Gamla Stan on foot: a two-hour route through Stockholm's old town, and what needs a ticket

In the first days of November 1520, Christian II of Denmark was crowned king of Sweden in Stockholm and gave three days of feasts in the castle. On the evening of the 7th the gates were shut. His guests, Swedish nobles, bishops and townsmen who had fought him and had been promised a pardon, were accused of heresy. Over the next two days more than eighty of them were beheaded or hanged in the main square, Stortorget.

One of the dead was the father of a young nobleman, Gustav Eriksson, who raised a rebellion, drove the Danes out and was elected king on 6 June 1523. Sweden still keeps that date as its national day. The square where it began is now the quiet centre of Gamla Stan, an island you can cross in fifteen minutes. Walking it is free. The buildings along the way are not, and it helps to know which are worth entering.

How the old town is laid out

Gamla Stan is one main island with a small one, Riddarholmen, joined to its western side by a bridge. Stockholm was founded here in the middle of the thirteenth century, at the point where Lake Mälaren runs out into the Baltic. The palace and the cathedral stand at the northern end, Stortorget is in the middle, and one long shopping street, Västerlånggatan, runs the length of the island.

The metro station Gamla stan is on the western shore. From Central Station it is ten minutes on foot, over the bridges beside the parliament. The lanes are cobbled and several are steep.

A two-hour route

1. The palace courtyard

The Royal Palace replaced a castle that burned down in 1697. It was finished in 1754, has more than six hundred rooms, and is still where the king works. The changing of the guard in the outer courtyard, around midday, is free, and in summer it often comes with a military band. The time varies with the season.

A military band at the changing of the guard, in the outer courtyard of the palace. Photo: W. Bulach, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

2. Storkyrkan and the smallest statue

The brick cathedral beside the palace was consecrated in 1306. Inside is a wooden St George and the Dragon of 1489, carved to celebrate a victory over the Danes in 1471. The cathedral charges visitors for entry. In the yard behind the Finnish Church, a few steps away, sits the Iron Boy, a figure about fifteen centimetres high that people dress in knitted hats in winter.

3. Stortorget

The square of the opening story: tall merchants' houses in red, yellow and green, and a stone well. The long building on its north side, the old Stock Exchange of the 1770s, is the seat of the Swedish Academy and holds the Nobel Prize Museum.

4. Köpmantorget

Two minutes east, a bronze copy of St George and the Dragon stands in the open air. If you did not pay to enter the cathedral, this is your look at it.

The bronze copy of St George and the Dragon on Köpmantorget. The wooden original is inside the cathedral. Photo: Arild Vågen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

5. Prästgatan and the narrowest alley

Prästgatan runs parallel to Västerlånggatan and is nearly empty. At its corner with Kåkbrinken a Viking-age runestone is built into the foot of a wall. Follow the lane south to Mårten Trotzigs gränd, a stairway of 36 steps between two houses, 90 centimetres wide at its narrowest.

Prästgatan, one street away from the crowds of Västerlånggatan. Photo: Arild Vågen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

6. Riddarholmen

Cross the bridge to the small island. Riddarholmen Church, with its openwork iron spire, is where the kings of Sweden were buried for centuries. Walk past it to the terrace on the western shore: the view runs across the water to the City Hall, where the Nobel banquet is held. It is free, and best in the evening.

Riddarholmen at dusk, seen across the water. Photo: Arild Vågen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What needs a ticket

• The Royal Palace. One ticket covers the state apartments, the Treasury with the crown jewels, and the museum of the old castle in the cellars. Rooms close without much notice for state occasions.
• The Royal Armoury, in the vaults of the palace, is a separate museum with its own ticket: royal coaches, armour and costumes.
• Storkyrkan charges an entrance fee.
• The Nobel Prize Museum on Stortorget needs a ticket.
• Riddarholmen Church needs a ticket and is open mainly in the warmer months.

If you have time for one interior, the palace gives the most: allow an hour and a half. Current hours are on our pages for the Royal Palace, Storkyrkan and the Nobel Prize Museum.

Reading the partner's listings

For Gamla Stan our partner sells audio walks: commentary in its app, on your own phone, with a map that leads you from stop to stop. No guide meets you, and no entry ticket is part of any of them. Tickets for the palace, the cathedral or the museums are bought separately.

The walks differ in where they start and how long they last:

• one begins at the Gamla stan metro station and takes about two hours;
• two begin at the palace end and finish at Riddarholmen Church after about two and a half hours;
• one ends on the terrace of Riddarholmen, and one starts on Riddarholmen and finishes at the cathedral.

Several have almost the same name. Open each one and compare the starting point and the length with your day. Bring earphones, and download the tour before you set out.

These are the audio walks of Gamla Stan our partner sells, with today's prices:

• on WeGoTrip History & Heritage Stockholm Old Town: the Hidden Gems of Gamla Stan 2.5 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom122 kr
• on WeGoTrip Walking Tours Stockholm: Walk Through the Heart of Gamla Stan 1.5 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom77 kr
• on WeGoTrip Sightseeing Tickets Stockholm: Self-Guided Audio Walk Through Old Town and Riddarholmen 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom111 kr
• on WeGoTrip Sightseeing Tickets Stockholm: Self-Guided Audio Walk Through Old Town Treasures 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom111 kr
• on WeGoTrip History & Heritage Stockholm: Gamla Stan Audio Tour 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom111 kr

Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

When to go

In the middle of a summer day Västerlånggatan is packed from end to end. Before ten in the morning and after six in the evening the same lanes are almost empty, and in June it stays light until late. In winter it is dark by mid-afternoon. A Christmas market fills Stortorget in December.

From here

The warship Vasa, which sank in the harbour on her first voyage in 1628 and was raised in 1961, is in the Vasa Museum on the island of Djurgården, reached by tram or by ferry. Our partner sells nothing for it, so book that one directly. South of the old town, the heights of Södermalm give the view back over its roofs. For the rest of Stockholm, open the trip planner for Sweden.

Cover photo: Øyvind Holmstad, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.