The Princess Estelle Cultural Foundation was founded in 2019 on the initiative of the Crown Princess Couple. Its purpose is to promote cultural activities in Sweden. The initial focus is on developing an international, permanent sculpture park in the Rosendal area, the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park. In connection with new acquisitions, to organise events and educational activities to offer knowledge about art and culture. Everyone is welcome to visit the Sculpture Park, whenever they want, completely free of charge!
Photo: Johan Lindskog
WasaRetro is a shop with a generous selection of items including rustic maritime pieces in true archipelago spirit. It’s a shop that sits on the water where you are guaranteed to come across items you didn’t realize you needed.
Perfectly situated behind the Vasa Museum and across from the Viking Museum and Museum of Spirits, you are welcomed by countless of quirky and unique objects.
Vrak takes you on a deep dive among the wrecks and remains of the Baltic Sea. The museum is located on the beautiful Royal Djurgården in Stockholm, with former shipyards, shipwrecks and the Baltic Sea itself just around the corner.
On the bottom of the Baltic Sea lies much of the world’s greatest cultural heritage. It is time to bring these wrecks and finds to the surface in a new museum. The functionalist architect Paul Hedqvist designed the boat hangar from the 1940s that now houses the museum.
In Vrak’s museum shop at Djurgården, you will meet craftsmanship and quality. An assortment that is hand-picked with inspiration from the sea and shipwrecks.
Vrak is also the location of Mackverket that offers both indoor and outdoor seating, featuring an unbeatable waterfront location overlooking the harbour and the beautiful city of Stockholm. Here you can enjoy well crafted and tasty sandwiches.
The Snus and Match Museum is an industrial and cultural history museum inside of Skansen. The museum explores the Swedish history of snus (tobacco snuff) and the export of matches (a Swedish invention) as well as their innovative use and traditions. As well as hosting exciting and interesting exhibitions and tours you will find their museum factory where they show old craftmanship, such as the old packing of snuff cartouches and the manufacturing of the classic oval cardboard match box.
You will find the museum inside Skansen and entrence is free of charge.
Skansen-Aquarium is the world’s most unique aquarium: a place where you can find everything from monkeys, fishes and crocodiles, to scorpions, parrots and frogs.
At Skansen-Aquarium there is always something new going on! Since the opening in 1978 the aquarium has been rebuilt and broadened with new animals and experiences. As the years have gone by, the aquarium has become more like Noah’s Ark than an actual aquarium. You can pet a snake and a spider in their pet- and hugging corner, which is open on weekends and holidays during low season and daily during peak season.
Welcome to an exciting and exotic part of Skansen!
Please note that the building is located inside the Skansen park but the entrance to Skansen is not included in the fee. A separate ticket to the Skansen is required.
The memorial ‘Norway’s Thanks’ is located next to the Norwegian embassy on northern Djurgården in Stockholm. It was handed over by the Norwegian King Olav V on 14th June 1983 as an official gratitude for the Swedish support during the Second World War.
During the Nazi Germany occupation of Norway (1940-1945), Sweden allowed the Norwegians to equip and train a Norwegian army on Swedish soil. Sweden received about 60,000 Norwegian refugees and set up a nationwide campaign called ‘Svenska Norgejälpen’ (The Swedish Norwegian Aid), which collected money, used clothes, shoes, household goods and more for those in need in Norway.
The memorial stone weighs fifteen tons, is three metres wide and comes from Vassfaret in Norway’s Flå municipality. The memorial symbolises cooperation and a good relationship between neighbouring countries – lasting even during difficult times and situations that may arise.
Kaknästornet is a TV tower located at Gärdet in the Royal National City Park. The name Kaknäs comes from the medieval name for the south-eastern part of Stockholm, the area called Östermalm/Ladugårdsgärdet today.
The tower is a major hub of Swedish television, radio and satellite broadcasts. Kaknästornet was finished in 1967 and designed by architect Bengt Lindroos. The building is 155 metres high – or 170 metres with the top antenna included. Kaknästornet is one of the highest buildings in the Nordic countries.
Today the tower is owned by the National Swedish broadcasting company Teracom.
Please note! The tower used to be open to the public, with an information centre, gift shop, restaurant and café, but in 2018 it was permanently closed to the public.
At Manilla holme, just by the water, you can find the eight meter tall granite monument called The Freedom Gate. The Freedom Gate monument was erected in 1994 as an expression of gratitude to the Swedish people, acknowledging that it had been 50 years since tens of thousands of Estonians fled the war over the Baltic Sea to Sweden. The raising of the monument was made possible by donations from over 3600 Estonians and several organisations.
Freedom Gate is both an expression of gratitude and a remembrance to future generations. His Majesty, Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden held a speech in which he said, “Let the Freedom Gate commemorate the brave fight of Estonian people for the democracy and justice and let the monument symbolize close relations between our nations“.
On both sides of the monument there is an engraved text in both Estonian and Swedish which reads:
The Freedom Gate
Estonians’ and Estonian Swedes’ Gratitude to the People of Sweden Anno 1994
”We came in small boats over the sea to escape from terror and dictatorship. Thirty thousand men, women and children reached the shore, among them workers, fishermen, farmers, intellectuals. We received a warm welcome, we were able to find work and to safely establish homes and families. We did never forget the country from which we were forced to leave and we strove for its freedom.
Let the Freedom Gate testify to the humanity and tolerance of the Swedish people towards those who were looking for shelter in evil times and let it commemorate a tiny nation who found here a new home for itself.”
By Estonians and Estonian Swedes in Sweden
1944-1994
Visit the monument and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
In front of the entrance to Nordiska museet stands an equestrian statue of Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden between 1654 and 1660. It is one of ten classical equestrian statues in Sweden. Karl X Gustav is mostly famous for the March across the Belts as well as the Treaty of Roskilde which ended the Second Northern War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway.
The statue was given as a gift to Nordiska museet by the Karl X Gustav association and was inaugurated on the Swedish Flag Day on 6th June 1917. The statue was designed by Gustaf Malmquist and is cast in bronze. It stands on a granite pedestal made by Isac Gustaf Clason, the architect who designed Nordiska museet. Written on the pedestal is the monogram for King Karl X Gustav, his reign 1654-1660 as well as the words Freden i Roskilde 1658 (Treaty of Roskilde). Some of his battles and victories are written around the pedestal.
If you are interested in equestrian statues, there is another one nearby, of King Karl XV of Sweden, just 200 metres further along Djurgårdsvägen.
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s Lovers’ Path follows the outskirts of Isbladskärret, where you can enjoy interesting and diversified nature with wild coniferous forest, beautiful broadleaved forest and giant oak trees. There is also a variety of wild birds in the area.
The Lovers’ Path was inaugurated in 2012 and given to Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel as a wedding gift from WWF. The path is 390 metres long and stretches along the southwestern part of Isbladskärret. There are signposts with information about the wildlife in the area. You can reach Isbladskärret with bus 69 from Centralen. The closest bus stops are Isbladskärret and Edelstams väg.
During the inauguration, Crown Princess Victoria said that the Lovers’ Path is an asset for everyone; everyone is welcome to walk along the Lovers’ Path at Djurgården.
The UN monument is a memorial dedicated to those Swedish people who lost their lives while working for UN. It is situated partly in the water at the shore of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken, close to the Maritime Museum at the Museum Park. The monument was inaugurated in 1995 and each year on 29th May the Veteran Day ceremony is held next to the UN monument and the nearby Restare memorial.
The artwork is made from bronze and granite. You can easily walk here from the Maritime Museum or the National Museum of Science and Technology. There is a beautiful view of the water and island of Djurgården from the monument.
Next to Galärvarvskyrkogården lies the Estonia memorial. The names of 815 out of the 852 people onboard who lost their lives when the cruise ship Estonia sank in 1994 are engraved on the monument. The monument itself is made of bright granite and was designed by the Polish sculptor Mirosław Bałka.
The basic mould is a triangle with an entrance from the short side and stairs leading up to Galärvarvskyrkogården. In the middle of the monument stands a tree with an iron ring at the bottom. The coordinates of where the ship sank are written on the ring. The memorial was inaugurated on the third anniversary of the sinking on 28th September 1997, with a speech from the politician Birgitta Dahl.
The number of people who lost their lives are counted on the stone itself along with the line, “Deras namn och deras öde vill vi aldrig glömma”, meaning, “Their names and their fate we never want to forget”.
At the southern part of beautiful Djurgården, on Blockhusudden, you can find a memorial dedicated to the 2004 Tsunami catastrophe in South-East Asia. The memorial was officially inaugurated in June 2018. The memorial is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Tsunami. It’s also meant to be a mutual place for survivors, next of kin and relatives.
The monument was chosen through an artistic contest, where Gravitational Ripples by Lea Porsager became the jury’s favorite.
To visit the monument, you can take bus 67 towards Blockhusudden and get off att the second to last station: Thielska Galleriet.
Rent a bike at Djurgårdsboden and experience Royal Djurgården by bike! A helmet and a map showing Djurgården’s tourist attractions as well as its hidden gems is included in the price.
In Djurgårdsboden’s small boutique, located just below Cirkus, you can buy sunglasses, hats, helium balloons, souvenirs and gifts. The shop also stocks a small selection of pharmacy products.
At Djurgårdsboden you can find everything that makes your day at Djurgården the best it can possibly be.
The memorial monument ‘Restare’ is located next to the Maritime Museum. It was commissioned by the government to honour personnel from the Swedish Armed Forces and other authorities serving in international peacekeeping efforts. The monument is there for both official ceremonies of various kinds and private moments of reflection. The monument was inaugurated by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf on Veteran Day 2013.
‘Restare’ was created by the artist Monika Larsen Dennis, the winner of the competition held to select an artist for the creation of the monument. The monument was chosen by a jury, with representatives from the Public Art Agency, the Swedish Armed Forces and the Royal Djurgården Administration.
This was initially a bay called “Isbladsviken” (in English: “Ice Sheet Bay”). The name has, however, nothing to do with ice, but is thought to be derived from a hunting lodge known as “Isbla”, which once lay here.
When the Royal Djurgården Administration stopped pumping the marsh in the 1980s, Isbladskärret developed into an excellent bird-watching lake where the mute swan, gadwall, tufted duck, geese, peewit and heron, among other species, can be found. The noteworthy heron colony was established here in 1989, after previously breeding in Skansen.
A small herd of Scottish highland cattle graze close to Isbladskärret to keep plant growth under control, and ensure that the conditions required for a fine bird-watching lake are maintained.
Travel the way we used to do in Stockholm! With the charming vintage trams, you’ll travel through another time. The trams depart from Norrmalmstorg, and run via Strandvägen out to Djurgården, where they turn and come back. The drivers and conductors drive gently and carefully, and with plenty of bells ringing.
Djurgårdslinjen (the Djurgården Line) is operated by members of the volunteer association Svenska Spårvägssällskapets (the Swedish Tramway Society) Stockholm chapter. Your appreciation spurs them on!
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