Holiday apartment in Gävleborg: UNESCO heritage and nature

Gävleborg combines visitor experiences connected with wilderness, mountains, archipelagos, deep forests and the region’s cultural heritage. Between natural areas, historic sites and museums, a diverse picture emerges, stretching from the coast to heavily forested landscapes.

Culture and history

Gävle is home to Järnvägsmuseet, Sweden’s national museum of railway history and railway cultural heritage. The Swedish Railway Museum’s collection comprises more than 300 vehicles, more than 25,000 objects and almost 500,000 photographs. It also includes Prins August, which is considered the world’s oldest operational steam locomotive. Länsmuseet Gävleborg presents exhibitions about Gästrikland and Hälsingland from prehistory to the present day and offers various programme activities as well as digital guided tours.

A special cultural and historical connection to Hälsingland is created by the World Heritage Site Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012, making it Sweden’s 15th World Heritage Site. Seven Hälsingegårdar were selected as representatives of Hälsingland’s building tradition. These farmsteads are characterised by many well-preserved residential buildings whose rooms are richly decorated with wall paintings and wallpaper. The World Heritage Site includes four visitor centres. Each of the seven selected World Heritage farmsteads can be visited to varying extents, with the exception of Fågelsjö gammelgård.

Culture also takes on a distinctive form along the coast: the cultural landscapes on the Gävleborg coast include fishing villages, lighthouses and small chapels. Axmar Bruk was declared a cultural reserve in 2011. Högbo Bruk is a living historic ironworks site with origins in the 1630s; guided tours there convey the history, buildings and events of the ironworks site. In central Gävle, the Gävle Goat, a Swedish Christmas straw goat standing 13 metres high and measuring seven metres in length, is displayed from the first Sunday of Advent until after New Year.

Nature and landscapes

Hamra National Park preserves untouched forests, wetlands and naturally flowing waterways. Trails lead through primeval forests and moorland landscapes. Färnebofjärden National Park is suitable for nature observation, canoeing and recreational fishing, among other activities. All entrances to the national park are designed to be easily accessible; the surfaces in the entrance areas are paved. Naturum Färnebofjärden in Gysinge offers exhibitions and activities about the nearby natural landscape and national park, as well as maps and hiking tips.

Axmar Nature Reserve covers approximately 4,500 hectares and is the largest nature reserve in Gävleborg. On the Gävleborg coast, fishing villages, lighthouses and small chapels are part of the cultural landscapes.

Active experiences

Högbo Bruk has trails and tracks for hiking, paddling, cycling and skiing. Kayaks and SUP boards can be rented at Södra Skeppsbron in Gävle. Kungsberget offers downhill skiing on 25 slopes with 16 lifts.

In Ockelbo, Wij Trädgårdar is a modern garden park in a forest clearing. Wij Trädgårdar combines modern garden design with the surrounding forest and agriculturally shaped landscape and offers guided tours.

Getting around Gävleborg

For public transport in Gävleborg, the X-trafik app enables journey planning, ticket purchases and real-time bus tracking. On weekdays, X-trafik and SJ offer approximately hourly train services on the Gävle–Ljusdal and Gävle–Sundsvall routes. The time indication should be understood as an approximate interval.

Other places

Other places in Gävleborg include Ockelbo, Söderhamn, Hudiksvall, Ovanåker, Sandviken, Ljusdal, Trönödal, Bollnäs, Nordanstig, Hofors, Gävle, Strömbacka, Bergvik, Los, Åshammar and Furuvik.

To the higher-level travel overview: Sweden.