Gammelstad Church Town
Gammelstad Church Town
4.5
About
Gammelstad Church Town is the largest and best preserved church town with over 400 cottages. Only 16 of Sweden's 71 original church towns are remaining today, but the majority of these have been reduced to a remnant. The church town presumably arose from a combination of several factors: the long distances, merchants' needs for storage and accommodation at the marketplace, the church stables and last but not least the population's duty to attend church regularly. Gammelstad Church Town was put on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 7 December, 1996. Visit Gammelstad Visitor Center for more information, or to book a guided tour. Visitor Center offers information, a free exhibition, souvenir shop, audioguides and guided tours of Gammelstad Church Town.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
441 reviews
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mgromit
Deventer, The Netherlands140 contributions
Feb 2024 • Family
For when you like history… A city around the church… to understand where you are, first visit the information center. Then you walk the route and end at the open-air museum. Don't forget to visit the church, it alone is worth the visit! We enjoyed it and the snow made it magical.

Written February 20, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
emmanuel NC
Switzerland711 contributions
Jul 2022 • Friends
a site worth visiting. The preliminary visit to the museum located on the floor of the tourist office gives essential information to better understand the discovery of the site. The church is the central point, the starting point of the circuit which continues with the open-air museum and the café, a traditional house which notably offers excellent pastries for gourmets.
Written July 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barry B
Andover, UK107 contributions
Jun 2023
Outside of Lulea (~10Km) this place is really worth a visit because of the fascinating history of its' use by the youth of the surrounding districts particularly in 20C. Gives a great insight to Swedish thinking and behaviours, but don't worry it is almost nothing about religion. Make sure you go the visitors centre and go round the museum with interactive exhibits
Written June 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Anne
Luleå, Sweden15 contributions
Nov 2019
Definitely one of my favorite spots in the city, there is no one that visited me and was not there. Just for the walking tour (in the turist center) I went 3 times. In winter I recommend you to check if there is something open (cafe, tourist center) otherwise it can be very cold.
Written January 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter P
51 contributions
Jan 2020
On New years day we visited the fully deserted town of Gammelstad and were much impressed by the impression of how church life was organized in the early days and how this town was a predecessor of the regional town of Lulea. Although the Tourist office and attracktions were closed on this Sunday we were lucky to join a life piano concert in the town church. Must see when visiting the Lulea region.
Written January 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RuggeroRaimondiFan
Hannover51 contributions
Jan 2021
Wonderful old town consisting of tiny houses the farmers only used to attend church. In the deep snow you marvel how they even managed to attend once every fortnight or month. Ver well kept, nice shops, not very touristy, though
Written February 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter G
Sydney, Australia2,177 contributions
Dec 2020 • Couples
We caught the number 10 bus from Luleå which drops you right at the church or take it a bit further to a large cemetery with many old graves and wooden crosses. Fascinating.
It was a weekend before Christmas and despite recent snow falls everything was well graded and easy to get around.
The church itself didn’t open until noon.
The visitor centre was open and despite us being the only people there we didn’t get a “welcome” or “can I help” etc. but the toilets were clean.
We walked back to Gammalstad and Storheden.
It was a weekend before Christmas and despite recent snow falls everything was well graded and easy to get around.
The church itself didn’t open until noon.
The visitor centre was open and despite us being the only people there we didn’t get a “welcome” or “can I help” etc. but the toilets were clean.
We walked back to Gammalstad and Storheden.
Written December 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Phil
Thessaloniki, Greece2,745 contributions
May 2022 • Friends
Just a short 15 minuts busride from town center (29SEK). Followed buy a 20 minuts walk.No entry fee to the town. Beautiful, traditional and Well preserved houses.
Written June 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Martin N
Helsingborg, Sweden2 contributions
Jul 2014 • Couples
An interesting site to see, absolutely. But I doubt that you will spend hours strawling around this block, filled with little red cabins. A tip is to find a local guide or someone with historical knowledge to tell you more about Gammelstad, otherwise you might leave here without knowing what you really saw.
Written August 17, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael M
New York City, NY182 contributions
Jul 2012 • Friends
My friends had a their wedding at the church in Gammelstad. I was unfamiliar with the Swedish tradition of "church towns". The Church and surrounding village are definitely worth the trip if your in the area. It deserves it's UNESCO status.
Written March 30, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mary LaValley
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Hello fizzy,
My husband and I are thinking of visiting Gammelstadt outside of Lulea. Do you know if there are guided tours available or just headsets? Also, is this UNESCO world heritage site closed on Sundays? Thanks for any info!
Mary (fussgussysmom)
Written May 11, 2019
You can pick up a guided tour at the visitors center but they only have certain dates and times. Goggle Gammelstadt tours and on the official site you can get info and book a tour. Sorry wouldn’t allow me to include the link here. Have fun.
Written May 11, 2019
Bus #9 towards Kyrkbyn, stops at Smedjegatan/City and Shopping in the centre.
Written September 15, 2017
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