Gamla Stan, Stockholm

Gamla Stan, Stockholm

In 1520, the Danish king Christian II executed 80 to 90 Swedish nobles and clergy in Stortorget square over three days – an event known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. The executions followed a siege and were presented as a legal proceeding. The response was the Swedish independence movement that ended Danish control of Sweden and led, eventually, to the current Kingdom of Sweden. The square is now surrounded by tourist restaurants and the Nobel Museum. The juxtaposition is very Stockholm.

Gamla Stan (the Old Town) is Stockholm’s original island, where the city was founded in 1252. It’s about 1km long and 600 metres wide, connected to the mainland by bridges. The medieval street grid survives largely intact. The main artery is Vasterlangatan running north-south, with narrower alleys branching off it. Most tourists stay on Vasterlangatan. Two minutes east brings you to Osterlangatan, which is quieter, has better shops, and costs less.

Stortorget

The central square is small and surrounded by 17th and 18th-century merchant houses in ochre, sienna, and dark red – the colour combination is distinctive enough that photographs of it are recognisable from across the world without any caption. The Nobel Museum occupies the south side, entry around 130 SEK, covering the history of the Nobel Prize with original documents and artefacts. If the queue on Stortorget is bad, the museum has excellent air conditioning.

The Royal Palace

The Kungliga Slottet is at the north end of Gamla Stan, technically adjacent rather than part of it. It is still the official residence of the Swedish monarch, though the royal family lives at Drottningholm. Entry to various sections costs 150 to 220 SEK depending on what you combine. The Armoury (Livrustkammaren) in the basement holds the oldest museum collection in Sweden, including the actual horse of Gustav II Adolf from the Battle of Lutzen (1632) – the horse was preserved and is displayed. The changing of the guard happens daily in summer at 12:15 (13:15 on Sundays) with a military band.

The Storkyrkan (Great Church) adjacent to the palace is the oldest church in Stockholm. The 15th-century carved wooden statue of Saint George slaying a dragon inside is both enormous and genuinely impressive.

Eating

Den Gyldene Freden on Osterlangatan has been operating as a restaurant since 1722, making it one of the oldest restaurants in the world with continuity. Swedish husmanskost (traditional home cooking): meatballs, herring, gravlax, cured elk. Book ahead for dinner. For coffee and pastry, the bakeries on Osterlangatan charge noticeably less than anything on the tourist-facing Stortorget.

Getting There

Gamla Stan has its own T-bana station (Metro red line 13, green lines 17/18/19). Stockholm Central Station is 10 minutes’ walk across Centralbron bridge. Arlanda Express from Stockholm Arlanda Airport takes about 20 minutes to Central Station (299 SEK one way). The 30-minute Flygtransfer bus option costs significantly less.

Beyond Gamla Stan

If you’re spending more than a day in Stockholm, the Vasa Museum on Djurgarden island is worth the short ferry or walk – it holds a 17th-century warship that sank 20 minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised almost intact in 1961. It’s one of the more remarkable museum experiences in Scandinavia: a ship preserved by cold water and low salinity, 98% original, four stories tall.