Must-see attractions in Sweden

  • Outer courtyard at Stockholm's Royal Palace

    Kungliga Slottet

    Gamla Stan

    A massive structure with more than 600 rooms on 11 levels, Kungliga Slottet (the Royal Palace) dominates the north end of Gamla Stan. The official…

  • Fotografiska in Stockholm.

    Fotografiska

    Södermalm

    Since opening its doors in 2010, Fotografiska has become one of the world’s leading photography museums and one of Stockholm’s most popular attractions…

  • Traditional house in Skansen open-air museum.

    Skansen

    Djurgården & Skeppsholmen

    Often called 'Sweden in miniature', Skansen is an unmissable Stockholm highlight. Expect to spend a full day wandering this hilltop open-air museum, with…

  • City Hall building in Stockholm, Sweden.

    Stadshuset

    Kungsholmen

    The imposing Stadshuset (City Hall) defines the Stockholm skyline, with its blocky silhouette and waterside perch. It looks stern and weighty from afar,…

  • Exterior detail of Vasamuseet.

    Vasamuseet

    Djurgården & Skeppsholmen

    A good-humoured glorification of some dodgy calculations, Vasamuseet is the custom-built home of the massive warship Vasa; 69m long and 48.8m tall, it was…

  • Kalmar, Sweden May 10, 2020 A woman sits on a wall on the grounds of the Kalmar Castle.; Shutterstock ID 1728247585; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
1728247585

    Kalmar Slott

    Småland

    Fairy-tale turrets, a drawbridge, a foul dungeon and secret passages…Kalmar Slott has everything that a proper castle should. This dominant Renaissance…

  • Visby, Building Exterior, No People, Stone Material, Gotland, Christianity, Religion, Blue, Old, Famous Place, Architecture, Travel Destinations, Outdoors, Sweden, Lush Foliage, Sky, Cathedral, Church, Tower, Built Structure
Exterior of the cathedral dating from the Middle Ages in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.

    Visby Sankta Maria Domkyrka

    Visby

    Visby's church ruins contrast with the stoic and utterly awe-inspiring Sankta Maria kyrka. Built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and heavily…

  • Lunds domkyrka

    Lund

    Lund’s twin-towered Romanesque cathedral is magnificent. Try to pop in at noon or 3pm (1pm and 3pm on Sunday) when the marvellous astronomical clock…

  • Solliden Palace

    Southeastern Sweden

    Sweden’s most famous ‘summer house’, Solliden Palace, 2.5km south of Borgholm town centre, is still used by the Swedish royals. Its exceptional gardens…

  • Greta Garbo's gravestone at Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm.

    Skogskyrkogården

    Stockholm

    One of Stockholm’s most unexpected attractions, Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery) is an arrestingly beautiful graveyard set in the soothing pine…

  • Royal Mounds - large barrows located in Gamla Uppsala village, Uppland, Sweden (70 km from Stockholm).  Beautiful Viking graves covered by grass. Gamla Uppsala is area rich in archaeological remains.; Shutterstock ID 1138429115; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Gamla Uppsala

    Uppsala

    One of Sweden’s largest and most important burial sites, Gamla Uppsala (4km north of Uppsala) contains 300 mounds from the 6th to 12th centuries. The…

  • Famous swedish pit Falu Gruva, once a major source for copper.

    Falu Gruva

    Dalarna

    Falun’s kopparbergs gruva was the world’s most important copper mine by the 17th century. Called 'Sweden's treasure chest', it drove the small country's…

  • Tiveden National Park in Sweden.

    Tiveden National Park

    Örebro

    Carved by glaciers, this trolls’ home and former highwayrobber’s haunt 84km southwest of Örebro makes for wonderful wild walking. The park, reopened in…

  • Drottningholm Palace and garden.

    Drottningholm Slott

    Around Stockholm

    Home to the royal family for part of the year, Drottningholm's Renaissance-inspired main palace was designed by architectural great Nicodemus Tessin the…

  • The Queen Christinas shaft building at Sala silver mine in Sala, Sweden.

    Sala Silvergruva

    Central Sweden

    Even if you’re reluctant to take the plunge, there's plenty to see and do above ground at this vast mine complex 2km south of the town centre. Underground…

  • Lackö Slott in Sweden

    Läckö Slott

    Southwestern Sweden

    An extraordinary example of 17th-century Swedish baroque architecture, Läckö Slott lies 23km north of Lidköping. There's been a castle here since 1298;…

  • The home of Swedish artists Carl and Karin Larsson in Sundborn, Sweden.

    Carl Larsson-gården

    Dalarna

    Don’t miss Sweden's 'most famous home', located 13km northeast of Falun in the picturesque village of Sundborn. After their deaths, the early-20th-century…

  • Part of "Four Elements" sculpture, Moderne Museet.

    Moderna Museet

    Djurgården & Skeppsholmen

    Moderna Museet is Stockholm’s modern-art maverick, its permanent collection ranging from paintings and sculptures to photography, video art and…

  • Recreated Viking Age settlement at Foteviken Museum.

    Fotevikens Museum

    Skåne

    If you mourn the passing of big hairy men in longboats, find solace at the fascinating Foteviken Viking Reserve, an evocative ‘living’ reconstruction…

  • Sami woman rider on a horse in the nature, Sweden.; Shutterstock ID 112839769; Your name (First / Last): Josh/Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online-Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: 65050/​Online Design​/JoshVogel/IYLs

    Ájtte Museum

    Lappland

    This illuminating museum is Sweden’s most thorough introduction to Sami culture. Follow the ‘spokes’ radiating from the central chamber, each dealing with…

  • Ales Stenar, southern Sweden.

    Ales Stenar

    Skåne

    One of Skåne's most intriguing and remote attractions, this place has all the mystery of England's Stonehenge without the commercialism. It's Sweden's…

  • Sweden, Island of Gotland, Visby. Detail from Viking carved rune stones in the Historical Museum of Gotland

    Gotlands Museum

    Visby

    Gotlands Museum is one of the mightiest regional museums in Sweden. While highlights include amazing 8th-century, pre-Viking picture stones, human…

  • Gammelstad old church town in Sweden.

    Gammelstad

    Luleå

    The Unesco World Heritage–listed Gammelstad, Sweden's largest church town, was the medieval centre of northern Sweden. The 1492-built stone Nederluleå…

  • Engelsberg Ironworks. This site is the best-preserved and most complete example of this type of Swedish ironworks.

    Engelsbergs Bruk

    Central Sweden

    Looking more like a collection of gingerbread houses than an industrial relic, Engelsberg Bruk, a Unesco World Heritage Site in the tiny village of…

  • Two of the stone ships located at Anundshog in Sweden.

    Anundshög

    Central Sweden

    Västerås is surrounded by pre-Christian sites. The most interesting and extensive is Anundshög, the biggest tumulus (burial ground) in Sweden, 9km…

  • Interior of the IKEA Museum located in Almhult, Smaland in Sweden.

    IKEA Museum

    Southeastern Sweden

    Occupying the site of the world's first IKEA store in Älmhult, some 145km northeast of Malmö, is the world's first IKEA Museum, new in 2016, which should…

  • Marina at Västra Hamnen with Turning Torso in the background.

    Västra Hamnen

    Malmö

    Located about 2.5km northwest of the Old Town, buzzing, bayside Västra Hamnen represents the modern face of Malmö. It's a popular spot to stroll, sip…

  • Krapperup Castle and public garden.

    Krapperups Slott

    Skåne

    While you'd never guess from its name, Krapperups Slott is one of Sweden’s oldest and loveliest estates located 5km south of Mölle. The manor has an…

  • Stora Sundby Castle.

    Stora Sundby Slott

    Central Sweden

    Occupying tranquil lands on the shores of Lake Hjälmaren, this outstanding castle was built in the 16th century in the Renaissance style and later…

  • Gustavianum is a former university building from the XVII century, now a university museum in Uppsala, Sweden.

    Museum Gustavianum

    Uppsala

    A wonder cabinet of wonder cabinets, the Museum Gustavianum rewards appreciation of the weird and well organised. The shelves in the pleasantly musty…

  • The Bergman center, dedicated to the work of Ingmar Bergman, in Faro, Sweden.

    Bergmancenter

    Gotland

    The Bergmancenter, honouring Sweden's most famous film director, the late Ingmar Bergman, a Fårö local, was inaugurated in 2014 and hosts exhibits,…

  • Viking fortress Trelleborgen.

    Trelleborgen

    Skåne

    Trelleborgen is a 9th-century Viking ring fortress, discovered in 1988 off Bryggaregatan (just west of the town centre). A quarter of the palisaded fort…

  • Guillemots on the island of Stora Karlsö in Sweden.

    Stora Karlsö

    Gotland

    This remote island nature reserve is home to extensive bird life including thousands of guillemots and razorbills, as well as the maculinea arion (large…

  • Exterior of Factory Museum Husqvarna.

    Husqvarna Fabriksmuseum

    Småland

    Square-jawed men going hunting while their wives snuggle up to sewing machines: the Husqvarna Fabriksmuseum conjures up a vivid 1950s world and while that…

  • Wooden houses of the church town Bonnstan.

    Bonnstan

    The Bothnian Coast

    During the Protestant reformation in Sweden in the 16th century, church attendance was demanded of all parishioners, and later in 1861, a regulation…

  • Making a glass shell with a pearl out of just blown liquid and glowing hot colored glass in Kosta glassworks in Sweden.

    Kosta Glassworks

    Småland

    The site of one of Sweden's original glassworks, established in 1742, the Kosta Boda complex continues to reel in coachloads of visitors. It’s touristy,…

  • Vadstena castle in Sweden.

    Vadstena Slott

    Småland

    Overlooking the lake, and considered one of the finest early Renaissance buildings in the Nordic region, construction commenced on Vadstena Slott, the…

  • Welcome sign at Kiviks Musteri in Sweden.

    Kiviks Musteri

    Skåne

    This is a large-scale commercial operation encompassing a small museum, a vast shop selling everything from apple mustard to apple cake, an apple orchard…

  • Entrance at Millesgarden with statues of the sculptor Carl Milles.

    Millesgården

    Stockholm

    Beautiful Millesgården was the home and studio of sculptor Carl Milles, whose delicate water sprites and other whimsical sculptures dot the city landscape…

  • Old fisherman boats in the Halsinglands museum.

    Hälsinglands Museum

    The Bothnian Coast

    The Hälsinglands Museum covers local history, culture and art, including a recreated cottage interior with traditional painted furniture and costumes from…

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