1 Day Family-Friendly Travel Guide To Gävle

The following will be our Family-Friendly Travel Guide To Gävle, Sweden.

What is Gävle, Sweden like?

Gävle (pron. Jev-leh in English) is:

1 day Family-friendly travel guide to Gävle, Sweden — 1 day travel guide to Gävle

Sweden’s 13th largest city
a university town
obsessed with goats
Gevalia coffee is founded here
in love with whisky (Mackmyra Whisky is founded here)

There’s a lot more to the town than what is listed above but we’re not obsessed with history, as much as the architecture and the amount of fika (coffee breaks) we can take during the day!

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How to get to Gävle

By train or bus, it takes ~2.5 hours from Stockholm (the capital city). It’s about 1 hour from Uppsala by the same method. Driving your own car will certainly shorten the trip.

For families with young children, it’s an affordable option to travel on the public transit system. Student tickets are discounted and children under 7 are free!

We came by train – you can find the train schedule at SJ.se. Don’t worry – you can easily switch the language to English or another choice. Swedish websites are very supportive of other languages.

One family-friendly day in Gävle

With three young children (all under 4), we don’t move quickly on a good day. At the time of our arrival in Sweden, Eric was recovering from a fractured tibia following an indoor surfing accident and was on crutches, so we were not winning any races!

After kids, our priorities shifted from happy hours to coffee breaks & snack times. We aren’t mad about that change, especially in a ‘fika’ nation like Sweden. “Fika” is Sweden’s answer to a coffee break, and they do it way better. You take a break to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with some sort of sweet bread like a cinnamon bun or, Ingrid’s favorite, a cardamom bun (Sv: kardemummabulle).

Hotel recommendations in Gävle

We stayed at the Elite Grand Hotel Gävle during our trip. Read that review here!

This hotel is in the heart of downtown Gävle and a stone’s throw from the train station.

How to spend your family-friendly one day in Gävle

Family-Friendly Travel Guide To Gävle

There are loads of ways to spend your day and tailor the below travel guide to your needs. This is just what we did and we make it up as we go!

As a family, we don’t love going to lots of museums – we instead prefer to be outside with options to find playgrounds and spaces to run. We also love to be close to restaurants and cafes because someone is always hungry in a young family of 5.

Breakfast at a historic cafe like Centralbageriet, Gävle’s oldest cafe located across from the train station (Centralstationen)
Visit the “fun house” mirrors & pop into the shops along Stortorget
Grab a ‘french hot dog’ from a stall – this is a hot dog stuffed inside of a french baguette
Visit a museum like the Prison Museum or the Berggrenska Gården
Eat fancy chocolate from Gefle Chocolaterie
More fika time!
Pop into the market on Stortorget (or ICA or Coop grocery stores) for fresh seasonal fruit and snacks for the train ride home
Book a massage at the Elite Grand Hotel before dinner
Dinner at the Elite Grand Hotel or Terassen Pub och Kok

This was a full day for us. We were so tired but had a blast. The kids fell asleep on the train ride home, which was a big treat.

Winter is the best time to visit Gävle

Gävle Julbocken

As mentioned before, Gävle is obsessed with goats to the point that they erect a giant straw goat statue (Julbocken) every December during advent in December.

The goat is surrounded by security cameras and you can actually watch the goat live stream. The security cameras are a result of the undesired burning of the goat.

You can check out the Gävle goat’s “best hits” on its YouTube Channel: Gävle Goat, including its entire history.

Seasonality in Sweden

Being here during December is admittedly cold and dark. We came during October and enjoyed daylight hours and milder temperatures, as well as the lovely fall foliage.

Check out the Gävle Visitor Center

Gävle Turistcenter

Phone number: +46 (0) 26 – 177 117
E-mail: turist@gavle.se
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 11.00 – 15.00

We hope you enjoy our Family-Friendly Travel Guide To Gävle.

If you’re looking for a little more adventure in Sweden, read these blogs:

Thanks for following our journey. – Ingrid & the HildeFam

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