Did you apply to one of the Master´s Programs at SLU? Then you may expect these beauties during your stay in Uppsala.
Few days ago, snow had covered everything, and landscape immediately became magical and picturesque. Every place is now wonderful and the same I could say about Uppsala itself. I realised how beautiful Uppsala is when covered with snow and especially with that sunshine. Thus temperature of -6°C turns into bearable for walks. Despite the cold weather, you can enjoy sunshine.
Biking situation
You can still find many cyclists on the roads and biking conditions are great, however, I would expect that the cyclists path could be cleaner. As I remember, during Introduction Week they told us that some of the paths are even heated and general conditions for biking are great. Unfortunately, I am not the right person to judge biking conditions in Uppsala as my brakes on the bike do not work in this cold and bus tickets for Uppsala are included in my SL/UL ticket hence I decided to use bus and enjoy bike again during warmer months. In Stockholm, I still ride my bike and I can still enjoy it (however, sometimes it really sucks :D)
Bus ticket prices
A lot of people who were usually biking began to go with bus as the temperature decreased. Now you may be wondering about the price of tickets for bus in Uppsala. For one way (75 minutes) it costs 30 SEK for adults and there is no discount for students and one-month ticket for students is 560 SEK. I am sure that if I lived in Uppsala, I would try to bike as much as possible since the price is quite crazy (at least in comparison with what I was used to in my country). Hence, you may save a lot of money if you decide to use bike despite the snow. Anyway, your safety first and if you feel insecure on the bike and do not own a helmet, then it is clever to buy the bus ticket and avoid any accident.
Many Swedes told us that the right winter comes in January and February and they were probably right 😀 In December, it was quite warm with temperatures mostly above zero. January brought us cold and snow which has already lasted for a week and we will see how long it will stay and make the landscape beautiful.
Denisa