Stockholm Hotels

Stockholm - General Information

Stockholm Harbour

Enmeshed in a web of sea and fresh water, Stockholm is almost unparalleled among capital cities for the beauty of its natural setting. It sprawls on a stunning archipelago of rocky, forest-laden islands and islets, where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic. This unusual geography keeps suburban sprawl to a minimum. Travel out of the city north or west and you quickly find yourself in raw, stunning wilderness, populated mainly by reindeer.

Stockholm History

Indeed nomadic reindeer hunters provide the earliest known evidence of human habitation in this region, having followed the receding glaciers north into Scandinavia at the end of the last Ice Age in approximately 11000 BC. However Stockholm itself wasn’t founded until the mid-13th century. The heart of the Swedish kingdom had been centred around Mälaren and the archipelago for centuries, but falling sea levels meant that it became possible to pass from the Baltic Sea to Lake Mälaren only via a narrow channel just to the north of the island of Gamla Stan.

Realising the island’s strategic importance, Sweden's most important chieftain, Birger Jarl, ordered the construction of a fortress – called Tre Kronor – on it in 1252. Traffic on the waterways was controlled using timber stocks arranged as a fence, or boom, and this method may well have lent the burgeoning settlement its name: Stockholm means “tree-trunk islet.”

By the mid-15th century, Stockholm was the largest city in Sweden and a significant commercial centre, trading iron products, fur and grain. During this period Sweden was part of a Nordic Alliance called the Kalmar Union. However in 1520 King Christian II of Denmark killed Sweden’s ruler, Sten Sture the Younger, then executed 82 of the city’s burghers, bishops and nobility in an event known as the “Stockholm Blood Bath.” This event resulted in the total breakdown of the Union and Sweden became an independent nation under the leadership of King Gustav Vasa in 1523.

By the early 17th century Stockholm’s population had reached 60000. The city began to expand beyond the fortified medieval centre on Gamla Stan into the areas now known as Norrmalm and Sodermalm and Stockholm was proclaimed capital of Sweden in 1634. In the 18th century, Swedish science and arts blossomed, allowing the creation of many fine public buildings. In spite of famine in the 1860s, which forced more than a million Swedes to emigrate to North America, the city rapidly industrialised and continued to expand. The 1912 summer Olympics were held there.

The city emerged relatively unscathed from two World Wars, but in the 1960s it began to undergo major redevelopment: large “new towns” sprung up around the outskirts and extensive areas of “slums” were flattened to make way for concrete office blocks, motorways and other unsightly developments. After numerous protests, the redevelopment process was halted in the early 1970s and since then Stockholm’s beautiful architecture has been tenderly preserved.

Stockholm Today

Today Stockholm remains a delightful city to explore and Sweden’s design-conscious heritage ensures that it is one of the most stylish destinations in the world. So many aspects of its daily life – from the way people dress, to the places they eat, drink and shop – are fabulously refined and hip. The place is infused with an acute but subtle aesthetic sensibility. What’s more, the views across the waterways towards stately baroque and renaissance buildings of Gamla Stan easily rival those in Paris or Prague.

Stockholm - Areas

Gamla Stan - Stockholm's Old Town

Stockholm is eminently easy to get around on foot. In contrast to many cities, its different neighbourhoods, being located on self-contained islands, don’t overlap confusingly, but remain distinct from one another and well defined. The most logical place to start a walking tour is Gamla Stan, or Old Town. As its name suggests, it is an enchanting warren of centuries-old, low-rise buildings – many of them once merchant houses – mostly painted yellow, red and orange and draped in ivy. Between them run narrow cobbled streets and quiet squares echoing with the sound of water pumps. All the buildings, land development, signs, lampposts, windows and even colours are strictly regulated according to period-specific standards, thus ensuring that Gamla Stan retains its original appeal.

The main thoroughfare – and busiest shopping street – on the island is called Västerlånggaten. Many of the large, cast-iron shop windows you see here were built from the 1860s to 1880s and are modelled after those found in Paris. Acting somewhat like a giant sluice, the pedestrian traffic of Västerlånggaten coaxes tourists from the north end of the island to the south, discreetly separating them from their cash in the process. It can get very crowded, but there’s also a parallel shopping street – narrow, curving Prätsgatan – which is a quieter alternative to the hubbub and far more atmospheric. You can also avoid the bus-tour clusters by keeping off the main thoroughfares altogether and ducking down side streets. These include Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, which is the city’s narrowest street at only 90 centimetres wide.

The main landmark on Gamla Stan is the Kunglinga Slottet (Royal Palace), which sits on a hill at the island’s highest point. The low, yellow-brown building is imposing rather than pretty, with a monolithic façade that looms menacingly as you approach from the north. Although the palace is the official residence of the royal family, they actually live of the island of Drottingholm, so visitors are welcome to explore the sumptuous Royal Apartments and museums. However, the island’s most intriguing new attraction, located on Österlånggaten street, is the Ice Gallery. Affiliated with the well-known Ice Hotel in northern Sweden, it allows you to walk inside a recreated ice-suite from that property, complete with ice bed, walls, furniture and sculptures.

Norrmalm

North of Gamla Stan, lies Norrmalm. This is the uncompromisingly modern part of Stockholm. There are no quaint medieval streets here; indeed the area is still absorbing the blows to its aesthetic appeal perpetrated by much indiscriminate bulldozing and rebuilding in the 1960s. None the less Norrmalm remains essential viewing as Stockholm’s commercial centre, packed with shopping malls, office blocks, restaurants, nightclubs, most of the city’s larger and finer hotels, and some key museums and sights. Those who have just crossed over from Gamla Stan and want to head straight into the heart of the shopping district should take Vasagatan street north to Klarabergsgatan street, where many of the most exclusive boutiques are located.

Klarabergsgatan runs eastward to the ultra-modern Sergels Torg square, a two-level area of glass, concrete and subterranean shops. North from Segel’s Torg, five glass office buildings stand in a row, leading towards the open space of Hötorget. Built in the 1950s, they provoke mixed reactions from citizens and visitors alike, but are undeniable city landmarks. Hötorget itself is home to the PUB department store and an outdoor market selling fruit, flowers and a bit of everything. Further eastward from Sergel’s Torg, the crowded thoroughfare of Hamnagatan crosses the top of Kungsträdgården park. Here you’ll find NK, Sweden’s first and most exclusive department store.

Kungsträdgården

Kungsträdgården (King’s Garden) itself stretches south from here. Originally a vegetable garden for the Royal Castle in the 15th century, the park was later developed into a pleasure garden and remains a popular venue for open-air events and fairs. It is dominated by two tree-lined avenues, which shade the restaurants and glassed-in cafés along the park’s western and eastern edges. Wandering down through the park brings you to a stone walkway and cycle path which follow the northern shore of Norrström – from Rosenbad to the tip of the Blasieholmen peninsula – directly across from Gamla Stan. Part of the way along here is Gustav Adolf’s Torg named after King Gustav II Adolf, who greatly expanded the city in the early 17th century; an equestrian statue of the King stands in the centre of the square.

Djurgärden

A welcome contrast to both Gamla Stan and Norrmalm, the long, green island of Djurgärden, to the east, allows you to enjoy a strong flavour of the natural beauty of Sweden’s open landscapes without straying beyond the city’s perimeter. Indeed many of Stockholm’s foremost attractions are located here, including the world-class Vadamuseet, the open-air Skansen museum and Gröna Lund amusement park. All are on the island’s western half and draw hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. There are also lots of walking trails, cycle paths and traffic-free roads, which wind through the acres of undeveloped land that make up the rest of the island. There are frequent attempts to build much needed new housing on the open area of Gärdet, at the north end of the island, but these have so far been fought off by citizens for whom the oasis of Djurgärden is a much-loved green retreat from the rest of the city.

Södermalm

Offering yet another contrast to the rest of the city, Södermalm, directly south of Gamla Stan, is Stockholm’s most vibrant and bohemian district. Known colloquially as Söder, it was once determinedly working class, with its low rents and scruffy ambience attracting students and artists. Inevitably, these denizens created a grungy, bohemian atmosphere that attracted yuppies, thus pushing up property prices and placing Södermalm beyond the reach of many of the kinds of people who made it desirable in the first place. None the less, shops and restaurants here remain more affordable than in the rest of Stockholm, and the night life is a stew of all things indie and esoteric.

The area’s main focal points are Slussen and Medborgarplatsen, connected by busy thoroughfare, Götgatan, which runs north to south through the middle of the island. Splendid panoramic views back across the water to the city centre are also available from Söder’s northern heights, particularly the cliffs at Monteliusvågen. These rise above Mälarstrand, along which a string of commercial and pleasure boats are moored, including some boat hotels. Other than that, the island is best known for its bars, clubs and restaurants than its museums. South from Slussen along Götgatan, lies a quirkily trendy shopping area called SoFo: a grid of streets, which feature a high concentration of independent artists and designers.