Umeå in the summer
Umeå is a small walkable town with the river and nature around the corner. While south of the arctic circle, at this time of year the nights never get dark (for example, this set of pictures was taken just after midnight) In addition to nature, Umeå also has lots of culture and a really nice restaurant scene.
Travel
Travel by air is the most likely option for international visitors, with a change of plane in Stockholm. For those of you who have visited before, you no longer need to change terminals between international and domestic at Arlanda airport.
The local airport is UME and is close to the city centre. Options for travel to the hotels and venue is bus (ca 10 minutes), taxi (ca 250 SEK and 10 minutes), or walking (ca 40 minutes).
Train is possible, but slow. The fastest trains take almost 7 hours from Stockholm.
Those of you who are closer probably do not need a travel guide to get here.
Venue
Umeå University is 2.5 km from the city center where hotels and most restaurants are located. There are frequent buses from the main bus location Vasaplan and the university, but walking takes 25-30 minutes and is also a nice option in good weather.
Weather
We hope for clear weather with bright summer nights. Likely temperature is in the 15-25 ⁰C range, with possibility for cooler nights. Colder rainy weather could happen. As could a heatwave, but a heatwave by local terms is up to 30 ⁰C warm, which southern visitors often find not so horrible.
Midsummer
The weekend before the conference is the midsummer holiday in Sweden, and might be a neat experience for travelers from far away, see Tourist information:
Tourist information
Restaurants
Some personal recommendations in the from the LOC, just paste the name into your local map search:
Upscale good food:
- Tonka
- Gotthards Krog
- Harlequin
- Köksbaren
- Rex Rådhuset
Cheaper but still tasty:
- Gandhi (indian)
- Rost (vegetarian friendly)
- Lottas Krog (pub food)
- Sjöbris (food on a boat)
Fast food:
- Max (burgers)
- SEN Street Kitchen (south&east asian)
Pastries and bread:
- Nya Konditoriet
- Kulturbageriet (breakfast option for those of you without a good hotel breakfast)
Coffee nerdery:
- Costas of Sweden (micro roastery that also serves coffee)
Slightly further afield:
- Ruccola (neapolitan pizza)
- Gröna Älgen (pub food)
- Bistro Le Garage (nice food)
There's plenty more too, not all of which the LOC has personal experience with, and almost all good places are in the city centre.
Hotels
Some hotels that I've heard positive feedback on from visitors:
- Clarion Hotel Umeå
- U&Me Hotel
- Comfort Hotel Winn
- Elite Hotel Mimer
- Stora Hotellet i Umeå
- Scandic Plaza Umeå
- Clarion Collection Hotel Uman
- Scandic Umeå Syd
- Hotell Gamla Fängelset
All but the last two are in the city center. Scandic Syd is just across the river (1km extra walk), and usually priced accordingly. Hotell Gamla Fängelset is the old prison rebuilt into a hotel experience. Pricing overall should hopefully be reasonable, Umeå is a busier meeting place during work months than summer vacation destination.
