Sweden is full of beautiful places and it is a long list for anyone travelling Sweden. Here is a list of 12 best places to visit in Sweden that should not be missed while visiting Sweden! We have here enlisted 12 best places to visit in Sweden to experience the places in a better way.
Here is our list of 12 Best places to visit in Sweden
Gamla Stan
The island of Gamla Stan, the Old Town is the original Stockholm, founded in the mid-thirteenth century. Gamla Stan retains a medieval feel with its latticework of cobbled streets and charming gabled houses; it is the perfect place to wander around, browsing in the little shops and stopping for a coffee at one of the many cafés that line the streets. Stockholm Cathedral is located in Gamla Stan as well as several interesting, historic buildings including the Nobel Museum and the Baroque Royal Palace.
Stortorget, is encircled by merchants houses which are of eighteenth centuries and they are very eyecatchingly colourful. The square was famously the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath, when the Danish king Christian II massacred Swedish Noblemen; this event led to civil war, the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the election of King Gustav, the first in the Gustavian line of Swedish kings.
Thielska Galleriet
This intimate and charming museum (formally the home of the art collector founder) comprises a wonderful collection of top-class Nordic art of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The museum includes work by Scandinavian painters such as Edvard Munch, Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn as well as French artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Auguste Rodin.
The museum’s setting by the water in the middle of Djurgården (formally the King’s hunting ground) is enchanting and the garden includes a number of sculptures including Rodin’s Shadow. Visit Website for opening and closing time.
Skokloster Castle
Built by the wealthy, spendthrift aristocrat Carl Gustaf Wrangel to a design by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder between 1654 and 1676, Skokloster located on the edge of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala, is a truly spectacular Baroque castle.
The interior of the castle and its contents are exceptionally well-preserved and have been little altered since the building’s hey-day in the seventeenth century. The castle has a fantastic collection of furniture, paintings, textiles and silver and glassware. Wrangel was a wealthy cultural enthusiast who collected in the manner of a continental prince; his extensive weapon collection is housed in the castle armoury and the varied books and maps that he bought still remain in a beautiful wooden library located at the top of the building. Skokloster is one of the Europe’s finest Baroque castles and arguably the most beautifully preserved (partially because of the cold Uppland climate). It is a stunning monument to a time when Sweden was one of the most powerful countries in the continent. Visit website for opening and closing timing.
Uppsala University
On the banks of Fyrisån River, Uppasala is the oldest university town in Sweden. Uppasala is also ecclesiastical centre of Sweden, it is the the seat of the archbishop of Sweden’s Church. The city’s cathedral has a spectacular Gothic interior. The eighteenth century house and gardens of one of Uppsala University’s most famous alumni, the botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) are a treat to behold.
The internationally-acclaimed film director, Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala and the city was a key inspiration for many of his films including Wild Strawberries. Several scenes from Fanny and Alexander and Good Intentions were shot in the the city.
Prince Eugens Waldemarsudde – Stockholm
King Oscar II and Queen Sophia’s son Prince Eugen had lived in Waldemarsudde and it was his home (1865-1947). Prince Eugen was one of the foremost Scandinavian landscape painters in the late nineteenth century and was an important artistic patron and art collector.
Waldemarsudde in the beautiful parkland setting of Djurgården (formally the King’s hunting grounds, overlooks the inlet of Stockholm harbour. The house contains a strong collection of Scandinavian late nineteenth and early twentieth century paintings and sculptures and the garden contains several sculptures by French and Swedish artists, amongst them Auguste Rodin and Carl Milles. Contact +46 8 545 837 00, Website.
Linnaeus Garden
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), the great Swedish botanist and zoologist, was commonly called the Father of Taxonomy. He laid the foundation for binomial nomenclature, the formal system of naming, ranking and classifying organisms that is still in wide use today.
The Linnaeus Garden was the first botanical garden in Sweden, originally laid out in 1655 of Olof Rudbeck the elder, professor of medicine at Uppsala University. The garden has been arranged as Linnaeus planned in 1745. Nearly 1300 types of plants which are believed to be cultivated by Linnaeus are grown here today. The Garden is best complement of his writings and drawings. It is also be possible to visit the Linnaeus museum, situated within the gardens, which was Carl Linnaeus’s home for 35 years. Contact +46 18 471 28 38.
Rosendal Slott
A visit to Rosendal Slott, one of the Royal residences, includes a private tour by a palace expert. It was here that King Karl XIV Johan (the first of the Swedish Bernadotte kings and Napoleon I’s former general, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte) lived together with his beautiful but rather difficult wife Désirée. The house is beautifully preserved and contains some magnificent late eighteenth century interiors. The story of Désirée’s life was made famous in the 1954 film Désirée starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons.
Stockholm City Hall
Built in the ‘National Romantic‘ style, the red brick Stadshuset (the town hall) located on the island of Kungsholmen. In 1923, 23rd June this building was inaugurated after 400 years of Gustav Vasa’s Stockholm arrival. The Nobel prize banquet is held here every year in the expansive Blue Hall. The Golden Hall is decorated with mosaics made from over 18 million tiles, depicting the history of Stockholm.
Stadshuset is the Municipal Council for the city of Stockholm and to all intents and purposes ‘the Houses of Parliament’ of Sweden; the offices of city council members and politicians are located in the building and parliamentary debates are held here. Contact +46 8 508 290 00.
Drottningholm Palace
Inside magnificient gardens the summer palace of Sweden is situated. A boat trip towards Lake Malaren from Stockholm will take you to Drottningholm. The Palace opened in 1699, you can see Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppa or Handel’s Ariodante (Handel in June and Monteverdi in August) in the magnificent Drottningholm Theatre, which came to life during the time of Gustaf III (whose murder inspired Verdi to write Un Ballo i Maschera).
Now a UNESCO world heritage site, the stunning theater still uses the original eighteenth century stage sets and mechanisms. Seeing an opera here is an experience of a lifetime. Contact +46 8 402 62 80.
Pelikan Restaurant
Pelikan is located on Södermalm, the young and lively South island. The restaurant was established in the seventeenth century as a pub for local workers and seamen, it has since moved location to an atmospheric Art Deco building. The restaurant serves excellent home-cooked Swedish food and is always buzzing with its many regulars ranging from actors and writers to politicians and advertising executives.
Top quality husmanskost, home made Swidish meatballs, lingonberries and traditional food like mashed potatoes with fried Baltic herring available at Pelikan. Also fresh vegetable with Västerbotten cheese pie and ice cream sauce is famous here. Contact +46 8 556 090 90 or visit website.
National Gallery
Founded in 1792, the National Gallery of Sweden includes a strong collection of Scandinavian painting and sculpture from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries as well as significant French eighteenth century paintings, Dutch Old Masters and decorative arts from the fourteenth century to the present day.
Highlights of the painting collection include the great Swedish eighteenth century portraitist, Alexander Roslin’s Lady with a Fan, Anders Zorn’s Midsummer Dance and a Rembrandt Self Portrait. The museum also contains an impressive representation of Scandinavian design through the ages.
The museum contains a magnificent staircase decorated with frescoes by Carl Larsson celebrating historic Swedish events such as Gustav Vasa’s entry to Stockholm in 1523. Visit website for opening and closing timings.
Stockholm Archipelago
Nothing beats a boat trip out onto the Stockholm Archipelago with a glass of champagne in the sunshine! The Stockholm Archipelago is unique in the world with close to 30,000 islands; many of the bigger islands have active communities and others while some of the small ones have only trees, seals and birds as their inhabitants.
One can glide peacefully along the still water, passing picturesque unspoilt islands adorned with fir and birch trees and smattered with picture-perfect red-painted wooden houses and hardly glimpse a person. Spectacularly beautiful, the Archipelago is a must on any visit to Stockholm.
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