Stockholm

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Kungsträdgården

More Photos
Jeffrey
Jeffrey
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
Reviews
8
Photos
Sort by: Most Recent|Positive|Negative|Most Useful
1-2 of 2
Editor Pick

Kungsträdgården, Blasieholmen & Skeppsholmen

Kungsträdgården, Blasieholmen & Skeppsholmen

This walk captures the essence of Stockholm’s beauty on the water. Start from the city’s oldest park, Kungsträdgården. During the summer, there are many popular music concerts and a restaurant festival that lasts for days. Both locals and tourists love to sit by the large fountain in the center and spend a lazy afternoon in the sun watching people and enjoying a soft ice cream. Sometimes tents are set up in the park for children to try bungee jumping or for adults to try ballroom dancing.

Walk toward Strömgatan by the water and you will see a statue of King Karl XII, the warrior king. At this end of the park, you can choose among several outdoor cafés for a typical open-top sandwich for lunch or simply a coffee for refreshment. These outdoor cafés offer a fantastic view of the Royal Palace across the bridge. A stone’s throw away is the famous Café Opera, an elegant restaurant and trendy dance club. Across the street from the restaurant is Gustav Adolf Torg, with the statue of Gustav II Adolf in the center and the Royal Opera House on its side.

Across the street, underneath the Norrbro bridge, is the fascinating Medieval Museum, which was founded after a 15th-century city wall was discovered during the construction of a car park in the late 1970s. The museum offers a glimpse of Stockholmers’ life in medieval times. For example, the Old Town actually smelled of garbage and excretion everywhere, and many cruel and unjust punishments were imposed on people.

Continue toward the Royal Palace and turn left toward the bridge Strömbron. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Strömkajen. Here is where the city sightseeing boats and archipelago ferries depart. You are now on the island of Blasieholmen. To your left is the elegant Grand Hotel, where celebrities and Nobel Prize winners stay during their visit. Walk farther down and you will find National Museum, a beautiful neo-Renaissance building surrounded by waters. The museum houses Sweden’s largest art collection. The most impressive are the two giant murals by Carl Larsson. Besides paintings from Scandinavia and other European countries, there is also a room dedicated to the Scandinavian Design Movement of the 1950s.

Leaving the museum, a wrought-iron bridge decorated with gold crowns, the Skeppsholmsbron, leads you to the charming island of Skeppsholmen. It was Stockholm’s shipyard in the 18th century. Moored next to the island is the beautiful schooner af Chapman. Once a seaman’s training school, this ship is now a floating youth hostel—very popular among the budget-minded visitors.

There are three museums on this island—Moderna Museet, Arkitekturmuseet, and the Oriental Museum. Even if you don’t have time to visit them, the playful sculptures by Nikki Saint Phalle outside Moderna Museet are wonderful candies for the eye.

The rest of the island provides beautiful green lawns and shady trees. Take a leisurely stroll along the water and enjoy the magical view of the city on water.

From journal The Jewels of Stockholm

Editor Pick

Restaurant Days in Kings Garden

  • June 27, 2001
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Jeffrey from Plano, Texas
Restaurant Days in Kings Garden

The Swedes have good reason to celebrate the arrival of summer after their long dark winters, and one of the ways they do this is with Restaurant Days in Kings Garden.

Restaurant Days is a 3 day festival held each summer at the beginning of June, in Kungstradgarden (or Kings Garden), a beautiful public park in downtown Stockholm.

During Restaurants Days, many (dozens and dozens) of Stockholm's restaurants, cafes, and pubs set up temporary shop in Kings Garden, in covered pavillions and kiosks. To add to the festivities, they have the "World's Largest Business Lunch" on the Friday of the festival. People from all over Stockholm flock to Restaurant Days and enjoy the good food and drink.

Other events include a waiter's race, and a chef's challenge among the renowned chefs of Stockholm. Additionally, there are multiple stages for music and other performances. There is lots of seating to enjoy food and drink, both covered and uncovered.

I walked into the Restaurant Days celebration without knowing what the party was all about. I had read about it, and what fun it was to find it and join the fun with such little effort!

You can easily reach Kings Garden from anywhere in Stockholm. Take the subway (Tunnelbana or T-Bana) to the Kungstradgarden station, walk out of the station 2 blocks to the right, and you are there. Restaurant Days in Kings Garden takes place at the beginning of June, this year it was June 1st through the 4th.

From journal Stockholm

Sort by: Most Recent|Positive|Negative|Most Useful
1-2 of 2

Compare Stockholm Rates

1. Enter travel information

City

2. Select websites to compare rates

Each selected website will open a new window.

Stockholm Travel Deals