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Four days in Stockholm covers the old town, a royal palace, two of the city’s most rewarding neighbourhoods and the museum island, with a day left over for the archipelago. Summer is the time to do it: the days run long, the terraces open and the boats sail. I spent four days here last June with my mum, after a first winter visit where the weather kept me indoors, and this is the itinerary we actually walked, day by day, with the restaurants we ate in and the mistakes worth avoiding.
That trip was deliberately a holiday rather than a work trip. I left my camera at home, used a printed guide instead of researching everything myself, and did not bring my laptop, so the notes below are lighter on detail than my usual itineraries and heavier on what it was like. We also had closer to three days than four, because we arrived at noon and left on the afternoon of the last day, which is worth knowing when you look at how much is packed in.
If you want a guide for part of it, there is a walking tour of the Old Town and a bike tour of the city’s highlights for an active start, or a Royal Djurgården boat tour if you would rather sit down and let the city go past.
Day 1: Gamla Stan, Riddarholmen and Norrmalm
Day 1 stays on the two oldest islands and then crosses into the modern centre, which is about as much walking as a travel day allows. Our hotel was in Gamla Stan, so that is where we started, and the three areas connect on foot with no transport needed.
1. Gamla Stan
Gamla Stan is Stockholm’s old town, sitting on its own island, and walking its lanes with no plan is the right way to see it. Because it is an island you cannot really get lost, which is the whole pleasure of it.
Come on a weekday morning if you want the streets to yourself. The trade-off is that the area is at its liveliest later, when the terraces on Stortorget fill up, so a morning walk plus an evening drink covers both.
What to see in Gamla Stan
Gamla Stan’s sights are close enough together that you can see all of these in a morning. They are listed below roughly in walking order from the bridge.
Riddarhuset. The House of Knights is a 17th-century palace housing the House of Nobility, the body that looks after the Swedish nobility’s records and heritage. Riddarhustorget 10
Bondeska Palatset. The Bonde Palace was built as a private house and now holds the Supreme Court of Sweden. Riddarhustorget 8
Mårten Trotzigs Gränd. Stockholm’s narrowest alley is 90 cm (35.4 in) across at its tightest point. It is dark and scruffy with graffiti on the walls, and it is a good photograph rather than a destination. Mårten Trotzigs Gränd
Kungliga Slottet and the changing of the guard. The Royal Palace is unusual in being both a royal residence and the working seat of the royal court. The royal apartments and three museums inside open to the public, and the guard changes in the outer courtyard, Yttre Borggården. Slottsbacken
Järnpojke, the Iron Boy. Stockholm’s smallest public statue is 15 cm (5.9 in) tall and sits in the courtyard garden of the Finnish Church. People stroke his head, leave him coins, sweets and knitted hats, and the gifts are quietly cleared away overnight. The story says anyone who touches him will come back to Stockholm. Slottsbacken 2B-C
The three churches. Gamla Stan has the Finnish Church, the German Church of St Gertrude, Tyska Kyrkan, and Storkyrkan, the Stockholm Cathedral, where Swedish royal weddings happen. Tyska Kyrkan, Svartmangatan 16; Storkyrkan, Trångsund 1
Nobelmuseet. The Nobel Prize Museum shares the old stock exchange building with the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Library. I have not been inside myself; what I have read is that the material is interesting and the layout could be clearer. Stortorget 2
Where to eat in Gamla Stan
We ate in Gamla Stan because we were sleeping in Gamla Stan, which is the honest reason nobody walks far for dinner after a day on their feet. I was not taking notes on that trip, so these are the three places I can actually vouch for.
Stortorgskällaren, formerly Ebenist. This is on Stortorget, the same square as Chokladkoppen, and I nearly walked past it, because a restaurant on a square full of tourists is usually the wrong bet. It was the exception. The room is done up like a large, dim sitting room with dark furniture, the menu is short, and the food was carefully cooked. My only complaint is that it got loud as it filled. It traded as Ebenist when we ate there and has since gone back to its older name, Stortorgskällaren, so look for that sign rather than the one in older guides. Stortorget 7
Kaffekoppen and Chokladkoppen. These are two small cafés side by side in two of the most photographed houses on Stortorget, and their terraces are where the old town’s people-watching happens. There are fleece blankets over the chairs and hot white chocolate on the menu. Order the big one. Stortorget 20 and 18
Ristorante Paganini. Mum wanted Italian, so we went here, a large Italian restaurant on Västerlånggatan with a narrow pavement terrace. It is run by Italians and our waiter was a charmer; we shared antipasti and I had a seafood pasta. My tip is to ask for a window table: cooler and quieter than the middle of the room, and warmer than the pavement, because a Stockholm summer night still calls for a jumper. Västerlånggatan 75
Take a tour of Gamla Stan
A guide is worth it in Gamla Stan, because the buildings all have stories and none of them are labelled. This private walking tour covers the old town in about two hours.
If you want it shaped around your own interests instead, this private tour with a local can be adapted.
2. Riddarholmen
Riddarholmen is the small island joined to Gamla Stan by a bridge, and it takes half an hour rather than half a day. On my first trip to Stockholm I slept on a boat moored here, which tells you how quiet it is compared with the old town across the water.
Sights to see in Riddarholmen
Evert Taubes Terrass. This long terrace on the island’s western edge gives you Södermalm on one side and the city centre with City Hall on the other. It is named after Evert Taube, the Swedish singer, composer and writer whose statue stands on it. Evert Taubes Terrass
Riddarholmskyrkan. The Riddarholmen Church dates from the 13th century, making it one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm and the city’s only surviving medieval abbey church. It opens to visitors in the summer season only, so check the opening dates before you cross the bridge for it. Riddarholmen
3. Norrmalm
Norrmalm is Stockholm’s commercial centre and it pulls you indoors, which is the opposite of the two islands you have just walked. The big shopping streets are Drottninggatan, Hamngatan and Kungsgatan.
You do not have to spend anything here, but you do have to look harder than in Gamla Stan, where every handsome building has another one leaning on it. Norrmalm’s good things are spread out among ordinary office blocks.
Sights to see in Norrmalm
Adolf Fredriks Kyrka. A white 18th-century church known for its acoustics, and worth stepping into if a rehearsal is on. Holländargatan 16
Konserthuset and the Orpheus fountain. The Stockholm Concert Hall is the blue building on Hötorget, built for the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and it is where the Nobel Prize award ceremony is held each December. Carl Milles’s Orpheus fountain stands outside. Hötorget 8
Kungstornen. The King’s Towers are two 1920s skyscrapers facing each other across Kungsgatan, with the Malmskillnadsgatan bridge crossing between them so the whole thing reads as a gateway. They were among the first tall buildings in Europe. Kungsgatan 30 and 33
Hötorget and Hötorgshallen. Hötorget, the Haymarket, has a fruit, vegetable and flower market every day and turns into a flea market on Sundays. Hötorgshallen, the food hall underneath, sells meat, fish, coffee, spices and cooked food from a dozen cuisines, and it is one of the better cheap lunches in the centre. Hötorget
S:t Jacobs Kyrka. St James’s Church is a red-orange church in the middle of the city with an altar to match. Swedish uses the one name, Jakob, for both Jacob and James, which is why it gets translated two ways. Jakobs Torg 5
Kungliga Operan. I saw a ballet at the Royal Swedish Opera on my winter trip, and the interior is the reason to go: gilded, red and properly grand. You can also take a guided tour of the building. Gustav Adolfs torg 2
Where to eat in Norrmalm
K25. K25 is a modern food hall of the kind that has appeared in every city, and it works: eleven kitchens under one roof, a wide price range, eat in or take away, open all day, and most of them serving beer and wine. It is where people who work nearby have lunch. Kungsgatan 25
If you would rather learn about the city while you eat, a food tour is the efficient version of this. GetYourGuide’s Stockholm listings carry several, and they change often enough that it is worth checking current availability rather than booking whatever an old blog post links to.
Day 2: Drottningholm Palace and Södermalm
Day 2 is a morning on the water to a royal palace and an afternoon in the city’s most likeable neighbourhood, which is a good balance of sitting still and walking. The boat out and back takes two hours of the day, so this is the day not to over-plan.
1. Drottningholm Palace
Drottningholm Palace is a 17th-century royal palace and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and going out to it by boat is the part my mum asked for by name when I said we were going to Stockholm. As well as the palace itself, the grounds hold the gardens, the Chinese Pavilion and the 18th-century Palace Theatre.
Most of the estate is open to visitors, which makes it easy to forget that this is the permanent home of the King and Queen of Sweden. They live in the southern wing, the one part that stays closed.
We took an old steamboat out from the quay by City Hall. We had been told to turn up half an hour before departure to get a good seat, and that turned out to be unnecessary: boarding did not open until around ten minutes beforehand and the boat was not full. Booking the first sailing of the day, at 10 a.m., is the tip that actually mattered, because it gave us the whole morning at the palace and still left the afternoon free.
The crossing takes about an hour each way, past small islands, wooden jetties, little harbours and a great deal of green, and it is worth the time on its own. You can also reach Drottningholm by bus, taxi, car or bike, but the boat is the better trip. The boat ticket includes palace admission, so you walk straight in without queueing, and the palace is the first thing you reach when you step off.
We spent about two hours on the grounds, which covered the state rooms and the gardens with time for a drink at the palace café before the boat back. Opening dates shift by season and the palace closes for royal events, so check the opening hours on the royal palaces’ own site before you commit a morning to it.
2. Södermalm
Södermalm was my favourite part of Stockholm, and it is the one I would go back to first. It is the city’s independent quarter: small boutiques, good cafés, vintage shops, and a pace that felt less hurried than Norrmalm and less staged than Gamla Stan.
SoFo is the part of it people name, a pun on SoHo meaning south of Folkungatan, bounded by Folkungatan, Ringvägen, Erstagatan and Götgatan. That is where the concentration of shops and places to eat is highest.
Sights to see in Södermalm
The view from Monteliusvägen. This 500 m (0.3 mi) walkway along Södermalm’s northern edge has small houses on one side and the whole city, City Hall included, on the other. On a clear day it is the one free thing in Stockholm I would send anyone to. Monteliusvägen
Katarina Kyrka. A large yellow church that has burned down and been rebuilt twice, which makes the colour feel like a choice. Högbergsgatan 13
The wooden houses. Small painted wooden workers’ cottages from the 18th and 19th centuries survive in pockets of Södermalm, mostly in red and yellow, and finding them is a free afternoon. Bergsprängargränd, Mäster Persgränd and Mäster Mikaels Gata
The smallest house in Stockholm. Nytorgsgatan 5 is the smallest house in the city, red, and wedged against a much larger yellow building. It takes two minutes and it is a good two minutes. Nytorgsgatan 5
Fotografiska. Stockholm’s photography museum runs changing exhibitions and has a bookshop, a gallery and a restaurant with a view over the water. Buy the entry ticket online to skip the queue. Stadsgårdshamnen 22
Erik’s Gondolen. This restaurant sits 33 m (108.3 ft) above Slussen, reached along a walking bridge, and the view is what you are paying for. Stadsgården 6
If you would rather be on the water than looking at it, this archipelago sightseeing cruise runs with a guide from the centre.
Day 3: Stockholm City Hall and Östermalm
Day 3 pairs the one building in Stockholm you can only see on a guided tour with the neighbourhood where you just walk around and look at things. It is a shorter day than the first two, which is welcome by this point.
1. Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall is not an elegant building from the outside, and it is worth going in anyway. I would probably have skipped it if my dad had not been years earlier and told us to go.
You can only see it on a guided tour, which is a limitation, and the rooms justify it. The Golden Hall is genuinely gold: the walls and ceiling are covered in millions of gilded mosaic tiles. The Blue Hall, which is not blue, is where the Nobel Prize banquet is held every December.
Tours run frequently through the day in several languages and ours lasted about an hour. Mum loved it; I am less patient with guided tours, because I want to move on when I am ready. One genuinely practical note: use the toilet before the tour starts, because you cannot leave partway through. There is one near the ticket desk and another at the end by the cloakroom. Hantverkargatan 1
2. Östermalm
Östermalm is Stockholm’s expensive district, where the rents are high and the shop windows do not show prices. We were not shopping, and we still enjoyed it, because there are good small boutiques and cafés among the grand apartment blocks.
Walking around and looking is the point here rather than any single sight. Östermalmshallen, the 19th-century food hall, is the exception worth going inside for.
Sights to see in Östermalm
Historiska Museet. The Swedish History Museum is one of the largest museums in the country, covering Swedish cultural history and archaeology from the Mesolithic onwards. The Viking exhibition and the Gold Room are the draws. Narvavägen 13-17
Dramaten. The Royal Dramatic Theatre puts on Swedish and international plays, classical and modern, for adults and children across five stages. Ingmar Bergman ran it in the 1960s. Nybroplan
Hedvig Eleonora Kyrka. An octagonal yellow 18th-century church. Ingmar Bergman’s father was a chaplain here, which is a better fact than the building alone would earn. Storgatan 2
Day 4: Djurgården and the museum island
Day 4 belongs on Djurgården, the green island that holds most of Stockholm’s big museums and is small enough to cycle in an afternoon. Take the ferry over from Gamla Stan or Skeppsholmen rather than the tram, because the crossing is part of it.
1. ABBA The Museum
ABBA The Museum is on Djurgården and it is the one Stockholm attraction nobody lets you leave out. I went on my first trip and found it genuinely interesting rather than just silly, which I had not expected.
Book ahead, because entry runs on timed slots and walk-ins get turned away in summer. Get ABBA The Museum tickets here.
2. A bike ride around Djurgården
Djurgården is flat, green and closed to most traffic, which makes it the easiest cycling in the city. It holds ABBA The Museum, the Skansen open-air museum and the Vasa Museum, and you can string all three together on a bike in a day.
Vasa is the one to prioritise. The warship sank on her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628 after sailing barely 1,300 m (0.8 mi), was raised from the harbour mud in 1961 after a salvage operation begun in 1959, and has been on show since the museum opened in 1990. The hall is kept dim to protect the timber, which is part of why standing under her is so strange.
If you want to know what you are looking at while you ride, this guided bike tour covers the island and the city’s major sights in two to three hours. With children, or if you grew up on the books, Junibacken next door is a museum and children’s theatre built around Astrid Lindgren’s stories, Pippi Longstocking included.
3. Day trips from Stockholm
Day trips work well from Stockholm if you have a fifth day, because the archipelago and the Viking sites are both close. We did not do any on this trip, since four days barely covered the city. Two that run reliably are below.
- A Viking culture tour from Stockholm: a guided half day at the Viking sites outside the city, with transfer included.
- A kayaking day in the archipelago: a small-group paddle among the islands, for anyone who can swim 200 m.
- The Fjäderholmarna cruise: the nearest archipelago island, about half an hour out, and the easiest taste of it in an afternoon.
Where to stay in Stockholm
Gamla Stan is the area to stay in for a first visit, because you walk out of the door into the oldest part of the city and you save the transport time every morning. Södermalm is the alternative if you want restaurants over sights, and the central station area suits anyone arriving late or leaving early.
A boutique option in Gamla Stan: Lady Hamilton Hotel. Mum and I stayed here, in the old town, with free WiFi, a good breakfast buffet and a location we never once needed transport from. It is a converted old-town building, so the rooms vary in size and shape more than a chain hotel’s do. Book a room at the Lady Hamilton Hotel.
A larger option in the centre: Radisson Blu Waterfront. This one sits next to Central Station and the Waterfront Congress Centre, which makes it the practical choice for a short trip or an early flight. Free WiFi, a breakfast buffet and a gym on site. Book a room at the Radisson Blu Waterfront.
How to get around Stockholm
Stockholm is walkable but spread across 14 islands, so you will want transport at least once a day. Buses, trams, the metro and commuter ferries all run on the same SL ticketing, and a travelcard covering the days you are there works out cheaper than single fares if you use it more than twice a day.
The metro is worth riding for its own sake. Several central stations are decorated as art installations, with T-Centralen’s blue vine paintings the most photographed, and the network gets called the world’s longest art gallery for a reason. Hop-on hop-off buses and boats also run in summer, and current options and prices are on GetYourGuide’s Stockholm page rather than in this paragraph, because operators and combinations change every season.
How to get to Stockholm
Stockholm has two airports that are genuinely in Stockholm, Arlanda and Bromma, and a third, Skavsta, that carries the city’s name while sitting about 100 km (62.1 mi) away near Nyköping. Check which one a cheap fare lands at before you book it.
Arlanda Airport
The Arlanda Express train runs from the airport into Stockholm Central in about 20 minutes, every 15 minutes, and it is the fastest option and the most expensive. The commuter train takes about 45 minutes, runs twice an hour and costs considerably less.
The Flygbussarna coach takes 35 to 45 minutes to the city terminal and is the cheapest of the three. With luggage and a late arrival, the coach is usually the sensible compromise.
Bromma Airport
Flygbussarna runs from Bromma too, and the journey into the centre takes about 20 minutes because Bromma is much closer in. This is the airport to want if you get the choice.
Taxis and transfers
Swedish taxis set their own prices within a range, so the fare is not fixed by regulation and it pays to check the price on the window before you get in. Arlanda publishes guidance on taxi pricing at the airport, and the rule of thumb is to use the marked ranks and agree a fixed fare to the city.
When I flew into Bromma with mum we booked a private transfer to the hotel in advance, at a price agreed beforehand, and it was the right call: we knew someone would be waiting and we did not have to get two suitcases onto a bus. It costs more than the coach and less than a metered taxi gamble.
The best time to visit Stockholm
Summer, roughly May to early September, is when Stockholm is at its most usable, and June is the sweet spot before the Swedes take their own holidays in July. The days run long enough that you lose track of the hour, the archipelago boats are all running, the terraces on Stortorget are open and the city eats outdoors.
I have been twice, once in winter and once in June, and the difference is not subtle. The winter trip was a lovely surprise and I saw very little of the city, because short daylight and cold rain push you from one indoor thing to the next. Everything in this itinerary that involves a boat, a bicycle or a viewpoint needs the summer version of Stockholm.
Two dates to plan around. Midsummer Eve, the Friday between 19 and 25 June, shuts much of the city while everyone leaves for the countryside. December is the other exception worth considering on purpose rather than by accident: the Nobel week, the Christmas markets in Gamla Stan and the Lucia processions on 13 December are all things summer does not give you.
How many days do you need in Stockholm?
Three to four days is right for a first visit to Stockholm, and four is the number that stops it feeling rushed. Two full days will get you the highlights and nothing else.
Spend the first two or three days on the central islands, Gamla Stan, Riddarholmen, Norrmalm, Södermalm and Östermalm, then use the fourth for Djurgården’s museums or for going further out to Drottningholm, the archipelago or the university city of Uppsala. That is the shape this itinerary follows, and it is the shape most people who have done it recommend.
Is Stockholm expensive?
Stockholm is expensive by European standards and less shocking than its reputation, with alcohol the one cost that is genuinely in another bracket. I had braced for it and found that food and non-alcoholic drinks were similar to Belgium, perhaps a little higher, while a round of drinks was not close.
The reason is tax and the state monopoly: spirits and wine are sold only through Systembolaget, and licensed premises pay accordingly. Sweden uses the Swedish krona, not the euro, and at rates of 10 September 2026, when €1 bought 11.20 SEK, 100 SEK was worth about €8.90 ($10.40, £7.70). Cards are taken absolutely everywhere, including in the smallest café, and Stockholm’s public transport takes no cash at all.
What actually keeps the cost down is that a lot of the city is free. Monteliusvägen, the wooden houses of Södermalm, the metro’s art stations, Djurgården’s paths and simply walking the old town cost nothing.
What to know before you go to Stockholm
Five things are worth knowing before a Stockholm trip, and they are listed below in the order they will affect you.
- Bring a card, not cash. Sweden is close to cashless. Every café I went into on both trips took cards, public transport takes none, and withdrawing krona at an ATM is worth doing only if your bank charges more for card transactions abroad than for withdrawals. Check which way round that is for your own bank before you fly.
- Pack layers even in June. Stockholm in June is pleasant and it is not southern Europe. Mum and I both wanted a cardigan and a light jacket morning and evening, and T-shirts in the afternoon. Bring something waterproof.
- You cannot buy a drink without a food menu. Swedish licensing means a place has to serve food to serve alcohol, so there are no bars in the British sense. It is less restrictive than it sounds, because hotel bars and most restaurants qualify.
- Midsummer empties the city and fills the countryside. Midsummer Eve falls on the Friday between 19 and 25 June, and it is the single biggest date in the Swedish year. I have not been in Stockholm for it, but locals and other travellers all told me the same thing: the normally reserved Swedes let go completely, and the city itself half shuts while everyone heads out of town. If you want museums and restaurants, avoid that weekend.
- Book timed-entry attractions before you arrive. ABBA The Museum runs on slots, Drottningholm’s boat and City Hall’s tours both fill in summer, and the Vasa Museum queue is long by mid-morning.
WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips
The five tips below come from the two trips behind this itinerary and from what has changed in the city since, ordered by how much time or money each one saves.
- Book the 10 a.m. Drottningholm boat and ignore the advice to queue early. We were told to be at the City Hall quay half an hour ahead; boarding did not open until about ten minutes before and the boat was not full. The early sailing is what matters, because it buys you the whole morning at the palace and still leaves the afternoon for the city.
- The boat ticket to Drottningholm includes palace entry. You walk straight past the ticket queue, which on a summer morning is the difference between two hours on the grounds and one.
- Use the toilet before the City Hall tour starts. You cannot leave partway through an hour-long guided tour, and it is the only way to see the building. There is a toilet by the ticket desk and another at the end by the cloakroom.
- Look for Stortorgskällaren, not Ebenist, on Stortorget 7. The restaurant we ate at has gone back to its earlier name. Same address, same square, different sign from the one older guides send you to.
- Ask for a window table at Paganini. Inside gets noisy and warm, the pavement terrace gets cold once the sun goes off the street, and the window seats are the only place that is neither.
About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes in this post come from her four days in Stockholm one June with her mother, and from an earlier winter trip to the same city. The team covers Sweden for independent travellers, including the tours, hotels and airport transfers worth booking, and updates this page when venues, prices and tour availability change. For more on the city itself, see the full guide to things to do in Stockholm.
Great read, Sofie A really comprehensive read and very helpful when planning a visit to Stockholm. I’ve not yet had the opportunity to visit Stockholm so will be following your tips when I do get to go
Thanks Russell, I appreciate that! :-) I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did when you go.
Reading this article reminds me of my time as a student in Sweden. I lived in the smaller town of Jonkoping but made frequent visits during university trips, to the airport and for workshops in Sweden thanks to the Swedish Institute. Stockholm and the whole of Sweden looks great during summer and autumn.
I haven’t been yet in autumn, but now you’ve made me curious :-)
I’m just considering spending 4 days in Stockholm since beside being a beutiful city in this crazy year is not so COVID involved as other places. I went there a couple of times a lifetime ago and your article has been the most infortative one I found online. Thanks
Thanks for letting me know, Davide! I really appreciate that :)
Thanks for the heads up and comprehensive write ups. Will be heading there via Copenhagen and Oslo in May 2024.
Thanks for the lovely write ups.