The city offers a large number of restaurants that feature both local and international specialities, a wide assortment of nightspots and northern Sweden's best shopping. Umeå is one of Sweden's best conference cities.

The airport is only a 10-minute drive from the centre of the city so no time is wasted getting into town. Top meetings of the EU or a dentist congress present no problem for the conference city Umeå.

Hotels
The downtown hotels have a bed capacity of around 2 000. In addition, there are roughly 1 000 beds at youth hostels, smaller hotels and in cabins. There are several smaller hotels outside Umeå and the capacity increases in the summer with more youth hostels and group housing. Plans have been made for several new hotels. The number of hotel beds in the four northernmost counties together with Vasa numbers 25 000. A similar number for holiday villages and youth hostels is about 30 000. Several camp grounds can also be found in the Umeå region. In Umeå there are 18 hotels that have a total of 1 500 rooms and plenty of assembly rooms.

How to get here
Umeå is a youthful city with a rich selection of cultural activities and places of entertainment, as well as a beautiful countryside. Two European highways cross at Umeå and the bus station is the busiest in northern Sweden. Flying is no problem and you can choose from one of the three airline companies that operate in Umeå and our airport is only ten minutes from the centre of the city. The railway is another alternative form of travel and you can arrive in Umeå from the north and the south. The ferry trip from Vasa in Finland to Umeå takes only four hours.

What's special about Umeå?
Umeå is situated on the edge of Europe geographically, but on the cutting edge when it comes to developing creativity and innovative thinking. Umeå punches well above its weight. The city often leads the way, because it has etched a culture of curiosity into its expressions and the way it behaves.

During several decades Umeå has given the role of culture high priority in its city planning. We have long believed that culture contributes to a creative and growth-promoting social climate.

Umeå´s strength lies in that we are curious and highly motivated to do new things. At the same time we know that we cannot sit back and depend on old traditions. We know that we must work with others, something we do most willingly. This also applies to our politicians. In Umeå one finds a cultural climate that is freer than many other places. Many of our cultural activities are of high quality and status. But we cannot take this for granted. We must constantly take on new challenges and dare to walk on thin ice. Often this is successful since we are many who are willing to face a risk.

The rivers are good symbols for the flow, a future and a heritage. They connect contrasts — the mountains and the sea. The inland lies in between which in many ways also feels inspirational. In Umeå the inland meets with the rest of Europe.

Welcome to Umeå – Curiosity and Passion!

Short film about Umeå: