Things to do in Svealand
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Falu Kopparbergsgruva
Falun's copper mine, Falu Kopparbergsgruva was the world's most important by the 17th century and drove many of Sweden's international aspirations during that period. Today it's on Unesco's World Heritage List and makes for a fascinating day out.
Tradition says that a goat called Kåre first drew attention to the copper reserves, when he rolled in the earth and pranced back to the village with red horns. The first historical mention is in a document from 1288, when the Bishop of Västerås bought shares in the company. As a by-product, the mine produced the red paint that became a characteristic of Swedish houses and Falu Red is still well-used today. The mine finally closed…
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Carl Larsson-Gården
Whatever you do, don’t miss Carl Larsson-gården, home of artist Carl Larsson and his wife, Karin, in the picturesque village of Sundborn. After the couple’s deaths, their early-20th-century home was preserved in its entirety by their children, but it’s no gloomy memorial. Lilla Hyttnäs is a work of art, full of brightness, humour and love. Superb colour schemes and furniture fill the house: Carl’s portraits of his wife and children are everywhere, and Karin’s tapestries and embroidery reveal she was as skilled an artist as her husband. Even today, the modern styles throughout the house (especially the dining room) will inspire interior decorators, and the way the family l…
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Slottet
The magnificent Slottet now serves as the county governor’s headquarters. While the castle was originally constructed in the late 13th century, most of what you see today is from 300 years later. The outside is far more dramatic than the interior (where the castle’s conference business is all too evident). Parts of the interior are open for exhibits, but to really explore you’ll need to take a tour; there’s a historical one at 4.30pm (in Swedish or English, depending on numbers) or ‘Secrets of the Vasa Fortress’ at 2.30pm (in English), which is a slightly toe-curling piece of costumed clowning around. Book either one through the tourist office. The northwest tower holds a…
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Ofvandahls
Something of an Uppsala institution, this classy konditori (bakery-cafe) dates back to the 19th century and is a cut above your average coffee-and-bun shop. It’s endorsed by no less a personage than the king, and radiates old-world charm; somehow those faded red-striped awnings just get cuter every year.
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Zorngården
The Zorn family house, Zorngården, is an excellent example of a wealthy artist’s house and reflects Zorn’s National Romantic aspirations (check out the Viking-influenced hall and entryway). Access to the house is by guided tour (every 15 minutes in summer; phone ahead for English tours).
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Grave Mounds
The seat of Western culture, according to Olof Rudbeck’s 1679 book Atlantica, was Sweden: specifically, Gamla Uppsala. Rudbeck (1630–1702), a scientist, writer and all-around colourful character, amassed copious evidence proving that Gamla Uppsala was, in fact, the mythical lost city of Atlantis. In retrospect, this seems unlikely. But the spot, 4km north of the modern city, is a fascinating attraction nevertheless. One of Sweden’s largest and most important burial sites, Gamla Uppsala contains around 300 mounds from the 6th to 12th centuries. The earliest and most impressive are three huge grave mounds. Legend has it they contain the pre-Viking kings Aun, Egil and Adils…
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Uppsala Slott
Pink and ponderous, Uppsala Slott was built by Gustav Vasa in the 1550s. It contains the state hall where kings were enthroned, and where Queen Kristina abdicated. It was also the scene of a brutal murder in 1567, when crazy King Erik XIV and his guards killed Nils Sture and his two sons, Erik and Svante, after accusing them of high treason. The castle burned down in 1702, but was rebuilt and took on its present form in 1757. In the dungeon below the castle’s south tower is the Peace Museum, with displays on various world conflicts and atrocities, as well as Sweden’s long record of neutrality and the achievements of former UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld. At the cas…
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Museum Gustavianum
A wondercabinet of wondercabinets, the Museum Gustavianum rewards appreciation of the weird and well organised. The shelves in the pleasantly musty building hold case after case of obsolete tools and preserved oddities, like Joseph Cornell shadowboxes gone wrong: stuffed birds, astrolabes, alligator mummies, exotic stones and dried sea creatures. Holding wider appeal is the 17th-century Augsburg Art Cabinet and its thousand ingenious trinkets. Don’t miss Olof Rudbeck’s vertiginous anatomical theatre, where executed criminals were dissected.
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Carolina Rediviva
Rare-book fiends should go directly to Carolina Rediviva, the university library. In a small, dark display room, glass cases hold precious maps and manuscripts, including some illuminated Ethiopian texts and the first book ever printed in Sweden. Occupying its own glowing VIP nook is the surviving half of the Codex Argentus (AD 520), aka the Silver Bible, written in gold and silver ink on purple vellum; aside from being pretty, it’s also linguistically important as the most complete existing document written in the Gothic language.
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Mining Complex
The mining complex, to the west of town at the top end of Gruvgatan, contains various sights. Most dramatic is the Stora Stöten (Great Pit), a vast hole caused by a major mine collapse in the 17th century. By a miracle, the miners were on holiday that day and no one was harmed. There are lookouts around the crater edge, and numerous mine buildings including a 15m waterwheel and shaft-head machinery. Opening hours are complicated – check the website for details. Take bus 709.
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St Nikolai Kyrka
The 13th-century church St Nikolai Kyrka has some historical interest: it’s where Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (Napoleon’s marshal) was chosen to take the Swedish throne. Just opposite, on Drottninggatan, is Rådhuset (town hall); if you’re around at the right time, stop to hear the chimes (12.05pm & 6.05pm year-round, plus 9pm Jun-Sep), when sculptures representing the city’s past, present and future come wheeling out of a high arched window.
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Vasaloppsmuseet
Even if you have no interest in skiing, you may be pleasantly surprised by the excellent Vasaloppsmuseet, which really communicates the passion behind the world’s largest cross-country skiing event. There’s some fantastic crackly black-and-white film of the first race, a display about nine-times winner and hardy old boy Nils ‘Mora-Nisse’ Karlsson, and an exhibit of prizes. Outside the museum is the race finish line, a favourite place for holiday snaps.
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M/S Kung Carl Gustaf
Slow the pace with a boat cruise to the baroque castle of Skokloster. M/S Kung Carl Gustaf, a 19th-century ex-steamship, sails Tuesday to Sunday from mid-May to mid-August. Tours (adult/child Skr200/100) leave Islandsbron at 11am and return at 4.15pm, allowing about two hours at Skokloster. There are also evening river cruises at 7pm Tuesday to Saturday from mid-May to mid-September; the cruise plus buffet and entertainment costs Skr350 per person.
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Gamla Uppsala Church
According to reports from the medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen (who was never actually here), a vast golden temple graced Gamla Uppsala in the 10th century. Outside, dog, horse and human sacrifices were strung up in a sacred grove. Thor, Odin and the other Viking gods were displaced when Christianity arrived in 1090, and from 1164, the archbishop of Uppsala had his seat in a cathedral on the site of the present Church.
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Eko Caféet
This funky little place with retro and mismatched furniture serves some of the best coffee in town. It does Italian-style whole food, turns into a tapas bar on Wednesday to Saturday evenings, and frequently hosts live jazz and folk, as well as changing art exhibits and general studenty goings-on. Things quieten down somewhat in the summer, when it just opens for lunch Monday to Friday.
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Wadköping Museum Village
The Wadköping Museum Village contains craft workshops, a bakery and period buildings - including Kungsstugan (the King's Lodgings, a medieval house with 16th-century ceiling paintings) and Cajsa Warg's house (home of an 18th-century celebrity chef). You can wander round the village at any time, but the shops, café, exhibitions and museums are closed out of hours.
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Treasury
Gustav’s funerary sword, silver crown and shiny golden buttons are kept in the treasury in Domkyrka’s north tower, along with a great display of medieval textiles. Particularly fine are the clothes worn by the three noblemen who were murdered in the castle: they’re the only example of 16th-century Swedish high fashion still in existence.
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Upplandsmuseet
Upplandsmuseet, in an 18th-century watermill, houses county collections on folk art, music and the history of Uppsala from the Middle Ages onwards, as well as more modern displays. (A recent installation presented photographs from the life of author Astrid Lindgren.) Kids particularly will find the inventive dioramas and reconstructions engrossing.
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Rådhus Källaren
The town hall’s atmospheric 17th-century cellars are another good spot for upmarket dining – better yet is the garden upstairs, open for dining in summer. Dishes are a Swedish-world fusion, focusing on meaty mains. The bar next door is the place to be seen, and stays open until 2am on Friday and Saturday.
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Gamla Uppsala Museum
Gamla Uppsala Museum contains finds from the cremation mounds, a poignant mix of charred and melted beads, bones and buckles. More intact pieces come from various boat graves in and around the site. The museum is arranged as a timeline – useful for recreating the history of the area.
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Zornmuseet
Zornmuseet displays many of the best-loved portraits and characteristic nudes of the Mora painter Anders Zorn (1860–1920), one of Sweden’s most renowned artists. His naturalistic depictions of Swedish life and the countryside are on display, as well as the Zorn family silver collection.
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Kopparhattan Café & Restaurang
An excellent choice is this funky, arty cafe-restaurant, attached to Dalarnas Museum. Choose from sandwiches, soup or a good vegetarian buffet for lunch; and light veggie, fish and meat evening mains. There’s an outside terrace overlooking the river, and live music on Friday nights in summer.
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Katalin and All That Jazz
Katalin, in a former warehouse behind the train station, hosts regular live jazz and blues, with occasional rock and pop bands. There’s a good restaurant too, and in summer the sun-splashed back patio is jammed with great-looking people acting like they’re not checking each other out.
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Linnémuseet
No matter how many times the brochures refer to Linné’s ‘sexual system’ of classification, the excitement to be had at Linnémuseet is primarily intellectual; still, botanists and vegetarians will enjoy a visit to the pioneering scientist’s home and workshop.
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Banken Bar & Brasserie
Based in a former bank, classy Banken has a splendid interior and matching service. The menu includes a gott & enkelt (‘good and simple’) category – featuring the likes of burgers and pasta – plus more upmarket ‘world cuisine’ options.
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