Stockholm itinerary for first-timers

Kungsträdgården, the King's Garden, is the city's central park, with cherry trees in spring and an ice rink in winter. From here it is a short walk past the Royal Opera and the Parliament House on its own islet to the Royal Palace, one of the largest palaces in Europe, where the changing of the guard draws a crowd in the outer courtyard.

• Kungsträdgården
• Royal Opera
• Parliament House
• Royal Palace
• Changing of the guard

The changing of the guard draws a crowd; arrive early for a spot by the courtyard railings.

Behind the palace, the cathedral leads into Stortorget, the old main square, framed by tall gabled houses in ochre and red and the Nobel Prize Museum. From the square, narrow medieval lanes run in every direction: Köpmangatan to the St George and the Dragon statue, and down to Mårten Trotzigs gränd, the narrowest alley in the city at less than a metre wide.

• Storkyrkan cathedral
• Stortorget
• Nobel Prize Museum
• Köpmangatan
• Mårten Trotzigs gränd
• German Church

The lanes are quietest early in the day, before the tour groups arrive.

Västerlånggatan follows the line of the medieval city wall and is now the old town's long shopping street. It ends at Järntorget, the Iron Square where Stockholm's iron trade was once weighed and taxed, with its 18th-century pump. A few steps further is Skeppsbron, the quay where ships have moored for centuries, with views across to Skeppsholmen and Södermalm.

• Västerlånggatan
• Järntorget
• Järntorgspumpen
• Skeppsbron quay

A small island west of Gamla Stan, reached past the baroque House of Nobility. Riddarholmen Church, with its openwork cast-iron spire, is the burial church of Swedish monarchs and one of the oldest buildings in the city, and the quay behind it looks straight across the water to City Hall and the cliffs of Södermalm.

• House of Nobility
• Riddarholmen Church
• Wrangel Palace
• View of City Hall

The western quay of Riddarholmen is one of the best places to photograph City Hall across the water.

The red-brick City Hall, finished in 1923, stands on the tip of Kungsholmen with its 106-metre tower topped by three golden crowns. Its Blue Hall hosts the Nobel Prize banquet every December, and the Golden Hall is lined with millions of gold mosaic tiles. The gardens on the water are free to walk, and the tower can be climbed in summer.

• City Hall tower
• Blue Hall
• Golden Hall
• City Hall gardens

The interior can only be seen on a guided tour; the tower is open in the warmer months and the views reach the whole old town.

West of City Hall, Norr Mälarstrand follows the Kungsholmen shore of Lake Mälaren for over a kilometre: a tree-lined promenade of boats, benches and 1930s functionalist apartment blocks, facing the sun as it sets behind the water and the Södermalm heights opposite.

• Norr Mälarstrand promenade
• Riddarfjärden views
• Houseboats and jetties

In summer the light lasts late; locals bring picnics down to the shore here.

Östermalm's market hall, in a brick building from 1888, is the city's grandest food hall, with counters of fish, game, cheese and pastries under a timber roof. The surrounding streets, Nybrogatan, Humlegårdsgatan and Grev Turegatan, lead to the Sturegallerian arcade and Stureplan, the square at the heart of upscale Stockholm.

• Östermalms Saluhall
• Nybrogatan
• Sturegallerian
• Stureplan

Come in the morning for the market counters before the lunch crowd.

Stockholm's grandest avenue runs along the water from Nybroplan to the Djurgården bridge, lined with turreted 1890s apartment palaces on one side and old wooden boats on the other. At the end, the ornate Djurgårdsbron, built for the 1897 exhibition, leads onto the royal park island.

• Strandvägen
• Waterfront boats
• Djurgårdsbron

Across the bridge, Galärvarvsvägen passes the castle-like Nordic Museum, Sweden's largest museum of cultural history, to the Vasa Museum. Inside is the warship Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised almost intact in 1961: a 69-metre hull covered in carvings.

• Nordic Museum
• Vasa Museum
• The Vasa warship

The Vasa Museum is very popular; buy a ticket online and go early or late in the day.

South along Djurgårdsvägen the museums come one after another: ABBA The Museum beside the Gröna Lund amusement park, the Viking Museum and the Spritmuseum on the Djurgårdsstrand shore, and a pier of historic ships below the Nordic Museum. Junibacken, the children's museum built around Astrid Lindgren's stories, is at the far end by the bridge.

• ABBA The Museum
• Gröna Lund
• Viking Museum
• Spritmuseum
• Historic ships pier
• Junibacken

Pick one or two museums; the shore path between them is a pleasant walk in itself.

Founded in 1891, Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum: around 150 historic farms, houses and workshops moved here from all over Sweden and set on a hill above the city, with craftsmen at work in the old town quarter along Hantverkarbacken and a zoo of Nordic animals, from bears and lynx to reindeer.

• Historic town quarter
• Hantverkarbacken
• Nordic animals
• Views from the hill

Skansen is large and hilly; allow at least two hours and wear comfortable shoes.

A former naval island in the middle of the harbour, Skeppsholmen is reached over a small bridge topped with gilded crowns. It holds Moderna Museet, the modern art museum with a sculpture park in front of it, the 19th-century sailing ship af Chapman, now a hostel, and quiet quays with views of Gamla Stan, Djurgården and Södermalm. The Nationalmuseum stands just across the bridge on Blasieholmen.

• Skeppsholmsbron
• Moderna Museet
• Sculpture park
• Af Chapman
• Nationalmuseum

Walk the full loop of the island; the viewpoint on the south side looks straight at the Södermalm cliffs.

Slussen is the lock and transport knot between Gamla Stan and Södermalm, rebuilt over the past decade. Above it rises the Katarinahissen lift, whose upper walkway and the Katarina footbridge give a wide view over the old town and the harbour, leading to Mosebacke torg, a small square with a summer terrace and a theatre.

• Slussbron
• Katarinahissen
• Katarina footbridge
• Mosebacke torg
• Götgatan

The walkway at the top of the lift is free; it is the easiest high view of Gamla Stan.

East of Slussen, Fjällgatan runs along the top of the cliff with a balcony view over the harbour and the ships to the archipelago, lined with small 18th-century wooden houses. Staircases cut into the rock, Sista Styverns trappor and Mamsell Josabeths trappor among them, connect it to the streets below, and a short climb inland leads to Sofia Church on the Vita Bergen hill, surrounded by more old wooden cottages.

• Fjällgatan viewpoint
• Wooden houses
• Sista Styverns trappor
• Vita Bergen
• Sofia Church

The staircases are steep and uneven; take your time and stop for the views on the way.

South of Folkungagatan, the streets around Skånegatan, Södermannagatan and the leafy square of Nytorget are Södermalm's most relaxed corner: vintage shops, record stores, design boutiques and cafés spilling onto the pavements. It is the place to sit down for fika after a day of hills.

• Skånegatan
• Södermannagatan
• Nytorget
• Vintage shops

On the western heights of Södermalm, Monteliusvägen is a narrow footpath along the cliff edge with the classic Stockholm panorama: Lake Mälaren below, City Hall and its tower opposite, Riddarholmen's spire and the roofs of Gamla Stan. Behind it, Bastugatan and the small Ivar Lo's park are among the quietest streets in the city, and the steep Pustegränd alley drops down to Hornsgatan and the Maria Magdalena church.

• Monteliusvägen
• Ivar Lo's park
• Bastugatan
• Pustegränd
• Maria Magdalena church

Come about half an hour before sunset; the path is popular, but it is long enough to find your own bench.