Stockholm

Sweden · 8 sights · guided virtual tour

Welcome to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden and the largest urban area in the Nordic countries. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea, and beyond it to the east lies the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. People have lived here since the Stone Age, and Stockholm was founded as a city in 1252 by the statesman Birger Jarl. Every year it hosts the Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet, and its metro stations are so richly decorated that the system has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Let us set sail.

Sights

1. Vasa Museum ▶ Listen

   

   On the island of Djurgården stands the Vasa Museum, the most visited museum in Scandinavia. Inside rests the warship Vasa, armed with 64 guns, which sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. She is the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship ever salvaged. Before the museum opened in 1990, the ship spent more than twenty years in a temporary shelter, where she was treated with a preservative called polyethylene glycol and visitors could only view her from two levels. For the permanent building, 384 architects entered the design competition.

2. Gamla stan ▶ Listen

   

   Wander into Gamla Stan, the Old Town of Stockholm, which until 1980 was officially called the Town between the Bridges. It lies mainly on the island of Stadsholmen, together with a few small neighbouring islets, and around 3,000 people still live here. Many of Sweden's most renowned architects have shaped these streets, among them Nicodemus Tessin and Carl Hårleman, who worked on the Royal Palace. Among the old town's notable buildings are the Parliament House, the Stock Exchange Building and the House of Nobility, which hosted the parliament for many years.

3. Stockholm Palace ▶ Listen

   

   Here is Stockholm Palace, the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch. A royal residence has stood on this spot since the middle of the 13th century, when Tre Kronor Castle was built, but that castle burned down on 7 May 1697. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger designed the new palace, though the costly Great Northern War halted construction for years. It was finally ready in 1754, when King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika moved in. The palace has 1,430 rooms, and down in the cellar vaults of the old castle you can visit the Tre Kronor Museum.

4. Stockholm City Hall ▶ Listen

   

   At the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, overlooking the water, stands Stockholm City Hall, seat of the city government. In 1907 the city council decided to build it, and after two design competitions the architect Ragnar Östberg won the commission. He constantly reworked his plans during construction, adding the lantern on top of the tower. And here is a curious detail: the famous Blue Hall was meant to be lined with blue glazed tiles, but Östberg abandoned that idea during construction. This is also where the Nobel Prize banquet is held.

5. Skansen ▶ Listen

   

   Climb the hill on Djurgården to Skansen, the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius, who feared that Sweden's traditional customs and ways of life would be lost as the country rapidly industrialised. His aim was to show how people lived in different parts of Sweden before the industrial era. Skansen became the model for open-air museums across Scandinavia and beyond, and its name has even become a general term for such museums, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

6. Drottningholm Palace ▶ Listen

   

   On the island of Lovön, outside the city, lies Drottningholm Palace. Building began in 1662, and during much of the 18th century it served as the regular summer residence of the Swedish royal court. Today it is the home of the Swedish royal family. The palace is part of the Royal Domain of Drottningholm, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991, together with the Drottningholm Palace Theatre, the Chinese Pavilion and the palace gardens.

7. ABBA The Museum ▶ Listen

   

   Get ready to sing along at ABBA The Museum on Djurgården, an interactive exhibition about the Swedish pop group that opened in May 2013. It is the permanent home of the travelling ABBAWORLD exhibition, which toured Europe and Australia, and it displays stage costumes donated by the band members themselves. The idea was inspired by the Beatles museum in Liverpool. An earlier plan for an ABBA exhibition in the old customs building fell through in 2009, and that building became the photography museum Fotografiska instead. Here, interactive stations let you perform the band's songs yourself.

8. Fotografiska ▶ Listen

   

   End your tour at Fotografiska, whose name is simply Swedish for photographic. It was founded in Stockholm in 2010 by the brothers Jan and Per Broman, in the former customs building by the harbour that was once planned for an ABBA exhibition. Fotografiska presents photography and art through changing exhibitions by both established and emerging photographers. From its Stockholm beginnings it has grown into an international network of museums, with locations in cities such as Tallinn, Berlin and Shanghai.

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