Uppsala: Cathedral, Castle and Museums

The treasury of Uppsala Cathedral displays a medieval festive garment, Renaissance robes, royal burial regalia and Gustav Vasa’s sword. Uppsala Cathedral is known as a burial church for members of the royal family, the nobility and scholars; services are held there every day. From Uppsala Central Station, the cathedral can be reached via a walk of about 1 kilometre in approximately 15 minutes.

History and University

Gustavianum is the oldest surviving building of Uppsala University. Under the direction of Olof Rudbeck the Elder, an anatomical theatre was created there between 1662 and 1663. Since 1997, Gustavianum has been a publicly accessible museum featuring the university’s cultural history collections in permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Castle and Art

Uppsala slott was begun by Gustav Vasa in the 1540s. Today, Uppsala slott is the residence of the county governor and houses museums as well as other institutions. Since 2004, the public has been able to visit the original Vasaborg and the impressive ruins of Uppsala slott.

Uppsala Art Museum is located in Uppsala Castle in the centre of Uppsala. It presents modern and contemporary art on three floors and offers concerts, family activities and guided tours.

Museums on the Fyrisån

Upplandsmuseet is a cultural history museum in the centre of Uppsala. Its exhibitions are located in Akademikvarnen, an 18th-century building on the Fyrisån river designated for its cultural and historical significance. Upplandsmuseet offers children a dedicated exhibition entitled “Lilla kvarn”.

Nature and Gardens

The Stadsskogen nature reserve in Uppsala consists mainly of coniferous forest. In the north, there are rocky areas characterised by pine trees, while strips of swamp forest are found in the south and southwest.

Directly west of Uppsala Castle are the Baroque garden, the kitchen garden, the Tropical Greenhouse and the Linneanum Orangery building; they are open all year round. Eriksleden is named after the procession in which the relics of Saint Erik were once carried.

Local Food

At Uppsala Saluhall, visitors can buy locally produced food and selected delicacies.

Anyone wishing to combine different interests in Uppsala can consciously structure their daily routine around history, university culture, art, nature and local food. A culture-focused day sets different priorities than a day spent among forests and gardens; these themes can also be combined and weighted differently depending on the desired mix. In this way, days centred on cultural history differ from an itinerary in which gardens, forests and regional food set the tone.

A hotel in Uppsala can be assessed for your days of travel based on travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions. These details provide the practical framework; whether culture, nature or local food shapes your stay remains a matter of your personal daily routine.

The direct selection of places includes Uppsala, Almunge, Järlåsa, Storvreta and Björklinge.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Östhammar, Tierp, Älvkarleby.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Uppsala.