Sweden Guide
The Bothnian coast
Gävle
It's only a on-hour thirty-minute train ride north from Stockholm to GÄVLE (pronounced "Yev-luh"), capital of the district of Gästrikland and the southernmost city in Norrland, the region that makes up two-thirds of Sweden and covers more or less everything north of Uppsala. Gävle is an old city – its town charter was granted in 1446 – although this is hardly obvious from the brutally modern centre, with its large squares, broad avenues and monumental buildings. Almost completely rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1869, the spacious layout of present-day Gävle reflects its industrial success in the late nineteenth century, when it was the export centre for locally produced iron and timber.