Uppsala; Saturday, 10 October, 2020

The hotel only had limited slots for breakfast, which had to be pre-booked at the weekend, so I was forced to have a lie-in and a 10am breakfast.

After breakfast I headed out of the hotel and over towards the Cathedral again, this time to visit the cathedrals treasury which is located halfway up one of the two cathedral towers. This small museum houses some of the cathedrals historical items, including those from it’s Catholic past.

From the cathedral I once again headed up the hill to the castle, this time to actually go inside and visit the city’s art museum which is located in the South Wing of the castle. I had a quick look round the gallery, though I was more interested in the views from the castle over the city than the artwork inside the gallery. I then headed down into the basement to the café for a quick lunch.

The castle was built for the Royal Family at a time when Uppsala was the most important city in the county and, as one would expect for a royal palace, came with extensive gardens. Today these have been turned into the botanical gardens, and it was here that I headed next. Several sections and buildings are sadly closed at present due to Covid-19 restrictions, but I was able to visit the Tropical House, albeit after a bit of a wait outside as it was at it’s maximum occupancy when I arrived.

The tropical house is a number of connected greenhouses with various environments including a lilypond, rainforest and arid rooms. Alongside taking in the plants I also managed to miss a hefty shower that passed through whilst I was looking around inside.

From the botanical gardens I wandered back through the university campus towards the city centre, diverting via the grounds of the old observatory. Back in the city centre I headed over to the Upplandsmuseet. The city museum is housed in a former mill on the river, with a large weir and mill races built around it. The museum charts the history of both the city and the surrounding countryside from around 5000 years ago to the present day, and I spent quite a bit of time looking round. So long in fact that it was almost closing time by the time I made it back down to the entrance.

I had a bit more of a wander through the city centre before heading back to the hotel to freshen up and then grab dinner.

After dinner I headed back out into the city to take some views at night, including trudging back up the hill to the castle in a light drizzle. I was going to spend a bit longer wandering around, but the light drizzle soon upgraded itself to light rain and looked like it was about to get heavier – so I headed back to the hotel to dry off and then turn in for the night