Experience the best of Uppsala

Uppsala lies on the Fyris River north of Stockholm, in the fertile plain of Uppland. Uppsala University, founded in 1477, is the oldest in the Nordic countries, and student life shapes the town. The cathedral, at about 118 metres the tallest church in Scandinavia, holds the tombs of King Gustav Vasa and of the botanist Carl Linnaeus, and a hilltop castle of the Vasa kings looks over the river.

The Linnaeus Garden, laid out in the 17th century and later restored to Linnaeus's own plan, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in Sweden, and the Carolina Rediviva library holds the Silver Bible, a 6th-century Gothic manuscript. Gamla Uppsala, about 5 kilometres north, has three large burial mounds of early Swedish kings and a church on the site of an old pagan temple. Sigtuna, an early town on Lake Mälaren, and Skokloster Castle lie to the south.

Fika, coffee with a cinnamon bun, is a daily ritual in the riverside cafés. On Walpurgis Night, 30 April, students fill the streets and the river banks, and the long light evenings of June bring picnics to the parks, while the winters are dark and cold.