10 Stockholm highlights
Stockholm, stretching across 14 islands and 56 bridges, is known as the Venice of the North, part of an archipelago of around 30,000 islands and islets.
Long ago, logs, known as stocks in Swedish, were used on a holm, an islet, to protect the fresh water of Lake Mälaren from raiders approaching across the Baltic Sea. And that is the story of how Stockholm got its name. From the 19th century, Stockholm’s wealthy classes built grand mansions, frequently overlooking lakes, aspiring to the architectural elegance of Berlin and Paris.
Today, Stockholm continues to develop. Although New York has SoHo, south of Houston Street, Stockholm now has SoFo, south of Folkungatan; a hip neighbourhood of artisan crafts, organic cafes and vintage shops.
1. Hop-on, hop-off bus
With 19 stops, the route of the red bus, takes in Stockholm’s art, culture, cuisine and many of its museums. It’s a green, scenic ride, passing some of the parks and waterways that make up Stockholm.
Earphone commentary tells of Greta Garbo’s grim and dark childhood in a Stockholm tenement before she became a Hollywood icon. Her father earned little as a toilet cleaner and Greta was desperate to use her acting talent to escape to a better life.
2. Skansen open-air museum
Before ABBA, before H & M, and even before IKEA, there was the open-air museum of Skansen that began way back in 1891 presenting its vision of Sweden. Nostalgically showing, in miniature, a country before it was scarred by industrialisation. A cast of characters in aprons, breeches, frock coats and smocks celebrate rural and urban lives that had disappeared. There’s a mini zoo too, featuring Nordic animals.
Stepping inside, a quirky museum chronicles the history of snuff, a habit that is still surprisingly strong in 21st century Sweden.
3. The Vasa Museum
Was it a curse? Polish sabotage? Drunken sailors? Or poor design?
Gossip was rife when the new ship Vasa, laden with two gun decks at the King’s insistence, sunk. It went down within sight of watching Stockholm crowds in January 1628 on its maiden voyage.
Then in 1961, the Vasa was raised from its watery grave, despite the corrosion of 6,000 bolts, restored and eventually displayed in the Vasa Museum which is appropriately topped by three masts. A unique maritime time capsule.
Using documentary evidence, a dramatic short film recreates highlights of the inquest, which looked to find a scapegoat for the disaster – but failed to do so.
A bottle of 1628 Vasa liqueur, created from analysis of a bottle that settled amongst the cannon and skeletons for 333 years, at 33% proof, is a potent anise-flavoured souvenir.
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4. The Viking Museum
With sword, knife, whetstone, reindeer horn comb and pouch hanging from his belt, a bearded Viking welcomes us to the museum. He explains how Vikings had to be farmers as well as warriors. Reacting opportunistically to circumstances on their explorations. If a settlement was strong, they traded, if it were weak, they raided.
Those Vikings ate meals very close to contemporary dietary recommendations; low meat content but high on fibre from barley, fruit and oats, supplemented with nuts and seeds.
5. Exploring the waterways
As Stockholm is a maritime collage of canals, harbours, lakes and the Baltic Sea, a boat trip takes you to the heart and soul of the city – as time and time again you reach for your camera. Hop on, hop off boats glide past grand merchants’ houses, royal palaces, verdant parks and historic neighbourhoods.
Arriving by boat is the best way to appreciate the Vasa Museum, the charm of the Old Town of Gamla Stan and the thrills of the rides at Gröna Lund Tivoli.
6. A fika break
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stopping for a fika break is part of the Swedish DNA of relaxation. Slowing down for coffee and something sweet, usually simultaneously socialising, is such a Swedish cultural institution that the word is both a noun and a verb.
Some argue that fika derives from kaffi, an old Swedish word for coffee. Whatever the etymology, Swedes drink more coffee per head than most other nations.
7. Gamla Stan
Stockholm’s labyrinthian Old Town of twisting narrow alleyways and cobbled streets date from medieval times, though most of the townhouses were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Their yellow and rust facades have a fairy tale ambience. Nowadays, those houses are largely cafes, craft shops, galleries and restaurants.
As the Royal Palace is close by, the changing of the guard, marching across the cobbles, is a daily military routine
8. The Nobel Museum
At the heart of Gamla Stan, the museum pays homage to the efforts of exceptional human beings. Inspirational men and women who, since 1901, have been awarded Nobel Prizes in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Peace as designated by Alfred Nobel.
In Nobel’s will, the inventor of dynamite, dismayed at the destruction he had unwittingly caused, decreed that his millions should be used to establish prizes for mankind’s benefit. Short films tell the story of the journey to a Nobel prize for scientists such as Marie Curie and Nils Bohr as well as peace-makers like Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Clerk.
9.The Contemporary Museum of Art, Photography and Culture
Based in a 1906 red brick former Custom House, the waterside Contemporary Museum of Art, Photography and Culture is one of Stockholm’s coolest destinations.
Exhibitions change frequently. Currently Anton Corbojin’s stark portraits of rock stars, that strip away their celebrity, is headlined by a darkly quizzical Nick Cave, and runs into October 2025. As does a retrospective of Hans Hammarskiöld life’s work, which frequently challenges conventional definitions of portraiture.
On the top floor, the cafe and restaurant with picture window views over Saltsjön is spacious Scandi-design which inspires visitors to put together their own photographic portfolio.
10. Stockholm’s parks
Approaching 40% of Stockholm is parkland. Long ago, these acres were royal property, for hunting.
Or in the case of Humlegården, land for growing hops for the royal beer. Back in the days when it wasn’t safe to drink the water and royal sailors were allowed to drink three litres of beer a day.
Now the parks are public spaces for walking, jogging, picnics, cycling and of course, finding a cafe for a fika break.
Disclosure: Our trip was supported by Visit Stockholm.
Michael Edwards
Michael Edwards is a travel writer from Oxfordshire, UK. Although Michael had his first travel pieces published nearly four decades ago, he is still finding new luxury destinations to visit and write on.
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Stockholm is one of my favourite European cities. As this post shows there’s so much to see in between fika breaks.
We only scheduled 3 full days for our Stockholm break and to be honest that really wasn’t enough time. I think that we’re going to have to head back. It was very wet on our trip to Skansen and we dashed round the open air museum far too hastily. When we return, we’ll spend more time there.
Surprised that the Abba Museum didn’t make it in to the top 10. It would be my first stop in Stockholm.
As we’ve been to the Abba Voyage show in London we thought it would be hard to top that for an Abba experience and there was so much else to visit in Stockholm that we wanted to do.
Although I haven’t been to Stockholm I have been on the hop on and hop off buses in other cities. The freedom that they give you to explore a city is fantastic.
Yes, I’ve done hop on, hop off buses in other cities as well. With 19 stops it’s probably too much to do in a day and a 2 day ticket is probably the best option. The commentary from the earphones is excellent, full of vital detail and intriguing trivia too.
And there I was thinking that Stockholm would be a good place for a long weekend. After reading this post I can see that you probably need 4 or 5 days to get to know the city.
We made the same mistake and didn’t give ourselves enough time. Stockholm is more a short holiday sort of city than a long weekend break.
Great lunchtime break – I feel as if I’ve been to Stockholm and back.
Glad you enjoyed the piece Steph, after that virtual travel you should follow up with a real visit to Stockholm!
The Vasa Museum has to be Stockholm’s number one attraction. It’s absolutely incredible that the ship survived for so long and has been restored to such good condition.
We’ve got the Mary Rose in England which went down even longer ago on its maiden voyage. It’s a long time since I saw it. From what I can remember it’s nowhere near as large and well preserved as the Vasa.
Moya, I’ve got to agree with you, Vasa must be Stockholm’s Number One attraction.
Almost everyone who enters the hall gasps with amazement at the sheer size of the ship.
Then the next reaction is awe at the quality of the intricate carvings.
It’s one of those museums where you probably want over half a day to fully appreciate what’s on offer. It’s got a good restaurant too. Though you may draw the line at the spirits …
The Nobel museum isn’t as big as you’d expect it to be but it really packs a punch, especially with the artefacts donated by some of the winners of the prizes.
Also, I think that since Nobel’s day an Economics prize has been added to the awards given every year.
I too was surprised at how small the museum is for such a giant topic, then again space is at a premium in bijoux Gamla Stan and the museum had to work within the dimensions of the old Stock Exchange.
The curators have done a magnificent job of displaying plenty to interest the constant flow of visitors and it never feels that the exhibits have been packed in.
It’s not on the this list probably because it’s not truly Stockholm. When we visited we took a day’s cruise to explore all those thousands and thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm peninsula.
Every time I saw one of the simple log cabins I wondered if it was the one where Benny and Bjorn went on their musical retreats to write the ABBA hits.
Taking one of those archipelago cruises is 100% recommended. It was the most beautiful boat trip that I’ve ever taken.
Our hotel concierge recommended that we should cruise through the archipelago but we had run out of days. Next time.
I’m a bit confused on the Vikings, I’d heard stories of the Vikings burning their boats when they landed, motivating them to fight ferociously as there was no way back.
The piece on the Vikings Museum is suggesting that first and foremost they were farmers which means that they would have looked after their boats because they had to get back to their farms. Also, whether they were trading or raiding, the ships would be essential for getting goods back home. Maybe my school history lessons weren’t as Gospel as I thought they were.
You’re right Tim. I’d heard stories of Vikings burning their boats, probably back in Middle School. That doesn’t fit the narrative presented at the Viking Museum.
One point that our Viking Warrior made was that in that age the term Viking was used to cover the peoples of Scandinavia which was a huge geographical area. It would be wrong to assume that all tribes would behave in the same way. A minority could have been boat burners.
With parched and scorched friends coming back from the Med looking frazzled after hot, hot holidays, I can see Scandinavia becoming more and more popular in the coming summers. A two centre holiday of a few days exploring the exciting city of Stockholm then some chill out days on an island in the quiet archipelago could well be 2026’s dream holiday.
There’s a lot of truth in what you’re suggesting, Sharon. Last week I saw a travel piece in a newspaper forecasting that a cabin on a Swedish island could be the new villa on the Mediterranean. After what I saw of the Stockholm archipelago I’d go along with that as long as I could have a couple of trips into the city to top up on cuisine and culture.
Having been to Stockholm’s photography museum I’ve got to agree that it is one of Stockholm’s top attractions.
We arrived on one of the hop-on / off boats and were nearly tempted by the cafe leading into the museum. Which would have been a mistake as the museum cafe has some of the best views in Stockholm.
Another really nice thing about the museum is that down in the basement they had lots of lockers. Backpackers loved the lockers as they could explore the museum and then relax over fika or a meal in the cafe / restaurant. I visited before the current exhibitions and would have loved to see them.
We visited on a Sunday and it was clearly the place for locals to go. There was a very busy vibe to the place.
When we’d finally worked our way upwards through the exhibition to the cafe and restaurant on the top family it was busy. Although we were having a late coffee break a lot of the locals were having glasses of wine. No problem with drinking and driving as most had taken advantage of the boat services.
Such a lovely post, Sweden is on my dream travel list, and your article gave me even more reasons to visit. I didn’t know Stockholm had such a beautiful blend of culture and nature. Thanks for sharing this helpful guide.