Umeå punches above its weight culturally for a northern Swedish city of 130,000. The waterfront along the Ume River has been redeveloped extensively since 2014, when the city served as European Capital of Culture, and several world-class museums sit within walking distance of each other. The silver birches that line the wide streets are worth noticing — they were planted deliberately after the 1888 fire, so the city has lived with them as its visual identity for over a century.