Culture, art and museums in Stockholm

Museums, film and a sunken beauty

The pick of Stockholm’s museums are; Moderna Museet for one of the world’s finest art collections of 20th and 21st century art, its fabulous restaurant and kids activities. Also put wonderful open-air museum Skansen on your list. You can join Stockholmers in celebrating Christmas and Midsummer in traditional style here. If you’re coming with the family, the zoo and collection of 19th century buildings and settings from all around Sweden are a must. A short walk from Skansen is the Vasa Museum. The museum was purpose-built to house the 17th century Vasa ship and we don’t just mean bits of it – we mean the entire ship, which was raised from nearby Lake Mälaren.

Palaces, theatres and opera

Palaces don’t come much bigger than the baroque Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) in Stockholm, which is a 600-room royal residence, place of work and cultural/historical treasure. Old Town (Gamla Stan), the area around the palace, is one of the best preserved medieval city centres anywhere. The city was founded here in 1252 and you should go here for Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan), the tight, winding, cobblestone streets, gorgeous leafy squares, Sweden’s narrowest alley at Mårten Trotzigs gränd, and an eclectic mix of cafés, bars and souvenir shops.

For theatre visit Drottningholm Court Theatre, one of Europe’s finest 18th century theatres, which adjoins Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms Slott) just outside the city. In the city, visit the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten), a gorgeous gold-detailed, art noveau–style building at Nybrokajen. Take the guided tour to go backstage. For dance do visit the dazzling dance, drama and art collections at Dansmuseet at Drottninggatan 17. The Royal Swedish Opera (Operan) is housed in a splendid neo-classical building from 1897 located at Gustav Adolfs torg. The Swedish Royal Ballet is also here.

Photography

If you love photography visit Fotografiska. Come here for world famous photographers’ work in the museum and gallery and take the tour to enjoy the exhibitions.