Stockholm Royal Palace

Stockholm Royal Palace
Slottsbacken 1, 107 70 Stockholm, Sweden
www.visitsweden.com

The Royal Palace is a Baroque building by architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger stands tall atop the island of the Old Town (Gamla Stan) and is surrounded by quaint untouched cobblestoned streets and listed buildings. The palace has more than 600 rooms on 7 floors and is the official residence of the Swedish Royal Family in Stockholm. See the Royal Apartments, the Treasury and the Tre Kronor Museum where you can get up close to quite an amazing array of crowns and royal costume jewellery and paraphernalia. Must see? Changing of the guard at 12.15 weekdays and Saturday (1.15 pm on Sundays). Walk there. It’s in the middle of the city. You can’t miss it. Also get there by bus and metro.

Other royal palaces:
The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) in Stockholm city centre, Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms Slott) near Stockholm and Solliden (Sollidens Slott) on the Baltic island of Öland provide fascinating glimpses into how the Swedish royals live, work and holiday.  Architecturally, these palaces couldn’t be more different, one is Baroque, one is renaissance and the other is a gorgeous Italian-style villa.

Drottningholm Palace
Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms Slott) and grounds is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Swedish Royal Family’s permanent pad. On the outskirts of green Stockholm, it has quite simply a stunning setting. Bordering lake Mälaren’s waters, with manicured gardens and idyllic woodland surrounding the buildings, the 17th century Drottningholm Palace and gardens is the type of place that locals go to on hazy summer days with picnic baskets and a book. Must sees? The Court Theatre and the Chinese Pavilion and its gardens, modeled on the palace at Versailles. Get there by bus, boat or car.

Solliden
Solliden is the Swedish Royal Family summer residence on the stunningly beautiful island of Öland off the south east coast of Sweden. This palace is actually more reminiscent of an Italian style country house and is the Royal’s playground in the summer. Solliden highlights? Magnificent gardens, parkland, pavilion and exhibition. Get there by boat or roadbridge from the mainland.

Tips?
Best time to visit Solliden is July 14th, when Crown Princess Victoria has her misty-eyed birthday celebrations outdoors and televised with Swedish on-stage entertainment.

In wintertime, get a hot chocolate at any of the cosy cafés around the Royal Palace in the charming Old Town (Gamla Stan).