The most beautiful garden cafés in the city

Something that makes many of us long for the summer are outside cafés. Sitting next to a sun-drenched wall with a cup in one hand and a pastry in the other is most people’s ideal of a true pre-summer dream. Being able to do so in a gorgeous green setting enhances the image all the more. Here we provide a list of garden cafés within and outside Uppsala in which to embrace the summer.

Check opening hours before visiting

Several of the garden cafes are seasonal, with some opening a little earlier in the spring, others during the summer months. Some of the cafes are open all year-round. Check the each cafe’s website for current opening hours!

Café Victoria (Botanical Garden)

Villavägen 8 (at the Tropical Greenhouse)

Café Victoria can be called something of a show-off in the world of garden cafés. It is a neighbour of central Uppsala’s perhaps most famous garden, the Botanical Garden, and its exotic cousin from the country, the tropical greenhouse. Locally produced, organic and fair-trade, but above all, very tasty and well-prepared food, savoury as well as sweet, features on the menu. Enjoy an exquisite summer lunch with your colleagues, or a light weekend snack al-fresco.

Salsta Slottskafé & Bistro

Lena Salsta 63, Vattholma

If you want to immerse yourself in history over your next coffee, then make Salsta Castle your next visit. An avenue of trees, a castle courtyard and a magnificent castle, dating back to the thirteenth century, are a mere half-hour’s drive from Uppsala. Salsta Slottskafé & Bistro is reputed to bake the tastiest cinnamon rolls in the world and they also offer their home-made chocolates, which are best enjoyed when the castle gardens are in full bloom.

Tantens Gröna Parkcafé in the yellow villa (Stadsträdgården)

Sjukhusvägen 4 (in the City Garden)

Uppsala City Garden is Uppsala’s main park and a veritable summer oasis in the heart of the city. If you’re feeling peckish, you only need to trot along to Tantens Gröna Parkcafé to continue enjoying the flower displays. This garden café serves a wide range of vegetarian dishes and cakes for all those with a sweet tooth and a passion for ice cream. The café is housed in the charming yellow villa in the middle of the park – the perfect place to relax after a day on the playground, an intensive game of kubb, or a jog along the Fyrisån.

Café Sara Lisa in Linnaeus Hammarby

Danmarks-Hammarby, Uppsala

The king of flowers, Carl von Linné, has left his mark on several sites in and around Uppsala. One of these is Linnaeus Hammarby, where he lived and worked during the summer months. These buildings are now a museum, which is worth visiting solely for the sake of the Café Sara Lisa. The café serves sandwiches, cakes and a wide assortment of teas in a gorgeous eighteenth-century garden, where we find numerous plants grown by Linné himself.

Alla Katters Café in the English Park

Engelska Parken, Uppsala

One garden café that children may want to keep coming back to throughout the spring and summer is the café located next to the Peter No-Tail playground. The café comprises a carriage, strategically located next to the fun playground. Enjoy coffee, juice, waffles and other sweet treats here. The café is open daily between mid-summer and school term start.

Café Ulva kvarn

Ulva Kvarn, Uppsala

You’ll find Ulva Kvarn a real treasure, and you can get there by car, bus or bike. It houses a beautiful garden café, where the sound of coffee brewing blends with the mill in the Fyrisån’s rapids. You can enjoy home-baked cakes, generously filled sandwiches and various kinds of drinks here, after visiting the traders and workshops on site.

CaféKulturHaus Ekensberg (Hågadalen)

Stabbymalmsvägen 60, Uppsala

If you are out hiking or cycling in Hågadalen, you should not miss the unique CaféKulturHaus Ekensberg (a seasonal café that usually opens its doors during the second half of the summer). In the middle of the nature reserve is the Austrian farm café where you can enjoy Austrian specialties. Here you can eat Apfelstrudel, delicious sourdough sandwiches and homemade ice cream. There is also a farm shop where you can buy both Uppland food crafts and Austrian classics.