The most common question I’ve been asked in past couple of weeks is: Tell me some places to visit in Stockholm. Now the normal touristy destinations are quite different than the way one can explore a city while living for a longer time. There is a possibility of exploring those far, secluded unspoiled places where no tourist would go and only locals would know about. Fortunately, I’ve been exploring Stockholm for past one year with my photography group comprising mostly of natives, so we have gone to a lot of places that I wouldn’t have been able to discover by myself. So here are some recommendations for places to go in Stockholm and around, and don’t bother about searching them individually on the map, at the end of this blog there is a Google Map with everything marked on it, just bookmark it and start exploring.
This map has over 60 recommendations for places to see in and around Stockholm and 5 of my favorite walking trails, I guess it would take at least six months for a person with busy weekdays to explore it all, and yeah, all places are totally different in their winter and summer versions, so make sure to see them in both phases.
Museums
I’ll confess, In past one year, I’ve not been to a single museum in Stockholm, though I went to a lot of them in the countries I visited in the rest of Europe, now that most of the museums have free entry from this year, I plan on visiting them Check out this list of free museums in Stockholm.
Though Vasa Museum is not free, that is I guess the best museum in Stockholm, so don’t miss it, I’ll be visiting there this month as well.
I usually prefer walking around the city over visiting museums.
My Favourite walking trails
Slussen – Monteliusvägen – Söder Mälarstrand – Hornstull
The real fun of this trail is after sunset, I’ve been on this walk more than ten times, and all of them have been post-midnight, this is also the best place to watch New Year fireworks in Stockholm. Walking along the ship-hotels and clubs on the Söder Mälarstrand is a unique experience in itself.
KTH – Humlegården – Karlaplan – Djurgården – Kungsträgården
This is one of those routes that can be started right from Tekniska Hogskolan and then you can trace your steps through the scenic Humlegården, which houses the very elegant Kungliga biblioteket, and then the route from Karlaplan Tunnelbana to Djurgården via Narvavågen is really pleasant. Djurgården is a tourist’s as well as a nature lover’s paradise, It’s a great place to have a picnic as well. I’ve been there when Djurgårdsbrunnsviken (the lake next to Djurgården) was completely frozen, and I had to come back from halfway because of a snow storm, there’s also an option to catch a bus from Judiska Teatern if you don’t want to walk all the way back, or just go to the top of Kakanäs TV tower which houses a restaurant with one of the best top views.
Kungsträgården – Skeppsholmen – Kastellholmen
I’ve been on this walk just once all the way, but I’ve gone till the famous AF Chapman quite a lot of times, another highly recommended walk in the central part of town.
Read Satu’s blog about Skeppsholmen here.
Kungsträgården – Gamlastan – Riddarholmen
I went along this path quite often in December, this is where you’ll find the colossal Christmas Tree. Riddarholmen is a perfect place to watch the city hall from yet another perfect angle. And Gamlastan is the first place you’d recommend to any person visiting the city.
Gröndal – Vinterviksbadet – Winterviken – Liljeholmen
This is probably the most secret and unexplored portion of Stockholm, A very pleasant walk along water, lot of scenic things to see, enjoy a cup of Hot Chocolate at Winterviken cafe before taking a long walk along the Trekanten lake to Liljeholmen Tunnelbana.
Fridhemsplan -Rålambshovsparken – City Hall – T-Centralen
The laziest yet most scenic walk, I went there around 3-4 times, out of which once I went at midnight, that was quite a freezing day, another time I went there when there was a yacht race going on.
I had posted a blog about my Night-outs earlier this year: Midnight Wanderers: Night outs in Stockholm
Some awesome top Views
I had posted a blog about this as well: Watching Stockholm from the Top
Monteliusvägen
Katrinahissen
Skyview
Kaknäs TV Tower
Fåfängan
Places around Water
The beauty of Stockholm is all the water in lakes and sea surrounding the 14 islands that make Stockholm, here are some recommendations apart from the ones covered already in the walks above.
Nybrokajen
Hornstulls strand
One of the best beaches in the city, where you can actually find sand and swim as well, there is a market here every Sunday.
Kottlasjön
Söder Mälarstrand
Hagaparken/Brunnsviken
More Recommendations:
- Trekantsparken
- Judarn
- Norr Mälarstrand
- Strandvägen
- Strömbron
- Nakca Strand
Getting out of Stockholm with SL
Heading North
Sigtuna: Read a detailed blog about Sigtuna: Sigtuna: Exploring the Swedish Roots
Skokloster Castle: If you head further north you reach here, Skokloster was the residence of one of Gustav II Adolf’s generals when Sweden was a superpower, and the castle interior from the mid 17th century has been kept completely intact. Steninge Palace and Rosersberg Palace is also situated close to Sigtuna.
Norrtälje: Another day trip, buses go directly from the bus stop next to KTH.
Heading South
Huddinge – My friend Satu recommended these places, take a look at his pictures to decide for yourself. Gömmaren and Tullinge
Tyresta National Park: Perfect place for a picnic, don’t miss this.
Ösmo and Nynäshmamn: These are the southmost places you can reach with your SL card, Nynäshmamn is the place from where you catch ferries if you go to Gotland.
Heading East
Artipelag: Artipelag is an international venue for art, culture, design and good food, beautifully set among pine trees on Värmdö in the Stockholm archipelago
Vaxholm: The history of the fortress and coastal defense is shown in models, exhibits, and recreated milieus. Café. A must visit place.
Drottningholm Palace & Lovön:
Färingsö and Adelsö: Probably the farthest places one can visit by SL card. Take a day out for each, very calm and beautiful places.
Want to go farther?
Try taking a trip to:
- Uppsala
- Gävle
- Gotland
- Kalmar
- Jönköping
- Vasteras
THE MAP
Flight, Camera, Action 