Delightful Uppsala

The outstanding feature of Uppsala has to be the gardens, Linnaeus having done his work of classification here.

It is fourth or fifth in size of Sweden's cities, but this does not make it too large to walk around most of its main features.

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Best Way To Get Around:

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As soon as you emerge from the station, you will see a fountain, and beyond it, a castle, which is now a major part of the University buildings. If you walk along the street towards the castle/university you will soon spot the cathedral to your right. In many ways it is architecturally a traditional gothic shape, but it is constructed from red brick. If you walk up the incline to the castle/university itself (which is worth doing for the view of Uppsala but there is not much that you can visit because the historic buildings are in active university use), you will see the botanical gardens in front of you and it is easy to go down to them. When you do so you will be staggered by their size and by the amount of information contained there.

Near the hothouses there is a very pleasant cafe which is not too expensive for some cake and a drink of tea.

The river Fyrisån runs through the centre of the city and there are both pleasant cafes and seats for those with picnics.

The Botanical Gardens, always closely connected with the University of Uppsala, have been used for teaching for 350 years.

Anything to do with botany in Uppsala is connected in some way with its most famous resident, Carl Linnaeus, who was born in Uppsala in 1707. He is sometimes called the father of Botany, perhaps foolishly as there were already botanists long before him. And Olof Celsius, who he met at the University of Uppsala while studying medecine, had a significant effect upon his choice of career. However, there can be no doubt of his importance as the first to establish the modern system of plant classification.

The gardens now have something in the order of 13,000 species and sub-species of plants from all over the world, and there is always something flowering. The vast outside part is free and the glass houses are a real bargain at 20 Swedish kroners.

The café is delightful and not prohibitively expensive.

The main feature at Gamla Uppsala is the huge 6th century burial mounds. Whilst the oldest remains in Sweden are at Birka, nearer to Stockholm, these three mounds are hugely impressive.

There are also cathedral ruins, an outdoor museum and a very small church - which looked worth entering but was in use.

There is also a very pleasant café.

Sigtuna was Sweden's first town, established by the Viking king Eric Segersäll in 980. It was soon minting Swedish coins and was a major centre of Christianity in the 11th and 12th centuries when it appears that there were close links with Russia. Runic stones and church ruins have been found from this period.

It can be approached from Stockholm by bus, and in the tourist season by boat, which would have a lot to recommend it. Alternatively, you could do a triangle; Stockholm, Uppsala, Sigtuna.

The place itself is small and picturesque; there is an arm of water with the main street parallel at one remove. The street itself is very attractive and has shops, mostly tourist-oriented and a bit on the expensive side. It boasts of being the oldest street in the country. Then there is the ruined castle and that is about it - beautiful but something of a tourist trap.

We went into a sort of courtyard cafe just off the main road which was very attractive looking and we enjoyed a cake there but did we pay for the privilege.