With royal palaces, vintage villages and Viking traces, the greater Stockholm county is certainly worth a venture or three. Conveniently, SL travel passes allow unlimited travel on all buses and local trains in the area. Free timetables are available from the SL office in Centralstationen, most tunnelbana stations and the SL website.
Just to the east of Stockholm, the magical islands of the Stockholm archipelago have inspired the likes of writer August Strindberg and artist Anders Zorn. Ferry services aren’t expensive and there’s a travel pass available if you fancy a spot of island-hopping.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Around Stockholm.
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The historic Viking trading centre of Birka, on Björkö in Lake Mälaren, makes a fantastic day trip. A Unesco World Heritage site, it was founded around AD 760 to expand and control trade in the region. The village attracted merchants and craft workers, and the population quickly grew to about 700. A large defensive fort with thick dry-stone ramparts was constructed nearby. Birka was abandoned in the late 10th century when Sigtuna took over the role of commercial centre.
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Some of the best hiking and wilderness scenery can be found in the 4900-hectare Tyresta National Park, only 20km southeast of Stockholm. Established in 1993, the park is noted for its two-billion-year-old rocks and virgin forest, which includes 300-year-old pine trees. It’s a beautiful area, with rocky outcrops, small lakes, marshes and a wide variety of bird life. Don't miss Naturum, an exhibition centre where you can learn about all 29 of Sweden’s national parks through exhibitions and slide shows.
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Home to the royal family for part of the year, Drottningholm's Renaissance-inspired main palace was designed by architectural great Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and begun in 1662, about the same time as Versailles. You can roam on your own, but it's worth taking a one-hour guided tour (30kr; in English at 10am, noon, 2pm and 4pm June to August, noon and 2pm other months). Guides are entertaining, and provide insight into the cultural milieu that influenced some of the decorations.
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About 70km from Stockholm, Gripsholm Slott – with its round towers, spires, drawbridge and creaky wooden halls – was built in the 1370s and had passed into royal hands by the early 15th century. In 1526 Gustav Vasa took over and ordered the demolition of the adjacent monastery. A new castle with walls up to 5m thick was built using materials from the monastery; extensions continued for years. The oldest ‘untouched’ room is Karl IX’s bedchamber, from the 1570s.
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Slottsteater was completed in 1766 on the instructions of Queen Lovisa Ulrika. Remarkably untouched from the time of Gustav III’s death (1792) until 1922, it’s now the oldest theatre in the world still in its original state. The fascinating guided tour takes you into other rooms in the building, where highlights include hand-painted 18th-century wallpaper and an Italianate room ( salon de déjeuner) with fake three-dimensional wall effects and a ceiling that looks like the sky.
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At the far end of the royal gardens is Kina Slott, a lavishly decorated Chinese pavilion built by King Adolf Fredrik as a birthday surprise for Queen Lovisa Ulrika in 1753. Restored between 1989 and 1996, it boasts one of the finest rococo chinoiserie interiors in Europe. The admission price includes guided tours, which run at 11am, 1pm and 3pm daily from June to August (fewer in May and September). There’s a cafe on the premises serving good waffles.
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The Viking trading centre of Birka, founded around AD 760, is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. Exhibits at the Birka Museum include finds from the excavations, copies of the most magnificent objects, and an interesting model of the village in Viking times. Most visitors arrive by ferry with Strömma Kanalbolaget; ferry tickets include museum admission.
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During medieval times, Sigtuna boasted seven stone-built churches, though most have since crumbled. Mariakyrkan is the oldest brick building in the area – it was a Dominican monastery church from around 1250 but became the parish church in 1529 after the monastery was demolished by Gustav Vasa. Pop in for restored medieval paintings and free weekly concerts in summer.
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Rosersbergs Slott is on lake Mälaren about 9km southeast of Sigtuna. Built in the 1630s, it was used as a royal residence from 1762 to 1860; the interior boasts exquisite furnishings from the Empire period (1790–1820) and is noted for its textiles. Highlights include the lavishly draped State Bedchamber and Queen Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotta’s conversation room. The palace cafe serves delicious light meals and cakes in regal surrounds.