Uppsala: top attractions & road trip guide
Uppsala is Sweden's fourth-largest city and home to Scandinavia's oldest university, founded in 1477. Its skyline is anchored by the twin spires of the largest cathedral in the Nordic countries, and the city carries a long history as a center of learning and, before that, of Norse religious ritual.
Just north of Stockholm, Uppsala makes an easy detour on a road trip through Sweden's lake and forest country. The surrounding landscape of farmland and waterways gives a first taste of the terrain that continues south toward Malmö and the Öresund crossing to Denmark.
Top attractions
Uppsala Cathedral
The largest cathedral in the Nordic countries, a Gothic structure with twin spires that has served as the coronation church of Swedish monarchs.
Uppsala Castle
A 16th-century royal castle built by Gustav Vasa on a hill overlooking the city, now housing art collections and hosting the annual Nobel Prize dinner for Uppsala's laureates.
Gamla Uppsala
An archaeological site north of the city center with three large royal burial mounds dating from the 5th and 6th centuries, once a center of Norse pagan worship.
Linnaeus Garden and Museum
The restored botanical garden and former home of Carl Linnaeus, the 18th-century botanist who developed the modern system of naming species.
Fyris River
The river running through the center of Uppsala, lined with cafés and old mill buildings, and crossed by several historic bridges near the cathedral and castle.
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