Updated August 2023.

Log Islet

Its name stems from the old Swedish word “Stokker” meaning log/pole and “Holm” meaning islet (little island) as logs and poles were first used to mark important places in the water or logs were used to keep out ships and levy taxes for trade reasons.
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Stockholm grew in prominence after trading with the German city of Lübeck and was freed from Danish rule by Gustav I Vasa in 1523. The city expanded outward from Gamla Stan (Old Town) and now encompasses 14 islands

Overview

Note that this day plan is catered for traveling during the summer months (June through August), when hours for places are longer.
Path is ~ 5 miles of walking + 2 ferries
  • 8:00 - 9:00 AM: Breakfast
  • 9:00 - 11:00 AM: Stadshuset City Hall - municipal building
    • 9:30 - 9:55 AM: City Hall Tower - vantage point
    • 10:00 - 11:00 AM: City Hall Tour
  • 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM: Royal Palace - official Swedish family residence
    • 12:15 - 12:55 PM: Changing of the Guard 
  • 1:00 - 2:00 PM: Riksdagshuset - Swedish Parliament building
  • 2:00 - 3:45 PM: Gamla Stan - old town
    • ​2:00 - 2:20 PM: Stockholm Cathedral - oldest cathedral in Stockholm
    • 2:30 - 2:50 PM: Riddarholmen Church - former burial site of Swedish monarchs
    • 2:50 - 3:15 PM: Stroll down notable streets
    • 3:15 - 3:45: Stortorget - main Gamla Stan square 
  • 4:15 - 6:00 PM: Vasa Museume - warship museum
  • 6:00 - 8:00 PM: Dinner
  • 9:00 - 11:00 PM: Fotografiska - photography museum
​Click the star to add the map to your Google Maps!​ To view it, simply open Google Maps, navigate to the Menu, choose “Your Places,” click "Maps", and voila, the map should be added.

Tips

Getting To/From Airport
From the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, there are two options:
  • Vy Flygbussarna: Airport coaches that are the cheaper option. It takes about 45 minutes; however, one might be caught in rush hour and it could take longer.
  • Arlanda Express: A train departs every 15-20 minutes between the airport and the city center and only takes about 20 minutes to arrive. It is on the pricier end, roughly $60 USD to travel round-trip.
Getting Around the City
​SL refers to the trams, buses, and T-bana (tunnelbana) metro. One can buy a single ride ticket (SEK 39) which is valid for 75 minutes (no tapping out needed), a 24-hour pass (SEK 162), or a 72-hour pass (SEK 330). One can easily download the SL app to buy the tickets.
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The subway system is beautiful with murals, sculptures, ceramics, and mosaics

1-Day Plan

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Fabrique Rolls

​8:00 - 8:45 AM: Breakfast
Grab a quick bite to eat at one of the following cafés, which have multiple locations around the city:

  • Vete-Katten: Pastry shop with beautiful cakes and pastries.
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  • Fabrique: Known for their bullar (rolls). They have three different flavors of cinnamon, walnut, and cardamom rolls.
9:00 - 11:00 AM: Stadshuset (City Hall)
​Arrive early and head straight for the ticket office to buy tickets. ​

One should check times from the website for either the City Hall Tour or the City Hall Tower (open May through September). One will need to buy tickets at the counter and one can’t be booked in advance.
9:15 - 9:55: City Hall Tower
  • Climb 350-feet tall with 365 steps, the climb is quite strange as one goes through a statue museum and down multiple corridors.
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  • ​At the top, one has a beautiful view of Stockholm. An elevator only goes part of the way to the top. 
10:00 - 11:00: City Hall Tour
  • Take an hour-long tour of the local municipal building where the Noble Peace Prize banquet is held (Blue Room), 38 marriage ceremonies on weekends that last from 2 to 5 minutes (Oval Room) and a gilded hall (Golden Hall)

  • Built form 1911-1923, the interior and exterior use a mix of different art styles to create the illusion of an older building. It originally took inspiration from the medieval Royal Palace, which burnt down over 300 years ago.

  • The architect, Oskar Asker, frequently changed his mind about the building's design. He didn't want to paint over the bricks of the "Blue Room" and didn't want to cover the scaffolding in the Council Chamber, leaving mismatching pieces throughout.
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  • The tour ends in the Golden Hall, a Byzantine-Egyptian style hallway made of 11 kg of leaf-gold mosaics painstakingly put together.​
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM: Royal Palace
  • Official residence of the Swedish royal family, although their private residence is Drottningholm Palace, which is also open to the public.
    Designed in the Italian Baroque style in the 18th century, the Royal Palace consists of over 600 rooms, 5 museums, the Royal Armory, and the Royal Chapel. It can take more than hour to go through the State Apartments, but at a certain point, the rooms all blend together.
  • Royal Armory contains weapons but also items belonging to Swedish royalty such as battle uniforms, clothes, toys, and coaches.
  • Royal Chapel (Slottskyrkan): Known for the Rococo embellishments inside of a baroque cathedral.
  • Recommend buying tickets in advance online
         12:15 - 12:55 PM: Changing of the Guard
This changes based on day and season and lasts for 40 minutes. One should arrive 20 minutes in advance for a view in the Outer Courtyard. One can also stand on the streets and watch, especially where the crowds are gathered.

If one only has a day, I'd recommend skipping this and can spend more time in the palace
1:00 - 2:00 PM: Riksdagshuset (Swedish Parliament House)
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RIksdag
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​Located on half of the island, Helgeandsholmen, the Parliament building offer tours daily. Only the first 28 people queued up are able to enter on the guided tours, but they are free and cannot be reserved online beforehand.

The tour shows the main Parliament chamber, a committee room, the second chamber, and many of the 4,000 art pieces within the building.

Times to enter the building change all the time. Usually English tours are on weekends at 12:00 PM and 1:30 PM, but there are additional times in summer, so one should check their website for most up-to-date hours.
2:00 - 3:45 PM: Gamla Stan
Gamla Stan, the island was once the entire city of Stockholm, is filled with beautiful façade buildings in multiple vibrant colors. Now, it has become a pedestrian only area since the narrow streets don’t allow for cars. Some of the best streets to visit are the following:
         2:00 - 2:20 PM: Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral)
Oldest church in the area dated built back in 1279 in the Brick Gothic style. Formally known as the Church of St. Nicholas, it’s known for its clock tower with a teal top. Royal weddings, funerals, and coronations occur at this site. One should seek out the famous St. George and the Dragon statue and the Sun Dog Painting, the oldest known picture of Stockholm.​
         2:30 - 2:50 PM: Riddarholmen Church (Riddarholmskyrkan)

​​One of the oldest buildings in the area, it served the burial place for Swedish Monarchs and known for its cast-iron spire. Besides the tombs, one will see coats of arms of the Knights of Seraphim Order.
         2:50 - 3:15 PM: Strolling Around Notable Streets
  • Walk down the main street of Västerlanggåtan, lined with shops and eateries and souvenirs
  • Head down Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, alley that’s the narrowest street in Stockholm, leading to
  • Prästgatan, a quieter street parallel to Västerlanggåtan

​         3:15 - 3:45 PM: Stortorget
  • Oldest square in the city and where the Stockholm Bloodbath took place in the early 16th century, where almost 100 luminaries were beheaded and hung. The white stones on the red building (Number 20) represent the number of people killed in the bloodbath.

  • Enjoy a fika break, relaxing at a cafe in the area and drinking some coffee and eating a cinnamon/cardamom roll.

  • One can also find delicious restaurants serving iconic Swedish meatballs.
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Stortorget

​Take the ferry from Gamla Stan or the T-Centralen to get to Djurgården, where the museums are located. This trip takes about 30 minutes.
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Vasa Museum (Source: Vasa Museum Website)


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4:15 - 6:00 PM: Vasa Museum
 Museum dedicated to a warship built in the 17th century. The Vasa was one of the largest and most powerful warships at the time. Like the Titanic, it sank during its maiden voyage of 1628 and was rediscovered and salvaged in 1956. Unfortunately, lines can be very long, so one should buy tickets beforehand or head to another museum nearby, which there are plenty!

From Vasa, one can take the ferry to Danviken to walk towards Fotografiska or take the metro back towards Gamla Stan (stopping at ​Kungsträdgården)

​6:00 - 8:00 PM: Dinner


​9:00 - 11:00 PM: Fotografiska
​Art center featuring contemporary photographs from world-renowned photographers with changing exhibits. There are mixed reviews for this place as one’s visit truly depends on the exhibits.
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Fotografiska (Source: Fotografiska Main Website)

Other Attractions

Norralm
  • Kungsträdgården: City-center park known for art galleries, concerts, and events. In April/May, the cherry blossom trees bloom for beautiful pathways and views.
  • St. Jacob’s Kyrka: A Lutheran church known for its beautiful red paint. It’s open from 11 AM – 7 PM on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Interestingly, the name Jacob in Swedish can be interchanged with James, so the church refers to St. James.
  • Royal Swedish Opera: Beautiful building for operas and ballet performances.
  • Gustav Adolphus of Sweden: Statue of the great king of Sweden who is credited for helping Sweden become a European power.
  • Stockholm Public Library: A redbrick library in the Nordic Classicist style by Gunnar Asplund, one of Sweden’s most influential architects. It contains over 2 million volumes, but its claim to fame is the circular Instagrammable book room.
  • Observatorielunden: Park known for the observatory and scenic views of the surroundings. This is a great place to enjoy live music in the summer. The observatory is only open for special events that can be booked online.
Djurgården
  • ​ABBA Museum: Dedicated to the musical group, ABBA, one can learn the history of the group, try on costumes, and sing on stage.
  • Nordiska Museet: Cultural museum about Swedish fashion trends and home decor. One of the coolest rooms Is the Time Vault dedicated to the history of children, but there are hundreds of outfits to see.
  • Spritmuseum (Museum of Spirits): It’s not actually a museum of ghostly spirits, but alcohol and its history in Sweden.
  • Vrack (Museum of Wrecks): A small museum showcasing how maritime/underwater archaeologists work with a few wrecks on display.
  • Skansen: Open-air museum about Swedish history with glass blowing demos, a zoo, and historic buildings. There’s even an aquarium here.
  • Gröna Lund: Sweden’s oldest amusement park built in the 1880s. It’s small but fun located on this island that reminded me of Tivoli Gardens with 8 roller coasters and 31 attractions. In the summer, many concerts are hosted here.
Viewpoints
​Skyview: A newer attraction, one can take a glass gondola ride on the outside of the Avicii Arena, the world’s second largest spherical building for shows, concerts, and ice hockey games. There are two gondolas that leave every 10 minutes for a 15-minute ride with beautiful 360-degree views.

Museums

Outside of the museums located on Djurgården, here are some other famous museums
  • Nobel Prize Museum: Housed in the former Stock Exchange Building, the museum is dedicated to Nobel Prize and Nobel Laureates, along with information about Alfred Nobel, a Swedish man who founded the Nobel Prize. One can also try ice cream at Bistro Nobel.
  • Moderna Museet: Modern Art museum in a former navy drill hall. It has Swedish and Nordic art, French-oriented modernism, and 1950-60 American art.
  • Nationalmuseum: National gallery of Sweden that was first founded as “The Royal Museum”. It has the world’s largest collection of portrait miniatures (over 5,200).

Restaurants

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Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberry

  • ​Lillebrors Bageri: Bakery that only offers takeout but the pastries are fresh and delicious!
  • Chokladkoppen: Café with outdoor seating known for their hot chocolate.
  • Bar Agrikultur: Serves seasonal Swedish produce with many small plates.
  • Portal: Higher-end restaurant known for their quail and lamb dishes.

Don't forget to try Swedish meatballs with lindonberries.

Other Resources

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