Stockholm, the Swedish capital, is a city on islands. It is located between the Baltic and Lake Mälaren, and it includes 14 islands - each with its own relief and its own characteristics.
People come to Stockholm mainly for educational recreation: there are many historical sites and museums, but in its vicinity there are also natural attractions: for example, ecotrails for bird watching are laid around Lake Mälaren. So the best seasons to visit Stogkolm are summer and winter. The climate here, thanks to the Gulf Stream, is very warm and mild, in the capital of Sweden there is never a stifling heat or severe frost. Christmas is the most beautiful time here: the city is decorated for the holiday and there is a Christmas market.
Districts of Stockholm
For tourists, the most interesting areas of the city may be the following:
- Old town Gamla stan;
- Vasastan;
- Södermalm;
- Estermalm;
- Djurgården;
- Scheppsholmen.
Old city
Stockholm's old town has 900 years of history. It is a city-in-a-city with a unique flavor: the buildings here are mainly from the 17th-18th centuries, but the narrow streets remained completely medieval. The narrowest of them - Morten Trotzig Lane - is only 90 cm wide. In the Old City, you can see cannon barrels and stones with runic inscriptions embedded in the walls of houses, stuck cannonballs and much more - all steeped in history. The main attraction is the royal palace, built in the middle of the 18th century on the site of the previous residence of the Swedish kings, which burned down in a terrible fire. Now there are several museums at once: the royal treasury, the armory, the museum of antiquity. In addition to the palace, there is the Nobel Museum and several old churches on the island.
Shopping in the Old Town is mostly souvenir. There are many gift shops and art galleries. A Christmas market takes place at Stor Torget in winter. The nightlife in this part of the city is limited to cozy pubs with live music - dancing in more modern districts.
There are not too many hotels here (because the Old Town itself is very small) and they are not cheap, but everything is redeemed by the beauty of the location. For example, on the waterfront there is a four-star First Hotel Reisen - one of the best in the city. There are also several simpler hotels, but located in old buildings and with designer interiors.
Vasastan
"Stone Town", an area in the northwest of Stockholm, which from the very beginning began to be built up with stone rather than wooden houses. Vasastan is exactly the Stockholm that we know from the tales of the great writer Astrid Lingdren: she lived here, and it was on these roofs that Malysh and Karlson once walked. Here is the favorite park of the Swedish storyteller - Vasaparken.
The area is also home to one of the oldest botanical gardens in Europe - the Bergian Gardens, founded in 1791. It features an aquatic pond, tropical greenhouses, a Japanese garden, and more. Next to the garden is the Museum of Natural History, a huge scientific collection of more than 9 million exhibits. It is aligned with the Planetarium.
Vasastan is a district that, according to Stockholm standards, is located quite far from the center - it takes about 15 minutes to walk to it, and the Swedes jokingly call it Siberia. But there are practically no tourist crowds here, and life here is cheaper than in the elite areas.
Estermalm
Once it was a suburb in which there were several cattle yards, then - a favorite suburban suburb and a place of rest for the townspeople. Now this area of Stockholm is considered the most expensive: after a significant restructuring at the end of the 19th century, aristocrats began to settle in it. Here we see an example of a clear regular building, mainly with five-storey buildings, the facades of which are very beautiful and varied. In this area, the building of the royal stables has been preserved, and the Stogkolm Historical Museum is also located here. Usually tourists pay attention to two expositions in it: a collection dedicated to the Vikings, and a rich jewelry collection, the so-called "golden room".
The center of this area is Karlaplan Square - these places are considered the most expensive in the city. There is an old city market near the square, which is also not cheap, but interesting. It is housed in a brick building from 1888, and from the very beginning was focused on the trade in delicacies and expensive goods for the nobility who settled in the area. The market is still functioning and remains an attraction: many interior elements, carved counters, decorations have remained unchanged since the beginning of the 20th century. This is a great place to shop for a variety of Swedish delicacies.
In this area there are several elite nightclubs and the largest disco in Stockholm - Sturecompagniet. The hotels in this part of the city are expensive, but each of them has its own flavor and unique design.
Södermalm
The Södermalm area is a tall island and is connected to other parts of Stockholm by bridges - the bridge can be used to get from it to the Old Town. A feature is the unevenness of the relief. Södermalm has hills, high ascents and descents, so walking on it can be a good physical exercise. An attraction is the 1935 lift-lift to the Södermalm mountain, which also serves as an observation platform.
The old buildings of the XVI-XVIII centuries, several wooden houses of the XIX century, the Baroque church of Mary Magdalene in 1763 have been preserved here. In its buildings for the parable is now the Orthodox Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. There are relatively new buildings: for example, the neo-Gothic church of St. Sofia at the beginning of the 20th century. There are also modern houses, and they are also interesting to look at, because they fit perfectly into a very complex relief.
There are many shops here, but the most interesting shopping is concentrated on Hornsgatspuckeln Street - there are art galleries and shops selling products of local artisans, so you should come to this area for truly exclusive souvenirs from Sweden. There is where to take the kids for a walk: the playground of the park. Ivara Losa is considered one of the best in Sweden.
Södermalm is also the center of the city's nightlife. Sweden's nightclubs have strict rules for selling alcohol, usually face-controlled entrances, but Stockholm is one of the hubs for contemporary dance music, so there's plenty of fun here.
There are many interesting hotels on the island with views of the bay and the old town. A feature of Stogkolm is the abundance of hotel-ships - as a rule, they are moored on these embankments.
Djurgården
Another interesting island where you can settle, and where, in any case, is worth a look. This island is sometimes called "the island of entertainment", then the "museum" - both are true. There is a museum of one exhibit - the sunken ship Vasa. It represents an almost perfectly preserved 17th century ship. There is a Nordic Museum in a neo-Gothic building from 1907 - in essence, it is a local history and ethnographic museum with a huge collection of items dedicated to the culture of Sweden since the 17th century. Another museum is Waldemarsudde, an art museum in an Art Nouveau villa. The largest and most interesting museum on the island is the open-air ethnographic museum, combined with a small zoo - Skansen.
In addition, there are many children's entertainment on the island. For example, the Junibacken Museum, dedicated to the fairy-tale characters of Astrid Lingdren. And the most important is, of course, the huge amusement park Gröna Lun. It was founded as an amusement and amusement park back in 1883. Now there are more than 30 of the most modern attractions here, in addition, it is here that the most crowded concerts of rock celebrities usually take place.
Shopping in this area is mostly souvenir, there are no large shopping centers, few residential buildings - it consists of parks and tourist attractions. But for families with children in Stockholm, this is the best place to settle.
Scheppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is a small museum island. There are three museums here: architecture, contemporary art and East Asia. The most interesting and most visited is, of course, the Museum of Modern Art. There is a large collection of art from the early 20th century: Picasso, Matisse, Russian constructivism and much more, in addition, the museum is constantly replenished with works by contemporary artists. Several old wooden ships are moored off the coast of this island, which are available for inspection.
The best views of Stockholm's Old Town come from here. Once upon a time, it was here that the royal amusement gardens were located - now on the island several green park areas have survived.
The most interesting accommodation here is STF af Chapman & Skeppsholmen. He owns two premises: the building of the barracks in 1690 in the center of the island and the old three-masted ship Af Chapman, launched in 1888.
