Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [52]
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WALKING TOUR
Stockholm is a compact city, and many of its top historical sights can be visited in a couple of hours on a walking tour.
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Start Centralstationen
Finish Centralstationen
Distance 3.5km
Duration two to three hours
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Starting in the middle at Centralstationen (1), cross Vasagatan and enter the side street Klara Vattugränd. Turn left onto Klara V Kyrkogatan, past the church Klara kyrka (2), then turn right onto Klarabergsgatan. This is one of Stockholm’s main shopping strips, lined with big-name retailers and department stores.
Follow Klarabergsgatan to Sergels Torg (3), home to frenzied commuters, casual shoppers, and the odd demonstration and shady deal. Pop into arts hub Kulturhuset (4), with its exhibitions, theatres, cafes, a comic-book library and creative spaces for youth. Until early 2010, it’s also housing the Medeltidsmuseet (Click here).
Continue a short way along Hamngatan before turning right at the tourist office (Sweden House) into the grand Kungsträdgården (5). This park, originally the kitchen garden for the Royal Palace, is now a popular spot for sun-soaking in the warmer months, and ice-skating in the colder ones. The 17th-century church Sankt Jakobs kyrka (6) has an ornate pulpit that’s worth a quick look.
Walk through the park to its southern end at Karl XII’s Torg (7), where there’s a statue of the warmongering King Karl XII. On your right is Operan (8), the Royal Opera House (opened in 1896) and across the road you’ll see the narrow strait Norrström, the freshwater outflow from Mälaren lake. Continue along the waterfront, past Operan and Gustav Adolfs Torg (9), to the grandiose Sophia Albertina Palace (10), which houses the Foreign Ministry, then turn left and cross the Riksbron bridge. Continue across the islet Helgeandsholmen (11; Island of the Holy Spirit), between the two parts of Sweden’s parliament building, Riksdagshuset. After crossing over the short Stallbron bridge, you’ll arrive on Stadsholmen, Stockholm’s medieval core.
Cross Mynttorget and follow Västerlånggatan for one block, then turn left (east) into Storkyrkobrinken to reach Storkyrkan (12), the city’s cathedral and oldest building. Facing the cathedral across the cobbled square is Kungliga Slottet (13; Click here), the ‘new’ Royal Palace. Källargränd leads southward to Stortorget (14), where the Stockholm Bloodbath took place in 1520. Three sides of the square are formed by quaint tenements painted in varying earthy tones; on the fourth side of the square there’s Börsen, the Stock Exchange and Swedish Academy building, now home to an inspiring museum about the Nobel Prizes and their recipients.
The narrow streets of the eastern half of Gamla Stan still wind along their medieval 14th-century lines and are linked by a fantasy of lanes, arches and stairways. Head east along Köpmangatan to small square Köpmantorget (15) and the oft-photographed statue of St George and the Dragon. Turn right into Österlånggatan and follow it past antique shops, art galleries, handicraft outlets and Den Gyldene Freden, which has been serving food since 1722, until you reach Järntorget (16), where metals were bought and sold in days long past. From there, keep right and turn into Västerlånggatan, looking out for Mårten Trotzigs Gränd (17) by No 81: this is Stockholm’s narrowest lane, at less than 1m wide. Follow Prästgatan to the lavishly decorated German church, Tyska kyrkan (18).
Crowded Västerlånggatan is lined with shops, cafes and tacky souvenirs; unless you’re desperate for a Viking key ring, follow the quieter parallel street, Stora Nygatan, instead. At Riddarhustorget, turn left (southwest) and cross the short Riddarholmsbron to Riddarholmen (Knights Island). The large church Riddarholmskyrkan (19) has an iron