Selected Travel Guide:		More Stockholm Travel Guides:			Adjust Font Size:

Sightseeing Overview
Stockholm is an easy city for tourists to navigate, as its center is largely flat and strolling around is a pleasure. For journeys further afield, there is an excellent public transport system with trams, underground trains, buses and ferries servicing all areas of the city and the surrounding towns and villages.

The focus of Stockholm sightseeing is around the Gamla Stan (or Old Town), which boasts many historical buildings, tourist shops and cafes, as well as the impressive Royal Palace - the largest royal palace still in use in the world. North of the Old Town is the main part of the more modern city, whose districts are home to numerous attractions, such as the impressive City Hall, the Museum of National Antiquities and the Strindberg Museum.

Across the water, via ferry, is Djurgården - a playground with a funfair park, Stockholm Zoo and Sweden’s most visited museum, the Vasa Museum, which is home to a 17th-century galleon that has been impressively raised from the chill waters of Stockholm’s harbor.

Many museums are closed on Mondays. The city has recently gained a reputation for stylish shops, bars and restaurants, making it the Scandinavian capital of cool. Beyond the center of the city, some 24,000 islands and rocky islets in the Stockholm Archipelago wait to be explored.

Tourist Information
Stockholm Tourist Center
Sverigehuset (Sweden House), Hamngatan 27
Tel: (08) 5082 8508.
Website: www.stockholmtown.com  
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1900, Sat 1000-1700 and Sun 1000-1600. Closed 24-25 Dec and 1 Jan.

There is also a tourist office at Stockholm’s central station.

Passes
The Stockholm Card (Stockholmskortet) gives free public transport within Stockholm, free sightseeing by boat and free admission to 75 museums and attractions (including the Royal Palace, the Museum of National Antiquities and the National Museum) as well as free parking at municipal parking meters and other special offers and benefits. You can buy the pass at tourist centers, at the City Hall and at hotels, youth hostels and kiosks throughout the city. The Stockholm Card is available for 24, 48 or 72 hours.

Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) (tel: (08) 600 1000; website: www.sl.se) offers 24-hour, 72-hour and seven-day travelcards for Greater Stockholm. These cards are available from SL Centers at several metro stations, in the lower hall at the Central Station and in the ticket halls of T-centralen station at Sergels Torg.

Key Attractions:

Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum)
One of Sweden’s most popular museums, the Vasa Museum enshrines the warship Vasa, sunk inside Stockholm harbor while on her maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was built to the order of the great Vasa king, Gustavus Adolphus, and was the most powerful war galleon of her age. She was raised whole from the harbor bed in 1961, over 330 years after she had last seen the light of day. Carefully preserved, the ship now rests intact in the museum’s main hall. Displays recreate life on board the ship and a film shows how the salvage operation was carried out. The museum’s beautiful waterfront site on the island of Djurgården is an added attraction. There are guided tours in English on a daily basis, several times a day, more frequently during the summer months.

Galärvarvsvägen 14
Tel: (08) 5195 4800 or 4870 (booking office).
Website: www.vasamuseet.se  
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1800 (Jun-Aug); Thurs-Tues 1000-1700, Wed 1000-2000 (Sep-May).
Admission charge.

Stadshuset (City Hall)
Voted by the Swedes as the country’s finest building, Stockholm’s City Hall was begun in 1911, to an art nouveau design by Ragnar Östberg. Its interior has grand civic apartments, including the Golden Hall, with its glass and gold mosaics, while its tower gives a sweeping panorama of Stockholm. The building’s Blue Hall (which is actually red) is the venue for the annual Nobel Prize banquet. Visitors must join one of the scheduled tours to see the interior, although access to the tower is unrestricted during opening hours.

Hantverkargatan 1
Tel: (08) 5082 9058.
Website: www.stockholm.se/cityhall  
Opening hours: Daily 1000 and 1200 (plus 1400 Sep-Oct) for guided tours of the interior; daily 0900-1700 (Jun-Aug), 1000-1600 (Sep) for access to the tower.
Admission charge.

Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace)
Situated in the heart of Stockholm, on the central island of Riddarholmen, the Royal Palace is the official residence of the monarchs of Sweden and the chief venue for official state events. With 608 rooms, it is among the largest surviving palaces in Europe. The present glorious baroque edifice is the work of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, from a 1692 design, however, parts of the older medieval Castle of Three Crowns still survive. Attractions include the Banqueting Apartments, the Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry, the Hall of State, the Royal Treasury, Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities and the Royal Chapel. The changing of the guard at the palace is as much of a spectacle in Stockholm as it is in London.

Slottsbacken
Tel: (08) 402 6130.
Website: www.royalcourt.se  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1200-1500 (2-6 Jan, 1 Feb-14 May and 15 Sep-30 Dec); daily 1000-1600 (15-31 May and 1-14 Sep); daily 1000-1700 (1 Jun -31 Aug). Closed 8-31 Jan.
Admission charge.

Historiska Museet (Museum of National Antiquities)
Sweden’s national historical museum, which traces the nation’s history from prehistoric times to the present day, is now graced by a spectacular Gold Room, housing the gold of the Viking chiefs. These hoards, recovered from tombs or hiding places, show Scandinavian Viking culture at its most prosperous and magnificent. There is also one of the finest European collections of medieval painted wooden religious sculpture and church art on exhibition.

Narvavägen 13-17
Tel: (08) 5195 5600.
Website: www.historiska.se  
Opening hours: Tues-Wed and Fri-Sun 1100-1700, Thurs 1100-2000.
Admission charge (free admission for children and young people up to 18 years of age). 

Strindbergsmuseet (Strindberg Museum)
Stockholm’s most famous cultural figure has his temple here. The Blå Tornet (Blue Tower) was August Strindberg’s last home, from 1908 until his death in 1912. His apartment and library have been preserved in their original state. An exhibition showcases his last works, written on the premises. The museum, which also hosts temporary exhibitions and plays, is furnished in a strikingly sparse Nordic art nouveau style.

Drottninggatan 85
Tel: (08) 411 5354.
Website: www.strindbergsmuseet.se  
Opening hours: Tues 1200-1900, Wed-Sun 1200-1600 (Mar-Oct); Tues-Sun 1200-1600 (Nov-Feb).
Admission charge.

Skansen (Open-air Museum and Zoological Park)
This open-air museum and zoo on Djurgården was founded in 1891, to preserve Sweden’s rural culture and is the first such collection to be built. It was Stockholm’s most visited museum in 2006 and contains some 160 historic wooden farms and houses from across Sweden. The farms have their own animals (traditional breeds tended by ‘farmers’ in period costumes) and the zoo and aquarium hold both animals native to the region and more exotic species. The children’s circus, zoo and playgrounds make Skansen particularly attractive to families.

Djurgården
Tel: (08) 442 8000.
Website: www.skansen.se  
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1500, Sat-Sun 1000-1600 (Jan-Feb and Nov-Dec); daily 1000-1600 (Mar-Apr and Oct); daily 1000-2000 (1 May-mid Jun and Sep); daily 1000-2200 (mid Jun-Aug).
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Millesgården
Carl Milles (1875-1955) was Sweden’s best known sculptor of the 20th century. In 1906, he bought a house on the island of Lidingö, and set about developing a garden where he could showcase his work. Today Millesgården covers 18,000 sq m (194,000 sq ft) in a series of level terraces reminiscent of an Italian villa, with superb views over the water. The artist’s major works are represented here, and his own personal collection of art from Ancient Greece and Rome (unique in Sweden) is also on display. Admission to the museum also includes entry to the Carl Milles’ studio.

Carl Milles väg 2, Lidingö
Tel: (08) 446 7580.
Website: www.millesgarden.se  
Opening hours: Daily 1100-1700 (mid May-Sep); Tues-Sun 1200-1700 (Oct-mid May).
Admission charge.

Globen (Stockholm Globe)
A vast sporting and events arena, the Stockholm Globe is the world’s largest spherical building at 85m (279ft) high and 110m (361ft) wide. As well as hosting major sporting contests, it also houses restaurants, bars and a shopping complex. A source of rich controversy when it was first built in the 1980s, the Globe regained its notoriety in the early 1990s, following a spectacular bankruptcy.

Globentorget 2
Tel: (08) 5083 5300 or 077 131 0000 (tickets).
Website: www.globearenas.se  
Guided tours: At 1000 and 1400 on Tuesdays and Thursdays when there are no events going on at Globen.
Admission charge.

Stockholm Metro
Known as the ‘world’s longest art exhibition’, Stockholm’s metro is in fact famous for the quality of its subway art. From the mid 1950s, it was official policy to decorate the network with originally commissioned art. Kungsträdgården and Stockholm Central metro stations are particularly ornate.

Tel: (08) 600 1000.
Website: www.sl.se
Admission charge. 

Kungsträdgården
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.

Stockholm Central
Opening hours: Daily 0500-2400.

Related Stockholm Content

Related Sweden Content

Sweden Airport Guides: Gothenburg-Landvetter Stockholm Arlanda	Sweden City Guides: Gothenburg City Guide Stockholm City Guide
Sweden Attraction Guides:
Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms Slott) Museum of National Antiquities (Statens Historiska Museum)	Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet)