Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Umeå (Sweden). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Västerbottens museum, City Hall, and Umeå stads kyrka. Also, be sure to include Sparken in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Umeå (Västerbotten).
Table of Contents
Västerbottens museum
Museum in Umeå, Sweden. Västerbottens museum in the Gammlia area of Umeå, Sweden is a county museum with responsibility for the cultural history of Västerbotten County. The museum consists of the Gammlia open-air museum, a ski exhibition, an exhibition of Fishing and Maritime, the popular movement archive of Västerbotten County and a number of Sami camps. The museum is working all over Västerbotten County with, amongst other things, numerous contract activities, mainly in the archaeological field. The museum produces the quarterly journal Västerbotten for the Västerbotten County district association.[1]
Address: Helena Elisabeths väg 3, 903 42 Umeå
City Hall
Also known as: Umeå rådhus
Umeå Town Hall was built after the fire in 1888 that burnt the city to the ground. It was erected on the site where the previous town hall had been located and was completed in 1890. The architect was Fredrik Olaus Lindström from Stockholm. In the new urban area development plan Lindström gave the town hall a prominent location next to the river bank, with the main facade facing south over the harbour on the Ume River.[2]
Address: Umeå, Rådhustorget
Umeå stads kyrka
Church building in Umeå, Sweden. Umeå City Church is a church building located in central Umeå, Sweden between Vänortsparken and the north bank of Ume River. It was inaugurated on 2 December 1894, which was First Advent Sunday that year.[3]
Address: Västra Kyrkogatan 3, Umeå
Sparken
Sparken is a skate park adjacent to the Hamnmagasinet and Ume River in downtown Umeå, Sweden. The park was finished in 2009 and was then the first part of a major infrastructural project in Umeå reshaping large parts of the city center, calledthe "City between the bridges". The park won the Swedish Association of Architects Upper Norrland's Architecture Prize in 2012. The park is around 20 meters wide and 120 meters long. The park's name, which translates to The kicker in English, came from a contest.[4]
Address: Västra Stradgatan, Umeå
Umedalen skulpturpark
Also known as: Umedalens skulpturpark
Park in Umeå, Sweden. Umedalen skulpturpark is an art exhibition and a sculpture garden in Umeå in Sweden.[5]
Address: 34 Aktrisgraend, 903 64 Umea
Vänortsparken
City park in Umeå, Sweden. Vänortsparken, is a park in central Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.[6]
Kyrkbron
Bridge. Kyrkbron is a bridge in Umeå that takes Östra Kyrkogatan over Ume River to Teg on the south side. The construction of Kyrkbron started in 1973 and it was opened on 26 September 1975 becoming Umeå's third bridge over the Ume river. A discussion about whether or not the bridge should be located next to the church lasted from the early 1960s and continued into the 1970s. During the construction an unknown burial ground was encountered, leading to archaeological excavations.
The bridge consists of two parallel girders in concrete with vertical straight supports. It is actually two separate bridges, each with their lane with on and exit ramps that extend out over the river on the north side. The purpose of building Kyrkbron was to relieve Tegsbron from some of the traffic and Kyrkbron was designed with the expectation that there would be a drastic increase in car traffic in the city center, which proved to be highly optimistic.[7]
Norra skenet
Sculpture by Ernst Nordin. Norra skenet is a sculpture by the artist Ernst Nordin at the Umeå University campus in Umeå in Sweden.[8]
Döbelns Park
Also known as: Döbelns park
Döbelns park is in central Umeå in northern Sweden. It is the oldest park in Umeå, created in 1865. It is named after the General Georg Carl von Döbeln, and his monument was placed in the park in 1867. This park should not be confused with "Döbelns plan" which is a smaller communal area elsewhere further west in the city.[9]
Address: Döbelnsgatan 47, Umeå
Guitars
Museum in Umeå, Sweden. Guitars – the Museum is a museum located in downtown Umeå, Sweden. The museum is located in a brick building that previously hosted the school Vasaskolan. The building dates from 1904. It shares the venue with a rock club, a restaurant, a music store and a record shop. The museum opened in late January 2014, in connection with the inauguration of the European Capital of Culture in Umeå.
The museum is run as a joint venture led by the people behind the music store, 4Sound, and the rock club, Scharinska, (which has retained the name even after the move from Scharinska villan to Vasaskolan), whom also are behind the investments in the guitar museum. Umeå municipality has supported the museum enterprise both through renovation and adaptation of the premises, and with an annual co-funding of 2.4 million Swedish crowns during 2014 and 2015.[10]
Address: Vasagatan 20, 80521 Umea
Kolbäcksbron
Cable-stayed bridge. The Kolbäck Bridge is a bridge crossing the Ume River in the eastern parts of the city of Umeå in northern Sweden. The bridge connects the island Ön in the river to the mainland on both sides. It crosses Lillån on the west side of the island and Storån on the east side.
The total length is 522 meters. It carries 3 lanes of European route E4, though it was originally designed for 2. The bridge was constructed between 1998 and 2001.[11]
Nydalasjön
Lake in Sweden. Nydalasjön, previously known as Tavlesjön, is a lake in Umeå, Sweden. Located a few kilometers outside the central city, Nydalasjön is adjacent to the residential areas Mariehem, Nydalahöjd and Tomtebo.[12]
Tegsbron
Beam bridge in Umeå, Sweden. Tegsbron is a bridge in Umeå that took the major European routes E4 and E12 over the Ume River until 2012.
The construction of Tegsbron started in 1945 and it was opened on 10 October 1949 becoming Umeå's second bridge over the Ume river.
Later it was decided to build a new bridge named Kyrkbron. This bridge was designed to relieve the traffic on the Tegsbron bridge. Kyrkbron was designed because it was predicted there would be a drastic increase in car traffic in Umea, however this proved to be very optimistic.
This bridge took the major European routes E4 and E12 over the Ume River until 2012. The E4 is the road that links north and south Sweden, whilst the E12 links Norway to Finland.[13]
Scharinska villan
Building in Umeå. Scharinska villan is a pink building at the street Storgatan 63-65, located next to Döbelns park in Umeå, Sweden. Scharinska villan was designed by the architect Ragnar Östberg and it was erected in 1904-1905 for Egil Unander-Scharin and his family. In the 1950s the building also housed the family business AB Scharins Söner.[14]
Address: Umeå, Storgatan 63-65
Gamla bron
Bridge in Umeå, Sweden. Gamla bron is Umeås oldest remaining bridge over Ume älv and is 301 metres long.[15]
Aschanska Villa
Also known as: Aschanska villan
Restaurant. Aschanska Villa is a listed building in Umeå in northern Sweden. The villa was designed by the architect Ragnar Östberg and it was completed in 1906 for Colonel Wilhelm Aschan who led the Norrlands dragonregemente. Today the building is a restaurant.[16]
Umestan
Umestan is a business park in Umeå, Sweden.[17]
Gamla bankhuset
Gamla bankhuset in Umeå, Sweden is a listed yellow two-storey stone building in Neo-Renaissance style that was built in 1877. The building is located at Storgatan 34, by the north stronghold of the bridge Tegsbron. Because of the building's rounded corners it has been nicknamed Smörasken.[18]
Address: Umeå, Storgatan 34
Umeå universitet
University in Umeå, Sweden. Umeå University is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders.
As of 2015, Umeå University has over 36,000 registered students (approximately 16,000 full-time students), including those at the postgraduate and doctoral level. It has more than 4,000 employees, half of which are teachers/researchers, including 310 professors.
Internationally, the university is known for research relating to the genome of the poplar tree and the Norway Spruce, and its highly ranked Institute of (industrial) Design.[19]
Address: Umeå universitet, Umeå
Ön
Island in the Ume River. Ön, formerly called Öhn, is an island and district in the Ume River in Umeå, Sweden. About 280 people lived on the island in 2005.[20]