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For the inhabitants there's a tribal status to each of the city's islands. But for the visitor, Stockholm's archipelago location primarily helps to dissect the city, both in terms of history and in terms of Stockholm's different characteristics, conveniently packaging the capital into easily handled, ultimately digestible areas.
The central island of Gamla Stan wows visitors with its medieval beauty, small café-lined squares, and winding, narrow lanes. To the south, Södermalm challenges with contemporary boutiques, hip hangouts, and left-of-center sensibilities. North of Gamla Stan is Norrmalm, the financial and business heart of the city. Travel west and you'll find Kungsholmen, site of Stadshuset (City Hall). Turn east from Norrmalm and Östermalm awaits, an old residential neighborhood with the most money, the most glamour, and the most expensive street on the Swedish Monopoly board. Finally, beyond Östermalm lies the island of Djurgården, once a royal game preserve, now the site of lovely parks and museums.
This gorgeous slice of greenery is a perfect place to spend a few hours on a late summer afternoon. When the weather's nice, people flock to the garden café, which is in one of the greenhouses, to enjoy tasty pastries and salads made from the locally grown vegetables. Pick your own flowers from the vast flower beds (paying by weight), stroll through the creative garden displays, or take away produce from the farm shop.
Viking treasures and the Gold Room are the main draws at this historical museum, which features well-presented exhibitions covering various periods of Swedish history, including prehistoric bronze and tin artifacts, medieval artworks, and a baroque hall that also plays host to events.
Since it opened in 1974, architect Peter Celsing's cultural center, a glass-and-stone monolith on the south side of Sergels Torg, has become a symbol of modernism in Sweden. Stockholmers are divided on the aesthetics of this building—most either love it or hate it. Here there are exhibitions for children and adults, a library, a theater, a youth center, and a handful of eating spots. Head to Café Panorama, on the top floor, for a lunch or coffee break with a great view of Sergels Torg down below. Though still commonly referred to simply as Kulturhuset, the institution officially changed its name in 2013 to reflect its merger with the on-site Stockholm City Theater.
Once the royal kitchen garden, this is now Stockholm's smallest but most central park. It is often used to host festivals and events but is best seen in its everyday guise: as a pleasant sanctuary from the pulse of downtown. Several neat little glass-cube cafés sell light lunches, coffee, and snacks.
Reopened in 2018 after a five-year renovation, Sweden's leading art museum has an impressive collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, and other works of art and design. The emphasis is on Swedish and Nordic art, but other areas are well represented, particularly 17th-century Dutch and 18th-century French paintings. The collections are presented in chronological order, forming a timeline through the museum. On the ground floor, a glassed-in courtyard houses a collection of sculptures portraying Norse gods, important people from Swedish history and culture, and other figures. An admission fee is charged for some of the temporary exhibitions.
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