--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Stockholm, Sweden | Wimup" description: "The 10 best things to do in Stockholm, from the Vasa and Skansen to the City Hall, Drottningholm and a boat into the archipelago." url: https://wimup.com/city/stockholm type: City guide updated: 2026-10-31 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Stockholm Stockholm, Sweden · Europe · By Wimup Editorial, 15 min read Stockholm is a capital built on water and organised by it: fourteen islands hold the city, roughly 30,000 more run east into the Baltic, and Lake Mälaren pushes fresh water through the middle, which is why people fly-fish for salmon a few hundred metres from the parliament. ## Quick answer Give the first morning to Djurgården: the Vasa at opening, then Skansen next door. Take the afternoon in Gamla Stan and the evening at Fotografiska, which stays open to 23:00. Day two is the City Hall tour and Nationalmuseum. Day three belongs to a boat into the archipelago. Book the City Hall tour and any restaurant you care about before you fly. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** May · Jun · Sep - **Ideal length:** 4 days - **Budget per day:** €140–250 - **Language:** Swedish, with English spoken almost everywhere - **Getting around:** One SL ticket covers the metro, buses, trams, commuter trains and the Djurgården ferry - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.visitstockholm.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Stockholm ### 1. The Vasa Museum Museum · Galärvarvsvägen 14, Djurgården, 115 21 Stockholm A 64-gun warship that sailed 1,300 metres in 1628, caught a squall and sank in front of the crowd assembled to watch her leave. The Baltic is too cold and fresh for shipworm, so she came up in 1961 with most of her timber. The hall was built around her, and the first sight from the ramp is why this ranks first. - **Time:** 1 to 2 hours - **Cost:** SEK 240 from May to September, SEK 195 the rest of the year, free under 18 - **Best at:** The first hour after opening - **Tip:** Summer opening is 08:30, which buys an hour with the ship before the tour groups. In winter it opens at 10:00 and stays open until 20:00 on Wednesdays, the other quiet slot. Links: [Vasa Museum](https://www.vasamuseet.se/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 2. Gamla Stan and Stortorget Old town · Stortorget, Gamla Stan, 111 29 Stockholm The island where the city started, and one of the most complete medieval street plans in Europe. Västerlånggatan is the souvenir run and takes four minutes to walk off; the lanes either side are the reason to be here. Carry on to Riddarholmen for the best free view back at the City Hall. - **Time:** Half a day - **Cost:** Free to walk - **Best at:** Before 10:00, or after 19:00 when the day boats have gone - **Tip:** The Nobel Prize Museum sits on Stortorget in the old Stock Exchange building and is the one indoor stop on the island worth planning around. Links: [Nobel Prize Museum](https://www.nobelprize.org/about/nobel-museum/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. Skansen Open-air museum · Djurgårdsslätten 49-51, Djurgården, 115 21 Stockholm Artur Hazelius opened this in 1891 and invented the open-air museum: around 150 buildings dismantled where they stood and rebuilt on the hill, from a Sami camp to a whole town quarter. Bears, wolves and lynx fill the ridge. Open every day, which makes it the answer to a wet afternoon. - **Time:** 3 hours - **Cost:** Ticketed, cheapest booked online, free for children under 16 with a pre-booked ticket - **Best at:** Morning in summer, or a December weekend for the Christmas market - **Tip:** Winter hours are short, with weekdays closing at 15:00, so a January visit needs an early start. The hill is steep, and the escalator from the main entrance saves the climb. Links: [Skansen](https://www.skansen.se/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 4. Stockholm City Hall Landmark · Hantverkargatan 1, Kungsholmen, 111 52 Stockholm Eight million bricks and twelve years of Ragnar Östberg's life, finished in 1923. The Blue Hall is bare red brick and holds the Nobel banquet; the Golden Hall above is lined with 18 million gilded tiles. It can only be seen on a guided tour, which is the most-booked hour in Stockholm. - **Time:** 1 hour for the tour, another for the tower - **Cost:** Ticketed. The tower is a separate summer ticket - **Best at:** The first tour of the day in July and August - **Tip:** The courtyard, the garden and the waterfront terrace are free and open, and the view from them back to Riddarholmen at sunset is the photograph most people came for. Links: [Stockholm City Hall](https://stadshuset.stockholm/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 5. Drottningholm Palace Palace · Drottningholms slott, 178 02 Drottningholm, Ekerö The best preserved eighteenth-century royal residence in northern Europe, UNESCO-listed and still the royal family's home. The grounds carry two things nowhere else has: a Chinese Pavilion given as a birthday surprise in 1753, and a 1766 court theatre whose original stage machinery still works. - **Time:** Half a day including the boat - **Cost:** Ticketed. The gardens are free - **Best at:** May to September, when the theatre and the Chinese Pavilion are open - **Tip:** From October to April the palace opens at weekends only, 10:00 to 16:00, and it can close at short notice for official receptions, so check the day before rather than the week before. Links: [Drottningholm Palace](https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/drottningholm-palace/opening-hours.html?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. The Royal Palace Palace · Slottsbacken 1, Gamla Stan, 111 30 Stockholm One of the largest palaces in Europe still used as a head of state's workplace, built through the eighteenth century on the burnt-out site of Tre Kronor. One ticket covers the Royal Apartments, the Treasury with the regalia, and two museums. Changing of the guard is free and draws a crowd. - **Time:** 2 hours - **Cost:** One ticket covers the palace museums. The guard change is free - **Best at:** Around midday for the guard change, later on Sundays and public holidays - **Tip:** The ceremony time shifts with the season and the day of the week, and the Swedish Armed Forces publish the current schedule. The Royal Armoury in the cellars is free and holds the coronation coaches. Links: [Royal Palace of Stockholm](https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/the-royal-palace.html?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [The Royal Guard schedule](https://www.forsvarsmakten.se/en/news-and-events/the-royal-guard/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 7. Fotografiska Gallery · Stadsgårdshamnen 22, Södermalm, 116 45 Stockholm A photography museum in a 1906 customs house with no permanent collection and no interest in one, running four major shows a year. The top-floor bar has the best paid-for view in the city and stays open to 23:00, which is the argument for coming after dinner. - **Time:** 1 to 2 hours - **Cost:** SEK 200 on weekdays, SEK 230 at weekends - **Best at:** After 20:00, when the galleries empty and the view is at its best - **Tip:** Two tickets for the price of one every Wednesday from 18:00. Links: [Fotografiska Stockholm](https://stockholm.fotografiska.com/en/visit?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 8. A boat into the archipelago Islands · Strömkajen, 111 48 Stockholm The archipelago is not a day trip, it is the other half of the city, and the public ferries treat it as ordinary transport. Fjäderholmarna is half an hour out and an evening rather than an expedition. Go further for the payoff: Grinda for swimming, Sandhamn for the sailing crowd. - **Time:** Half a day to a full day - **Cost:** Ferry fares, with 5-day and 30-day island passes for hopping - **Best at:** June to August, when the timetable is at its widest - **Tip:** Tickets are bought on board and cash is not accepted, only Visa or Mastercard. Strömma's Cinderella boats leave from Nybrokajen and can be pre-booked, which the public ferries mostly cannot. Links: [Waxholmsbolaget](https://waxholmsbolaget.se/in-english?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 9. Nationalmuseum Museum · Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2, 111 48 Stockholm Sweden's national gallery, reopened in 2018 with the daylight the building was designed around finally let back in. Rembrandt and Chardin through to Carl Larsson, whose Midwinter Sacrifice fills the main stair. The half most people miss is the design collection, which explains more about the country than the paintings. - **Time:** 2 hours - **Cost:** Around SEK 150 for adults, free under 18, free on Thursdays from 17:00 to 20:00 - **Best at:** Thursday evening - **Tip:** Closed on Mondays. The restaurant in the covered sculpture courtyard is open to anyone and does not need a ticket. Links: [Nationalmuseum](https://www.nationalmuseum.se/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 10. Skogskyrkogården, the Woodland Cemetery Architecture · Sockenvägen 492, 122 33 Enskede Asplund and Lewerentz used the pine ridge itself as the architecture, then spent twenty-five years building it. UNESCO-listed in 1994, and the clearest place in Sweden to watch Nordic classicism turn into functionalism. A working cemetery, and it asks for the manners of one. - **Time:** 1 to 2 hours - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Late afternoon in autumn, when the light is doing the work the architects planned for - **Tip:** The visitor centre in the Tallum Pavilion opens daily 11:00 to 16:00 from 1 May to 30 September, with a cafe and a small exhibition, and a public guided tour runs on summer Sunday mornings. The red metro line has its own station named after the cemetery. Links: [Skogskyrkogården](https://skogskyrkogarden.stockholm/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Best museums in Stockholm Eight collections beyond the Vasa, four of them free, from Viking gold to a pop group that will not be argued with. 1. **Moderna Museet** (Modern art · Skeppsholmen): Sweden's modern and contemporary collection on Skeppsholmen: Picasso, Matisse, Rauschenberg. The collection is free, which makes it the cheapest serious hour in the city. 2. **ABBA The Museum** (Timed entry · Djurgården): An interactive museum on Djurgården built around the costumes and the studio, with timed entry. Unapologetically a fan experience, and very good at being one. 3. **Nordiska museet** (Cultural history · Djurgården): The Nordic Museum, in a building that looks like a Danish renaissance palace. Swedish everyday life since 1520, and the most important Sami collection in the country. 4. **The Swedish History Museum** (Free entry · Östermalm): Historiska holds the Viking exhibition most visitors are looking for, and beneath it the Gold Room, a vault no other Nordic museum can match. Free. 5. **Tekniska museet** (With kids · Gärdet): The national museum of science and technology, and the best building in the city for a wet day with children: a mine you walk into, and a wind tunnel. 6. **Hallwylska museet** (House museum · Östermalm): An 1890s townhouse left exactly as its owner catalogued it, down to the biscuit tins. She gave it to the state on condition nothing be moved, and nothing has been. 7. **Medeltidsmuseet** (Free entry · Norrmalm): The Museum of Medieval Stockholm, under Norrbro and built around a stretch of the 1530s city wall. Free, small, and it answers the questions Gamla Stan raises. 8. **Junibacken** (With kids · Djurgården): A story train through Astrid Lindgren's books, ending at a full-size Villa Villekulla children can climb on. Aimed at under-tens and unbothered about anyone else. ## Best restaurants in Stockholm Eight tables that hold up, from a three-star tasting menu to a 1904 beer hall still serving meatballs at lunch. 1. **Frantzén** (Tasting menu · Norrmalm): Björn Frantzén's three-star restaurant near Norrmalmstorg, one long tasting menu with the kitchen open to the room. Seats are released months ahead and go the same day. 2. **Ekstedt** (Cooked over fire · Östermalm): A kitchen with no gas and no electricity: everything cooked over birch fire, in a wood oven or in a pot hung in the smoke. One technique pushed as far as it goes. 3. **Oaxen Slip** (Bistro · Djurgården): A Nordic bistro in a working boatyard on Djurgården, wooden hulls overhead, doing the informal half of the fine-dining room next door. The best lunch on the island. 4. **Pelikan** (Husmanskost · Södermalm): A beer hall on this Södermalm corner since 1904: high ceilings, wooden booths, and waiters who have seen everything. Order the husmanskost. 5. **Bakfickan** (Counter seats · Norrmalm): The back pocket of Operakällaren: a horseshoe counter of twenty stools, no reservations, and the same kitchen at a fraction of the price. Arrive alone and early. 6. **Meatballs for the People** (Meatballs · Södermalm): A SoFo restaurant and butcher doing one thing at length: meatballs of beef, elk, reindeer, boar and salmon, all organic, with lingonberries as standard. 7. **Lisa Elmqvist** (Seafood · Östermalm): The fish counter and dining room inside Östermalms Saluhall, the 1888 market hall. The shellfish platter is the order. Lunch rather than dinner. 8. **Woodstockholm** (Small room · Södermalm): A small room by Mosebacke with a menu that changes theme rather than season, a natural wine list and a furniture workshop attached. Book: there are not many tables. ## Best cafes and fika in Stockholm Six rooms for the daily coffee and a bun, which is closer to an institution here than a habit. 1. **Vete-Katten** (Since 1928 · Norrmalm): Open since 1928 and still a warren of small rooms and a back courtyard. The princess cake here is the benchmark every other bakery is measured against. 2. **Rosendals Trädgård** (Garden cafe · Djurgården): A biodynamic market garden on Djurgården with a bakery in the greenhouse and long tables under the apple trees. Almost everything is grown a few metres away. 3. **Sturekatten** (Tearoom · Östermalm): An eighteenth-century apartment turned tearoom, still laid out as rooms with sofas and portraits. The most old-fashioned fika in the city, and unembarrassed. 4. **Café Saturnus** (Cinnamon buns · Vasastan): A Vasastan corner cafe known for cinnamon buns the size of a side plate, which is not an exaggeration. Good salads if the bun is too much. 5. **Fabrique** (Bakery · Citywide): A stone-oven bakery that started in a Södermalm cellar and is now across the city, with the cardamom bun as its argument. Better than most independents. 6. **Chokladkoppen** (Hot chocolate · Gamla Stan): On Stortorget, facing the painted merchant houses, doing thick hot chocolate to a permanent queue. It prices for the address, which is worth it once. ## Best historic sites in Stockholm Six places where the city's eight centuries are visible rather than described, two of them free. 1. **Storkyrkan** (Cathedral · Gamla Stan): The cathedral beside the Royal Palace, with parts from the late thirteenth century behind a baroque exterior. It holds Bernt Notke's Saint George and the Dragon of 1489. 2. **Riddarholmskyrkan** (Royal tombs · Riddarholmen): The burial church of the Swedish monarchy, a late thirteenth-century abbey under a cast-iron spire, holding Gustav II Adolf, Karl XII and most kings between. 3. **The Royal Armoury** (Free entry · Gamla Stan): In the cellar vaults of the Royal Palace and free: coronation coaches, court dress, and the clothes Swedish kings were killed in, kept as relics. 4. **Riddarhuset** (Weekdays only · Gamla Stan): The House of Nobility, a 1650s Dutch baroque palace whose great hall carries more than 2,000 coats of arms. Short weekday hours, which is why almost nobody goes in. 5. **Rosendal Palace** (Guided tours · Djurgården): Karl XIV Johan's summer villa on Djurgården, left as it was furnished in the 1820s and shown by tour in summer. The giant porphyry vase outside is free all year. 6. **Birka** (UNESCO site · Lake Mälaren): The Viking Age trading town on Björkö in Lake Mälaren, UNESCO-listed since 1993 and two hours out by boat. Grave fields, a hill fort and a museum. Summer only. ## Best archipelago and islands in Stockholm Six islands from half an hour to three hours out, ordered by how far from the city they feel. 1. **Fjäderholmarna** (30 minutes out · Inner archipelago): The nearest islands, half an hour from Strömkajen, with craft workshops, a smokehouse and swimming off the rocks. Close enough to do after work. 2. **Vaxholm** (One hour out · Inner archipelago): The capital of the archipelago and a proper town rather than an island stop: wooden houses, a fortress guarding the channel, and ferries onward. About an hour by boat. 3. **Grinda** (Swimming · Middle archipelago): A middle-archipelago island with two harbours, a villa turned inn, and the best easy swimming within a day trip. Walkable end to end in an hour. 4. **Sandhamn** (Sailing · Outer archipelago): The sailing island, where the archipelago ends and the open Baltic starts, with a regatta calendar that fills every bed in July. Three hours by public ferry. 5. **Utö** (Cycling · Southern archipelago): A southern island whose iron mines are older than Stockholm itself, with bikes at the pier and long sand at Barnviken. The best day if you want distance. 6. **Finnhamn** (Overnight · Outer archipelago): Islands linked by bridges and footpaths, a hostel in an old villa, and almost no cars. Where the archipelago stops being a day out and starts being somewhere you stay. ## Best neighbourhoods in Stockholm Six districts and what each one is actually for, which is not the same as which is prettiest. 1. **Gamla Stan** (The old town · Central): The medieval island: the palace, the cathedral, Stortorget and the lanes. Extraordinary to walk and difficult to stay in, because the restaurants price accordingly. 2. **Södermalm** (Bars and vintage · South): The southern island, and the reason most visitors say they liked Stockholm: second-hand shops, coffee, and the cliff walks at Monteliusvägen and Fjällgatan. 3. **Östermalm** (Smart · North east): The moneyed grid: the 1888 market hall, the embassies, the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Quiet at night and the best-placed base for the museums. 4. **Djurgården** (Museums and parkland · East): A former royal hunting park that is now half the city's museums and all of its picnic ground. Walk in over Djurgårdsbron or take the ferry on an ordinary ticket. 5. **Vasastan** (Residential · North): North of the centre and the most ordinary of these in the best sense: apartment blocks, neighbourhood restaurants, Asplund's library rotunda, few visitors. 6. **Kungsholmen** (Waterfront walks · West): The City Hall island, with a waterside path most of the way round, swimming at Smedsuddsbadet, and restaurants along Hantverkargatan for the people who work here. ## Best day trips in Stockholm Six trips inside two hours, every one of them reachable on public transport or a scheduled boat. 1. **Uppsala** (40 minutes · Uppland): Forty minutes north by train: the oldest university in the Nordic countries, the tallest church in the region, and the royal burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala. 2. **Sigtuna** (Viking town · Lake Mälaren): Sweden's oldest town, founded around 970, with a main street that has run on the same line for a thousand years and rune stones by the dozen. 3. **Mariefred and Gripsholm Castle** (Castle · Södermanland): A lakeside town of wooden houses, with Gustav Vasa's 1530s castle holding the national portrait collection and a theatre inside one of its towers. 4. **Tyresta National Park** (Hiking · South): Old-growth pine with trees over 400 years old, an hour south by train and bus. The closest place to Stockholm where the map stops showing roads. 5. **Millesgården** (Sculpture garden · Lidingö): Carl Milles' house, studio and terraced sculpture garden on a cliff on Lidingö, looking back at the city across the water. Worth timing for late afternoon. 6. **Artipelag** (Art hall · Värmdö): A contemporary art hall built into the pine and granite of Värmdö, with a boardwalk to the water. The building is as much the exhibit as anything in it. ## Festivals & annual events in Stockholm (2026) - **Valborg, Walpurgis Night** (30 April): Bonfires and male-voice choirs see the winter out on the last evening of April. Skansen holds the main celebration. - **adidas Stockholm Marathon** (30 May 2026): Two laps of the central islands on a Saturday afternoon, finishing inside the 1912 Olympic Stadium. Streets close all afternoon. - **Midsummer at Skansen** (19 to 21 June 2026): The maypole goes up on Midsummer Eve and the celebration runs three days. Most of the city closes and leaves for the archipelago. - **Stockholm Pride** (27 July to 1 August 2026): Six days across the city, ending with the parade on Saturday. Pride Park carries the ticketed half and Pride House the free one. - **Stockholm Culture Festival** (12 to 16 August 2026): Five days of music, dance and street performance in Kungsträdgården, free throughout. The best week to arrive without a plan. - **Stockholm International Film Festival** (11 to 22 November 2026): Twelve days of competition and premieres across the city cinemas. Gala tickets go early; the rest is easy to walk into. - **Nobel Day** (10 December): The prizes in the afternoon, the banquet in the Blue Hall that evening. Neither is public, but the city treats it as its own. - **Gamla Stan Christmas market** (27 November to 20 December 2026): Stockholm's oldest, on Stortorget since 1837: glögg, smoked sausage and saffron buns. Lucia on 13 December fills the churches. ## Must-try dishes in Stockholm, Sweden - **Köttbullar med lingon**: Beef and pork, cream sauce, pressed cucumber, lingonberry jam and potato. Not the flat-pack version. - **Sill**: Pickled herring in a mustard, onion or dill cure, on crispbread with sharp cheese and aquavit. - **Gravlax**: Salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill, served with the sweet mustard sauce hovmästarsås. - **Toast Skagen**: Hand-peeled prawns in dill mayonnaise on fried bread with bleak roe. Invented in the 1950s, now everywhere. - **Räksmörgås**: The prawn open sandwich, the size of a dinner plate under egg and mayonnaise. A full lunch. - **Kanelbulle and kardemummabulle**: The cinnamon bun and its cardamom sibling, which is the one Swedes reach for first. Fika is built on them. - **Semla**: A cardamom bun hollowed out and filled with almond paste and cream, sold from New Year to Shrove Tuesday. - **Prinsesstårta**: Sponge, jam, custard and a dome of cream under green marzipan. Vete-Katten sets the standard. ## Stockholm transport & airports - **Stockholm Arlanda Airport** (ARN): 37 km north. The Arlanda Express takes 18 minutes and costs several times the alternatives; the SL commuter train is cheaper and slower; the coaches take about 45 minutes. [Swedavia](https://www.swedavia.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [Arlanda Express](https://www.arlandaexpress.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Trains from Stockholm Central** (Rail): One station handles almost everything: Gothenburg in about three hours, night trains north to Lapland, and the commuter network. Book intercity seats ahead, because walk-up fares are punishing. [SJ](https://www.sj.se/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **SL: metro, bus, tram and commuter train** (Metro): One fare covers metro, buses, trams, commuter trains and the Djurgården ferry. A single is SEK 42 for 75 minutes; 72 hours is SEK 350. More than 90 of the 100 metro stations carry commissioned art. [SL](https://sl.se/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Boats and taxis** (Water): Waxholmsbolaget runs the public archipelago ferries from Strömkajen, paid on board. Taxis are deregulated and each firm sets its own tariff, so read the yellow sticker first. [Waxholmsbolaget](https://waxholmsbolaget.se/in-english?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Stockholm at a glance - **Country:** Sweden - **Region:** On the border of Uppland and Södermanland, where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic - **Population:** 996,264 in Stockholm Municipality at 30 June 2025, with about 2.5 million in the metropolitan area - **Founded:** First recorded in 1252, in letters written by Birger Jarl - **Nickname:** Beauty on Water at home, the Venice of the North everywhere else - **Language:** Swedish, with English spoken almost universally - **Currency:** Swedish krona (SEK). Cards and phones are taken everywhere, cash almost nowhere - **Time zone:** CET (UTC+1), CEST (UTC+2) from late March to late October - **Calling code:** +46 8 - **Airports:** ARN and BMA. Skavsta (NYO) and Västerås (VST) are about 100 km out - **Power:** 230V · Type C and F, the two-pin European plug - **Emergency:** 112 ## Interesting facts - The city sits on fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren empties into the Baltic, and the archipelago holds roughly 30,000 more. - The metro is billed as the world's longest art gallery: more than 90 of its 100 stations carry commissioned work, on an ordinary ticket. - The Vasa sailed 1,300 metres in 1628, spent 333 years on the harbour floor and came up intact in 1961. The Baltic has no shipworm. - Skansen opened in 1891 and was the first open-air museum anywhere. Every one since is a version of moving whole buildings to a hill. - The Nobel banquet fills the Blue Hall of the City Hall each 10 December, and the hall is bare red brick. The architect kept the name anyway. ## Watch [Stockholm Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/stockholm.md), 24:57 ## Stockholm travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Stockholm? Four. Day one is Djurgården for the Vasa and Skansen, day two the City Hall and the galleries on the water, day three a boat into the archipelago, day four Drottningholm or Skogskyrkogården. Three works if you drop the boat, but the archipelago is half of what makes this city different from any other capital in Europe. ### Is Stockholm expensive? Yes, and less so than its reputation suggests if you use what is free. The Swedish History Museum, the Royal Armoury and the Moderna Museet collection cost nothing, Nationalmuseum is free on Thursday evenings, and transport is cheap for what it covers. Dinners and alcohol are where the money goes. ### When is the best time to visit? Late May to early September for the light, the boats and the swimming, with June the best of it: the archipelago timetable is at full width and the evenings barely end. September is quieter and still workable. December brings the Christmas markets and Lucia but only about six hours of daylight, and January and February are for museums. ### What has to be booked in advance? The City Hall guided tour, which is the only way in and sells out in summer. The Vasa in July and August. Frantzén and any restaurant of that class, months ahead. Drottningholm needs checking rather than booking, since it opens weekends only from October to April. ### How do you get from Arlanda into the city? The Arlanda Express is the fast answer at 18 minutes to Stockholm Central, and it costs several times the alternatives. The SL commuter train is much cheaper but slower and adds a station passage fee. Airport coaches reach Cityterminalen in about 45 minutes. ## Nearby guides - [Visby](https://wimup.com/city/visby.md): Sweden · 10 picks - [Turku](https://wimup.com/city/turku.md): Finland · 10 picks - [Kalmar](https://wimup.com/city/kalmar.md): Sweden · 10 picks - [All of Europe →](https://wimup.com/europe): 158 cities Part of the [Sweden guide](https://wimup.com/country/sweden.md) · [Europe](https://wimup.com/europe.md) ## Sources - [Stockholm tourism board](https://www.visitstockholm.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [The Vasa Museum: Vasa Museum](https://www.vasamuseet.se/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Gamla Stan and Stortorget: Nobel Prize Museum](https://www.nobelprize.org/about/nobel-museum/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Skansen: Skansen](https://www.skansen.se/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Stockholm City Hall: Stockholm City Hall](https://stadshuset.stockholm/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Drottningholm Palace: Drottningholm Palace](https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/drottningholm-palace/opening-hours.html?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [The Royal Palace: Royal Palace of Stockholm](https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/the-royal-palace.html?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [The Royal Palace: The Royal Guard schedule](https://www.forsvarsmakten.se/en/news-and-events/the-royal-guard/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Fotografiska: Fotografiska Stockholm](https://stockholm.fotografiska.com/en/visit?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [A boat into the archipelago: Waxholmsbolaget](https://waxholmsbolaget.se/in-english?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Nationalmuseum: Nationalmuseum](https://www.nationalmuseum.se/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Skogskyrkogården, the Woodland Cemetery: Skogskyrkogården](https://skogskyrkogarden.stockholm/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Stockholm Arlanda Airport: Swedavia](https://www.swedavia.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Stockholm Arlanda Airport: Arlanda Express](https://www.arlandaexpress.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Trains from Stockholm Central: SJ](https://www.sj.se/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [SL: metro, bus, tram and commuter train: SL](https://sl.se/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.