Delightful Uppsala

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.

Quick Tips:="" Take="" bus="" out="" Sigtuna,="" tiny="" town="" but="" Sweden="s first capital. [Uppsala was next and Stockholm came third.]

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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.

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.

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.

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.