Things to Do in Stockholm

Stockholm’s Parliament House (Riksdagshuset) is the seat of parliament in Sweden, better known as the Riksdag. Built between 1897 and 1905, the building was designed in a neoclassical style, with a Baroque Revival style façade. Today, it consists of two wings. The east wing is the original House of Parliament, while the west wing used to be the head office of the national bank. Occupying nearly half of the island of Helgeandsholmen in Stockholm’s Old Town, Parliament House also houses the Riksdag Library, which holds a variety of parliamentary documents and international legislation and is open to the public.

Visitors to Parliament House are welcome to observe everything that takes place in the parliamentary chamber, whether it is listening to debates and votes or attending public hearings or seminars. The public gallery to the Chamber holds 500 visitors, while the public gallery of the former first chamber holds 150 visitors and the gallery of the former second chamber holds 200 visitors. The latter two chambers are open for public hearings. Tours of the building are also available.

Kungsträdgården, affectionately known as Kungsan, is a popular park in central Stockholm. It hosts open air concerts and other events in the summer and is home to an ice rink in the winter months. First of May demonstrations by Sweden’s left-wing parties also take place in the park each year. The park’s space can be divided into four distinct areas: the Square of Charles XII, Molin’s Fountain, the Square of Charles XIII and the Fountain of Wolodarski.

Kungsträdgården's name, roughly translated, means King's Garden, and its origins date back centuries. A royal kitchen garden was gradually transformed into an enclosed pleasure garden in the 17th and 18th centuries. The walls of the garden were demolished in the 19th century and, in 1821, most of the garden was replace by gravel, creating the square now named for Charles XIII. Molin’s Fountain was added in 1866, when it was the centerpiece of a Scandinavian art and industry exposition. The entire park was redesigned in 1990 to its present form and in 2004, nearly 300 new trees were planted and new pavilions and cafes were added.

The park is surrounded by notable landmarks, including the Stockholm Synagogue on the east side of the park and the Royal Swedish Opera, Saint James’ Church, the Matchstick Palace and Sverigehuset (home to the tourist information center) along the west side.

The private residence of Sweden’s royal family, Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms Slott) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the country’s best-preserved 17th-century castles. Over the years successive royal residents have renovated the palace, which is inspired by French and Dutch styles and features lush rococo interiors and multiple baroque gardens.

Located in the heart of Stockholm’s Old Town, the Nobel Prize Museum celebrates more than a century of natural sciences, arts, and culture, and the creative minds that have and continue to dedicate their lives promoting dialogue on their respect fields.

The Royal Swedish Opera (Kungliga Operan) is Sweden’s national theater and houses the Royal Swedish Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, and Choir. It was founded in 1773 by King Gustav III who was an avid supporter of the arts and paid for the opera house’s operations out of his own pocket.

One of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, Riddarholm Church (Riddarholmskyrkan) is the traditional burial church for Swedish royalty. Originally built as a monastery, parts of the church date back to the late 13th century. It was transformed into a Protestant church after the Reformation and the congregation was eventually dissolved at the start of the 19th century. Today, it is used only for burial and commemorative purposes. Nearly every Swedish ruler from Gustavus Adolphus (1632) to Gustav V (1950) has been buried in the Riddarholm Church, as well as Magnus III (1290) and Charles VIII (1470).

The interior of Riddarholm Church, sometimes known as Riddarholmen Church, features dozens of coats of arms of the knights of the Order of Seraphim, a tradition that dates back to the middle of the 18th century. When a knight dies, his coat of arms is hung inside the church.

Stockholm’s ABBA The Museum is an interactive space for ABBA fans to learn about the legendary Swedish band’s history and trivia. Housing plenty of the band’s costumes, gold records, and memorabilia, the museum invites visitors to experience the feeling of being “the fifth member of ABBA.”

Set on Lake Mälaren in Sweden’s scenic Lakeland region, Sigtuna is Sweden’s oldest town and was originally populated by Vikings. While strong remnants of the town’s Viking origins remain, Sigtuna is now full of brightly painted wooden townhouses, narrow streets, restaurants, and hotels.

One of the largest of the Stockholm Archipelago’s 24,000 islets and skerries, Skeppsholmen is close to the channel leading out into the Baltic Sea and historically had great tactical significance to Sweden’s capital city. However, although its 18th-century Bergrummet complex originally played a military role, now it has been transformed into museums and cultural emporiums including the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna Museet), the East-Asian Museum (Ostasiatiska Museet) and the avant-garde Theatre Galeasen. Other sights on this peaceful backwater island include a 19th-century fortress; the elegant Neoclassical church of Skeppsholmskyrkan, which is now a concert venue; an historic shipyard where wooden boats are still made; and open-air installations of unique sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle and her partner Jean Tinguely.

Accessible from mainland Stockholm by road bridge, Skeppsholmen is also connected to the neighboring islets of Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by foot bridges. The island’s leisure facilities include restaurants and an upmarket hotel as well as a floating youth hostel on the yacht Chapman. The week-long Stockholm Jazz Festival also takes place on the island every July. These days Skeppsholmen is on the itinerary for Segway tours of Stockholm as well as hop-on, hop-off boat tours of the city.

The Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) is an institution dedicated to Swedish cultural heritage, ethnography, and folk art. Situated on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm, the museum’s collection includes textiles, clothes, dollhouses, and other objects spanning a 500-year period that illustrate Swedish life, culture, and traditions.

The Stockholm Concert Hall opened in 1926 to house the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Built in the neoclassical style of the 1920s, the blue building is reminiscent of a classical Greek temple and is considered a Swedish architectural masterpiece. The interior of the building is softly lit, transitioning from dark to light, and features grand staircases lit by impressive crystal chandeliers. The walls and ceilings of the minor hall known as Grunewald Hall were painted by Isaac Grunewald. The main hall’s interior was reconstructed in the 1980s, adding a new organ, which is now used for organ recitals at lunch on Thursdays. Standing outside of the concert hall is a statue of Orpheus by Swedish artist Carl Milles. In addition to more than 200 orchestra concerts held annually at the Concert Hall, it hosts the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony, as well as two annual festivals: the Stockholm International Composer Festival in the fall and Composer Weekend in the spring.

Inspired by Swedish children’s books—most notably Astrid Lindgren’s iconic Pippi Longstocking series—the Junibacken Children’s Museum is a vibrant discovery zone designed to capture the imagination and encourage creative play.

Stockholm’s island of Kungsholmen is primarily residential and offers a laid-back escape from the tourist path and a chance to mix with locals. Here you’ll find lots of great restaurants, bars, and cafés, as well as opportunities for long strolls along the waterfront. Kungsholmen is home to Stockholm’s most prominent building: City Hall.

Located on the island of Lidingö in the Stockholm Archipelago, Millesgården is a spectacular sculpture park and art museum created by renowned Swedish sculptor Carl Milles in the terraced gardens of his clifftop house. He built a fanciful mansion at Millesgården in 1907 and spent many years adding to his sculpture collection before donating it to the Swedish nation in 1936. Milles died in 1955 and is buried there along with his artist wife Olga.

The works are beautifully displayed against an ever-changing backdrop of the sea, with statuary featuring in ornamental pools, on columns and in spouting fountains. Containing many stellar examples of sculpture from medieval to modern, the collection is cleverly interspersed Milles’ own sinuous creations in bronze, including his famous sculpture,Hands of God.

Although the Milles garden is the premier attraction there, the Milles’s flamboyant, red-roofed family home is also open to the public, where Olga’s paintings are displayed alongside original castings of Carl’s sculpture. The design of the house is eclectic, with Pompeii-influenced frescoes and mosaics in the Red Room, ancient musical instruments in the Music Room and rooms full of valuable antiques. Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art can be found in the Art Gallery and the smaller Anne’s House in the grounds is packed with furniture designed by Austrian-born architect Josef Frank.