Visit Djurgården!

Entrance to the visitors' center

I braved the drizzly weather today to visit the visitors' center for Djurgården called Visit Djurgården. Djurgården is both the name of an island as well as a National City Park (which includes the island). In fact, it is the world's first National City Park. For the sake of comparison, you could say that it is Stockholm's version of Hyde or Central Park. In the past this was a royal game park and these days it is still owned by the Crown. It is a great park to take a nature walk.

Some beauty found on the island.

Besides acres and acres of beautiful parks, woodlands and fields... Djurgården also has the highest concentration of tourist sites (museums, art galleries, amusement parks, etc;) in Stockholm. So if you are planning a visit to Stockholm, chances are pretty high that you will spend a considerable amount of your visit on this island! Here you will find museums such as the Vasa, Nordic, ABBA, Biology, Technology, Spirits and Maritime History. There are also several great art galleries/museums including Liljevalchs, Waldermarsudde and Thielska. If that wasn't enough, then you have Skansen park & zoo, Aquaria as well as the amusement parks Gröna Lund and Junibacken. You don't have to go hungry while here... quite a few restaurants like Villa Godthem, Ulla Winbladh and Oaxen Krog. Several cafés are spread throughout the park... a personal favorite during the summer is the rose gardens at Rosendals Trädgård.

Sjöcafé, adjacent to center, with boats and bikes for rent!

So you can see why I am so happy that they have built a visitor center just for the island/park. A great idea! There is so much to see and do that you sometimes need some expert advice... besides me! The visitors center is located just on the island side of Djurgårdsbron (the bridge connecting the island with the mainland). The center is open daily, year-round, and is manned by experts on Djurgården and its sites. There are also free maps of the park as well as brochures of the different museums and art galleries to help you decide what to visit. The center is connected to the newly renovated café Sjöcafé, so you can stay for ahwile and have a coffee or glass of wine. The café also rents paddle boats, kayaks and bicycles.

Take a street car to Djurgården, or...

Getting to Djurgården is quite easy... either by bus, street car or ferry (especially good for Rival Hotel guests!). Or why not walk along the waterfront promenade of Strandvägen? If you want to plan ahead of your visit, their website (linked at the top of this article) is filled with great information and an interactive map!

...a ferry (with Gröna Lund in background).

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AN art, Djurgården, Museums, nature, tourist information, walk

Take a Walk on the Island of Djurgården

Café at Blockhusudden with view of harbor

Well marked paths

If you enjoy walking in Hyde Park when visiting London, Tiergarten when in Berlin or Central Park when in NYC... then you shouldn't pass up the opportunity of visiting Djurgården when in Stockholm.

Täcka Udden

Ditto!

Most tourists do visit Djurgården, mainly to see such popular attractions like the Vasa Museum, Skansen and Gröna Lund. But Djurgården is so much more than that! Beyond Skansen you will find acres and acres of parkland, forest and wetlands dotted with art galleries, gardens, cafés, monuments and other interesting buildings.

Part of the islands southern shoreline

Freedom Gate, a gift from the Estonian people

There are well marked paths through the parklands as well as along most of the shoreline. You can just concentrate on seeing the great nature there or visit the art galleries and museums like Thielska, Waldermarsudde or Liljevalchs... or combine nature with culture. Click here for my past posts on some of the points of interest on Djurgården... The world's first national city park!

Part of Waldemarsudde

The gardens at Rosenlund

The other day I took my visiting mother on just such a walk. We took bus #69 (not 69K which only goes as far as Kaknästornet!)) from Norrmalmstorg out to the last stop at Blockhusudden and then walked back along the south coast of the island to Djurgårdsbron (the bridge connecting the island with central Stockholm). The walk took about 1½ hours including some shorter stops for pictures and water. The pictures in this blog post are from this walk and for your inspiration...

Cross over to northern shoreline... Kaknästornet in distance

The Blue Gate- entrance (or exit) to Djurgården

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AN art, Djurgården, nature, walk

Drottningholm Palace

Drottningholm Palace!

My parents are currently visiting me and the other day I decided to take them to one of my favorite places to visit: Drottningholm Palace. Not only is the palace the current residence of the king and queen of Sweden, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site (one of three in Stockholm). The palace was built in the late 1600's and is a great example of European architecture of this period.

Interior of palace. Photo by: Alexis Daflos

While it is open for the public year-round, it is during the summer that one really should visit the palace. They have more generous opening hours (daily from May through September) during the summer and it is also the best time to explore the beautiful gardens surrounding the palace. The gardens are massive and contain both French & English influences, as well as fountains, sculptures, waterfalls, hedges and groves. On the grounds you will also find the Chinese Pavillion, built in 1753 by King Adolf Fredrik, and Drottningholm Theatre.

Part of the Chinese Pavillion complex

Another great reason to visit Drottningholm during the summer is the trip to the palace itself. Drottningholm Palace is located on an island in Lake Mälaren on the western outskirts of Stockholm. While you can get there from the city by a combination of subway and bus, the best way is by boat! The sightseeing company Strömma runs boat trips out to the palace all summer long. The boats (historic, turn of the century ships) depart from the pier adjacent to City Hall and the trip takes just under an hour.

Looking back at palace from the gardens

The boat ride takes you through the suburbs and countryside and is very relaxing & enjoyable, especially on a sunny day. On board you will find a restaurant and café. During the high season the boats depart every half hour which gives you the flexibility of spending the full day or just an afternoon at the palace. A round trip ticket costs 175 SEK and one can also purchase a combination ticket which includes entrance to the palace (320 SEK). If you are staying at the Rival Hotel, contact me and I can help you with booking tickets! Pictures taken by me, unless marked otherwise.

Strömma's boat to Drottningholm

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AN day trip, history, nature, royal, strömma, unesco

Plans For a New Urban Garden

Plans

I just read about a new, exciting project called På Spåret ("on the tracks") with plans to turn abandoned train tracks into an urban garden. Located in the Skanstull area of the island of Södermalm, several blocks south from the Rival Hotel, these train tracks are a bit of a dead area today... overgrown vegetation with graffiti marked debris. The project has taken its inspiration from Berlin's Prinzessinnengarten and NYC's High Line, part of the new city trend of bringing green areas to urban sprawl. Stockholm is already quite green, with 95% of the population living less than 300 meters from a green area (helping the city get elected as Europe's first Green Capital in 2013).

Future look?

Stockholm City has given the go-ahead for the project and work will begin this spring; not sure when they plan to have it completed... but I will be sure to report on it here! The garden itself will be open for the public to try their hands at gardening, with only ecological produce being grown. There will also be an ecological gardening school, store and café with large outdoor seating area. Furthermore, there will be a daily outdoor farmers market that will expand in size on the weekends. Other plans include cultural events like concerts, gardening seminars and outdoor movie screenings. Keep an eye on their website (linked above, only in Swedish so far) and this blog for further updates.

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AN green, nature