9 Amazing Things To Do When You Visit Umeå In Winter

Umeå, Sweden is a winter wonderland. Imagine walking through streets lined with 1m snow walls, ice bathing in crisp frozen lakes and skiing through enchanting white forests. Imagine sitting inside cosy cafes drinking coffee and eating cinnamon buns while watching the snow fall out the window. Golden sunsets and bright night skies lit up by the colours of the aurora. There you have Umeå in the winter.

Last winter I took the night train from Gothenburg up to Umeå for a week of cross-country skiing. Exploring fairytale forests, skiing over snow covered lakes and across frozen beaches was literally a dream winter holiday. Umeå is the perfect place to visit in the winter if you are looking for true Swedish winter.

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How to get to Umeå

The overnight train run by SJ is the best way to get to Umeå from all over Sweden. The routes go from most major cities and are relatively low cost. This is true especially if you book far in advance and go for a bed in a shared cabin. The train from Gothenburg to Umeå takes about 11 hours, while the train from Stockholm takes 8.

Where to stay in Umeå in the winter

On a budget: U&Me Hotel

Middle budget: Elite Hotel Mimer

A higher budget luxury stay: Stora hotellet; BW Premier Collection

Find more hotels on booking.com

Things to do in Umeå in the winter

Cross country skiing

Umeå is the perfect place for a cross country skiing adventure in the winter. Here, the snow piles amount to over 1m for weeks on end, with fresh powdery snow falling almost every day. There are many different cross country skiing tracks (or ski spår in Swedish) to explore throughout the city of Umeå. These include Nydalasjön, the city’s central lake, and Gammliaskog, a beautiful forest. You can also take a trip to the outskirts of the city and explore places like Tavelsjön by ski. Cross country skiing is one of the best things to do in Umeå in the winter for beginners and more advanced skiers.

If you want to know more about cross country skiing in Umeå, you can see my full guide here!

see the guide

Visit Tavelsjö

Tavelsjön is a big lake about a 30 minute drive north of Umeå. This can also be reached via the bus from central Umeå and it takes around the same amount of time to get there. Tavelsjön is a beautiful nature reserve with a big lake perfect for cross country skiing, a cafe selling sourdough pizza, and an ice bath. I will take more about the isvak below. Tavelsjö Wärdhus also offer sleigh rides across the lake throughout the winter time.

If you are feeling a little more adventurous you can do some snow hiking up the 10 peaks of Tavelsjö. These hiking routes vary from 0.5 to 2.1km one way but have amazing views of the surrounding nature. In the peak of winter, they do recommend you wear special snow shoes as the snow here can be very deep and it can be dangerous if you are inexperienced in this sort of activity.

Fika in one of Umeå’s cosiest cafes

Kulturbageriet

Kulturbageriet is one of the cosiest cafes in Umeå to visit in the winter time. Attached to the library, this glass-roofed building brings in all the cosy feelings as you sit sipping coffee under the dark snowy sky. Here they sell great pastries for fika, and ecologically based lunch meals including soup and toasted sandwiches made with locally produced foods.

Nya Konditoriet

Nya Konditoriet is one of the oldest cafes in Umeå and a great place for a fika if you want traditional options and good coffee. Located on one of the main shopping streets of Umeå, this cafe is a great spot for people watching, or simply sitting and looking at the window down onto the picturesque snow covered streets.

Bokcafe Pilgatan

Bokcafe Pilgatan is just what it sounds like – a book cafe. Here you can come and read from the many books they have, or bring your own. They have a daily soup on offer and many pastries to choose from. Throughout the week they hold different events such as author talks, a tuesday jazz evening and a workshop for aspiring authors. This is a super interesting cafe to visit if you are interested in writing or culture and want to experience something a little different!

Root, Tavelsjö

Root was honestly the best place we ate during our trip to Umeå. We came here after our ice bath in Tavelsjö for sourdough pizza and hot chocolates and were so happy with our meal we almost returned the next day. The pizza here was very unique flavours which we loved. We ate a butternut pumpkin pizza, a chilli and peanut chicken pizza, artichoke heart and pine nuts and a more traditional tomato pizza.

The Ume Älvdal river valley walk

The Ume Älvdal river valley walk, in combination with Umeås Strandpomenaden is a popular walking route along both sides of the Älvdal river. The walk is around 4km long and passes across both Umeås oldest bridge (Gamla Bron) and the newer suspension bridge, Lundabron. This walk is one of the most beautiful places in Umeå in the Bölesholmarna islands where you can walk through frosted forest. This is a great place for a fika stop along the walk. From here you get a great view across the river towards Umeås’ city center.

Visit the Västerbotten Museum

The Västerbotten Museum is a great place to visit if you want to learn a bit more about Swedish culture and heritage on your visit to Umeå. Here you can wander around timber houses from the 1700s in the Gammlia open air museum or visit the more contemporary exhibitions that often feature local artists and social issues from the Västerbotten region.

Visit the Bildmuseet (Photo museum)

Not only is the Bildmuseet building one of the most iconic in Umeå, the museum is also one of the best places to visit. The museum is free to enter and holds many different exhibitions throughout the year including those related to architecture, photography and art.

Isvak

Taking an isvak, or an ice bath in English, is one thing you must do while you are visiting Umeå in the winter. There is no feeling as great as dipping yourself into a pool carved into 10 thick ice surrounded by candles. It might sound crazy but I am definitely a lover of ice bathing, even down in Gothenburg we swim all year round so this was a must for me! There are several Isvak’s available for swimming in both Nydalasjön and Tavelsjön. My personal favourite was at Tavelsjön as here there was a changing room and we were able to go into the cafe after (Root) and sit by the fire with a hot chocolate and eat fresh baked sourdough pizza. It was a once in a lifetime magical experience.

Wander around the city

Under the short days, with streets covered in snow, the inner city of Umeå is a really beautiful place to explore on a winter’s day. Make sure to look out for the unique older houses that line the streets outside the city centre.

Some places to look out for in Umeå are:

Väven
Umeå Stads Kyrka
Bildmuseet
Tegsbron
Cleaners sweeping snow off the roofs

Take a sauna in Umeå

One of the best things to do in winter in Sweden is have a sauna, so of course I had to include it in this post about Umeå. There are a few different places to have a sauna in the city, including most hotels, however my favourite was the sauna at Iksu spa. Here the sauna was around 70 degrees and it was a great place to relax in the evening after a day cross country skiing around Umeå.