Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. The city is made up of 14 islands connected by some 50 bridges on Lake Mälaren, which flows into the Baltic Sea and passes an archipelago with some 24,000 islands and islets.
The city is a very lively, cosmopolitan place with both modern Scandinavian architecture including lots of brass and steel, along with fairy tale towers, a captivating Old Town (Gamla Stan) and lots of green space. Over 30% of the city area is made up of waterways and another 30% is made up of parks and green spaces, giving Stockholm perhaps the freshest air and widest lungs of any European capital.
Most attractions in Stockholm are found in what Stockholmers call "innerstaden", the inner city - historically the zone within the city tolls. The geography of Stockholm, with its islands and bodies of water, makes for a natural division of the inner city into three major zones. Simply put, the mainland north of Gamla Stan (consisting of Norrmalm, Vasastan and Östermalm) can be said to form one district, the small island Gamla Stan and the large Södermalm another, and the island Kungsholmen a separate district in the west. This division reflects how most Stockholmers perceive the city, although it is in part different from the administrative borough divisions,
Outside the inner city, the city has a typically suburban character. The Municipality of Stockholm extends to the northwest and to the south. To the north the municipality borders the towns of Solna and Danderyd and to the east Nacka and the island of Lidingö; all of them traditionally separate entities.
The northern inner city:
Norrmalm is the major commercial district, with plenty of shopping opportunities. The central railway station and the T-Centralen metro hub are located in Southern Norrmalm; known as City, it is regarded as the absolute center of Stockholm. The busy pedestrian shopping street Drottninggatan (a real tourist trap in summertime) runs in a north-south direction through the area, by the square Sergels Torg. For administrative purposes, Vasastan is a part of Norrmalm, but most Stockholmers regard it as a separate neighborhood. It is a rather large, mainly residential area which recently has attracted a younger crowd. The most central part, around the Odenplan square, offers some shopping and nightlife.
Östermalm is an affluent commercial and residential area. The part closest to the city center, around the Stureplan square, is the place for upmarket shopping as well as nightclubs and bars for the jet set and those who seek their company. To the north and east, the tree-lined boulevards of Narvavägen and Karlavägen, bordered by decorated stone houses, lead to the Karlaplan square. The area contains many of Stockholm's numerous museums. A protected green area, the Djurgården area of Östermalm makes up a large part of the National City Park. Södra Djurgården (Southern Djurgården) is an island, often referred to simply as Djurgården, with some of Stockholm's major tourist attractions - the Skansen open air museum, the Gröna Lund amusement park and Vasamuseet. Norra Djurgården (Northern Djurgården) has a large green, Gärdet, a small forest, and houses the campuses of Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology.
The southern inner city:
Gamla Stan— The Old Town, is the historical centre. The northern part is dominated by the Royal Palace and the Riksdag - the Swedish parliament. The rest of the island is a picturesque collection of old buildings and narrow cobblestone streets. The adjacent island Riddarholmen holds an important church and several old administrative buildings.
Södermalm, colloquially referred to as Söder, once a working-class district, was mostly gentrified during the late 20th century. The more or less bohemian area south of Folkungagatan has recently been nicknamed SoFo (with obvious inspiration from SoHo). Slussen ("The Lock"), the waterway lock between Södermalm and Gamla Stan, is a mass transit hub covered by road bridges. Today it is rundown, smelly and not as charming as when it was built in the 1930s. The major north-south street Götgatan, with many bars and shops, starts close to Slussen and passes Medborgarplatsen ("Citizens' square"), a major square surrounded by restaurants and pubs.
Kungsholmen is an island that makes up the western part of the inner city. On its eastern tip, the impressive redbrick Stockholm City Hall stands by the water. Further west, a collection of rather relaxed neighbourhood bars and restaurants can be found. West of the Fridhemsplan transport hub and the new Västermalmsgallerian shopping mall, the island becomes more suburban.
Lilla Essingen and Stora Essingen are two smaller, mainly residential, islands that belong to the borough of Kungsholmen.
Suburbs and bordering towns:
Västerort, the north-western suburbs, has both very wealthy and rather poor neighborhoods. Vällingby was constructed in the 1950s as one of the first planned suburbs in Europe. In Kista, a centre of information technology, the 128-metre Kista Science Tower, Sweden's tallest office building, was completed in 2002. Unfortunately, the upper floors are not open to the public.
Söderort or söder om Söder, the southern suburbs, are almost as diverse. The most central part, around Gullmarsplan, contains several arenas: Globen (The Globe Arena), clearly visible from most of Södermalm, host ice hockey games as well as international artist performances, the smaller Hovet and the soccer stadium Söderstadion. Further south, Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery) is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its architecture. To the southwest of the inner city, the borough Liljeholmen has a pleasant recreational area around the lake Trekanten.
Ekerö, a municipality consisting of several islands to the west of Stockholm, contains two World Heritage sites: the Drottningholm palace and the Viking town Birka.
Solna and Sundbyberg, bordering Stockholm to the north, are two cities with a distinct history of their own. Solna is the home of Råsunda, Stockholm's largest soccer stadium, the vast park Hagaparken, the Karolinska Institute, a leading institution of medical research, and Solvalla, a horse-race arena.
Danderyd, to the northeast, contains some of Sweden's most wealthy residential areas.
Vaxholm (archaic spelling Waxholm), further out northeast, is the gateway to much of the Stockholm archipelago and a hub for its passenger ferries. It is a nice town with a great waterfront view and a picturesque small-scale shopping area. It also sports the Vaxholm Castle, today a coastal defense museum.
Lidingö is a largely suburban island to the north-east, best known for the Millesgården sculpture museum (see below), Bosön, centre for The Swedish Sports Confederation, where several famous athletes work out, and Lidingöloppet, a cross-country running event. Though just a few kilometres from central Stockholm, the island contains many green, quiet waterfronts and even a farm.
In Millesgården
Nacka and Värmdö, to the southeast, are residential suburban municipalities that contains large recreational areas and much of the southern part of the Stockholm Archipelago.
Huddinge, Haninge and Tyresö to the south are residential suburban municipalities with large recreational areas, including the large Tyresta virgin forest, one of 28 national parks in Sweden, where the oldest pine trees are around 400 years old.
(näytä vähemmän)
