Museums, Stockholm

The Stockholm City Hall is one of Sweden’s most famous buildings, and one of the capital's most visited tourist attractions. It is famous for its grand ceremonial halls and unique pieces of art and is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet held on 10th of December each year. Since the City Hall is a governmental office building, you can only visit together with a guided tour. Public tours are offered all year round. When you take a guided tour, you will experience Stockholm City Hall at its very best. Enter the Blue Hall where the annual Nobel Banquet takes place. See the Golden Hall with its exquisite mosaic, and visit the Council Chamber, where the City Council of Stockholm meets. http://international.stockholm.se/the-city-hall/

The Palace is open to the public and offers no less than five museums. The Palace was largely built during the eighteenth century in the Italian Baroque style, on the spot where the “Tre Kronor” castle burned down in 1697. Visit the reception rooms with splendid interiors from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Rikssalen (the Hall of State) with Queen Kristina’s silver throne, and Ordenssalarna (Halls of the Orders of Chivalry). You can also see Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities, the Tre Kronor Museum, and the Treasury. The Royal Palace also contains the Armory, with royal costumes and armor, as well as coronation carriages and magnificent coaches from the Royal Stable. Make sure not to miss the parade of soldiers and the daily changing of the guard. https://www.visitstockholm.com/see--do/attractions/the-royal-palace/

Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum, showcasing the whole of Sweden with houses and farmsteads from every part of the country. At Skansen, you can discover Sweden’s history and find out how Swedes once lived according to the changing seasons, through the customs and traditions, work, celebrations and everyday life of times gone by. Skansen is a unique place where history meets the present day, where Swedish traditions and craftsmanship live on, and where people of all ages come together. This is the world’s only open-air museum with wild animals. Here you can see Nordic wildlife, rare breeds, pets and exotic creatures. The Children’s Zoo features domestic animals such as cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, as well as small wild animals. The Skansen Aquarium and Our Africa feature exotic animals including monkeys, birds, reptiles and insects. The park area surrounding the museum has a variety of planting and gardens. Rye and flax are grown in the field at Seglora, while the Skåne Farmstead and Skogaholm Manor have historic kitchen gardens and every building has plants typical of the farmsteads and the nature of their time. Find out how we used to live, and enjoy the recreational spaces that make Skansen a popular attraction all year round. http://www.skansen.se/en/this-is-skansen

Take a day trip to Drottningholm and experience a historic milieu of the highest standard. Drottningholm Palace is Sweden's best-preserved royal palace constructed in the seventeenth century, the permanent residence of the royal family and one of Stockholm's three World Heritage Sites. The palace was constructed according to a French prototype by the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, by commission of Queen Hedvig Eleonora. Many royal personages have left their mark on the palace since then. The palace features magnificent salons from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a beautiful park, a unique palace theater and a Chinese Pavilion. The imposing Baroque garden was laid out beginning in 1681 according to drawings by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger. The palace and the park are mostly open to visitors year round. https://www.visitstockholm.com/see--do/attractions/drottningholm-palace/