Discover a new wonderful place with us. Let’s visit an unusual Swedish town – Umea. Never heard of it before? Let’s explore it together. Umea is a town in northern Sweden and it is located on the Ume River. It is the capital of Vasterbotten County. The city’s nickname is the “Town of Silver Birches”.
Umeå is well known as a university town and centre of education, technical and medical research in Sweden, with two universities and over 39,000 students. The city was elected as the European Capital of Culture of 2014. Umea is one of the fastest-growing towns in Sweden and popular because of it’s university first of all. Umeå is Sweden’s fifth largest university city. Umeå University was established in 1965. Its establishment led to a population expansion from about 50,000 inhabitants to today’s 75,645. The expansion continues, with about 1000 new inhabitants every year, and has made Umeå a modern, somewhat intellectual city. University faculties include Humanities, Medical, Teacher Education, Science and technology, Social Sciences, Fine Arts, Restaurant and Culinary Arts, Institute of Design, Business and Economics, Environment, Physical Education and Sports and Technology.
The other university in Umea is Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Students can study here Forestry, Agriculture, Landscape planning and Garden science, plus the School of Environmental Studies.
Umea is a bright, lively and at the same time cosy and attractive town. A lot of students and locals make it active, but an old history and points of interest make it enigmatic and popular among tourists. This place is interesting at any time. There are a lot of cultural events here even in winter. A 10-minute walk from the centre of town, is the county museum. It is currently undergoing extensive renovation and expansion but it’s still worth visiting for its permanent and contemporary cultural exhibitions, artworks, photo archive, Sami cultural heritage collection and exhibitions and others. Free admission.
Also for free is the much awarded Umedalen Sculpture Park. Normally you’d find works of this quality in world-class museums and art exhibitions, not among the pines of Umeå. This is a permanent exhibition of Swedish and important international artists’ work.
A must-see in Umeå is the brand new Bildmuseet by the Ume River, at the Umeå Arts Campus. The seven floors of this award winning building are a visual and audio feast of contemporary art, photography, architecture and design.
Umeå has a lot of students and bikes are common. The city offers a wide variety of bike-friendly roads and bike-only bridges. It is often both easier and faster to get around by bike rather than by car or bus. Bikes can be rented at Cykel & Mopedhandlaren (Kungsgatan 101) or Umeå Camping. If you plan on staying longer, buying a used bike is a good investment. Cycling is a great way of exploring and discovering a city, especially one as compact as Umeå.
Every tourist visit shops in a new place. In Umea most shops are located downtown (along Kungsgatan and Storgatan), in a fairly small area. Each neighborhood will have a small shopping center, with one or two supermarkets and a few kiosks and fast food outlets. Two large shopping centers and hypermarkets are located at the outskirts – one, Strömpilen, at the end of Sofiehem and the other one in Ersboda.
Do you like this place and want to stay here for sometime? Note that it is quite hard to find a job in Umea, even for locals. The biggest employers are the University, the Hospital and Volvo (which has a factory in the outskirts). Knowledge of Swedish as well as a work permit (not needed EU/EES/Swiss citizens) are essential in order to get a job at either.
Students (especially foreign/exchange students) will find it even harder to get a job, but have a chance at the pubs, student papers and at the Student Union. Additionally, a French or Spanish native speaker might just get a temporary job as a teaching assistant.
I like this cosy and inviting Sweden town and want to see it alive. And you? Let’s go together!