uppsala County is mostly rural except for Uppsala itself, and is therefore suitable for outdoor activities such as skiing and hiking. Uppsala County has a large number of castles and industrial heritage sites, worth visiting for the history or architecturally interested. In the east Uppsala County has a long shoreline towards the Baltic Sea known as Roslagen. Uppsala countryside contains fields, forests, and several villages.


 * Enköping &mdash; as it turns out, "Sweden's nearest city", known for its military garrison and many parks, is only south-west of Uppsala.
 * Gävle &mdash; this beautiful coastal city, known for its giant Christmas Straw Goat, is the gateway to Norrland.
 * Norrtälje &mdash; with 17,000 inhabitants this is the largest city on Uppland's Baltic coast Roslagen.
 * Sigtuna &mdash; was effectively Sweden's capital in the middle ages. After being deserted, it was revived in the 1910s as a nationalist project.
 * Stockholm &mdash; south of Uppsala lays Sweden's capital and biggest city.
 * Stockholm archipelago &mdash; thousands of islands, islets and skerries, scattered along Uppland's coast.
 * Öregrund &mdash; in Roslagen has been a popular sea-side resort among Uppsala's township since the 19th century.