SWEDEN - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 526

Day Excursion to
Uppsala
University City
Depart from Stockholm Central Station
Distance by Train: 40 miles (66 km)
Average Train Time: 43 minutes
City Dialing Code: 18
Tourist Information Office: Kungsgatan 59, 75321 Uppsala, Sweden
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
www.uppland.nu
E-mail: [e-mail]
Hours: 1000-1800 Monday-Friday, 1000-1500 Saturday; July-mid-August:
Sunday 1000-1500
Notes: The tourist information office is a five-minute walk from the railway station.
Exit the station and walk diagonally through the small park in front to the main street,
Kungsgatan. Turn right, then turn left onto Vaksalagatan (the next crossing). When
you reach the square (Stora Torget) where all the city buses meet, follow the street
Drottninggatan and cross the small River Fyrisan. Turn right immediately after the
bridge; the tourist office is identified by the traditional “i” sign.
No other town in Sweden has such a long recorded history as Uppsala. This is
where Sweden began. As far back as the sixth century, it was the political and reli-
gious center of the expanding Swedish kingdom. According to the ancient legends,
pagans from all reaches of the kingdom came to Uppsala every ninth year to feast
and offer sacrifices until the 11th century, when Christianity began to take over. Le-
gend has it that one of the kings of the period, King Aun, got all wrapped up in the
nine-year cycle by sacrificing one of his sons each cycle. His tenth and last son put
an end to old dad—and to the cycle, too!
Modern Uppsala won't remind you of Oxford or Heidelberg—or Bryn Mawr, for
that matter. Uppsala is a university town with an academic environment distinctly
its own. The city and the area surrounding it enshrine a great deal of Swedish his-
tory encompassing religion (pagan and Christian alike), academe, and politics. This
composite results in a city of multifaceted interests, architecture, and customs.