Uppsala is pretty diverse, and its trendiest neighbourhoods reflect this, with the international student population helping to create diversity, along with visiting professors and researchers, and immigrants and refugees. It’s a city that is constantly changing, and as such the neighbourhoods are also in constant flux. Here are the districts that generally remain popular and happening.
Just a few minutes’ walk from all that the centre of Uppsala has to offer, Fålhagen used to be farmland, but by the first half of the 20th century it was home to multi-family housing units and single family homes, and it remains a popular place to live to this day, with some incredible architecture, including the Vaksalaskolan. Because of its proximity to Uppsala centre, you’re never far from shops, nightlife or the legendary Swedish fika.
In popular Luthagen, you live with one foot in town and one foot in nature. A number of lush parks are right on your doorstep, while the pleasures of the city are also available. It’s one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods in Uppsala, and the amenities available reflect this, with great shopping, excellent restaurants and plenty of bars and cafés.
Just two kilometres (one mile) from Uppsala centre, you’ll find Kåbo, also known as ‘the professors’ city’, so called because it is home to many of Uppsala University’s staff. Close by is a vast forest with great exercise trails. What makes this neighbourhood so popular and trendy is the incredible housing stock, much of which is beautifully appointed and incredibly expensive – but there is affordable housing right alongside the more upscale homes. This gives a diverse mix of people and creates an excellent vibe.
With its mix of newer and older buildings, Kapellgärdet is just a stone’s throw from the centre of Uppsala, and it’s where a lot of students from the university live. The area is pretty built up, but with the park, Kapellgärdsparken, at the centre of the area you will have some respite from the hustle and bustle. And as it’s a student area, there are plenty of parties.
Once a relatively poor area dominated by workers’ homes, today Svartbäcken is considered one of Uppsala’s most upscale areas, with the old working houses revitalised into expensive and desirable homes. A number of well-known Swedes live in the area, including former political spokesperson Birgitta Dahl and jazz pianist Bengt Hallberg, and this entire area is urban charm personified, with everything you need, from bars and restaurants to great shopping and excellent parks, right at your doorstep.
Best known for the ‘Flogsta scream’, in which students from the university poke their heads out of their windows at 10pm each night and let out a primal scream of frustration, there isn’t much else to say when it comes to Flogsta. It’s loaded with students, and that means it’s pretty fun and pretty basic, which is all you really need when you’re a student.
Gottsunda has been inhabited in one form or another since the early 1300s, but it has recently gained a slightly unsavoury reputation as a no-go zone, which is odd, considering that the area includes some of the most expensive housing in Uppsala. It is diverse, no doubt, and there are problems, but essentially it’s a cool neighbourhood with a great vibe, and it’s home to a stunningly beautiful modern church that has to be seen to be believed.
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