Gamla Stan, Stockholm
Gamla Stan: A Square Where 82 People Were Executed, Now Selling Cinnamon Buns
Stortorget, the main square at the centre of Gamla Stan, is lined with photogenic ochre and terracotta townhouses and usually crowded with visitors taking photographs of the colourful facades. There is no plaque or marker explaining what happened there in November 1520, when Christian II of Denmark invited Stockholm’s Swedish nobility to a banquet to celebrate his coronation, then had 82 of them arrested on charges of heresy and executed in the square over three days. The event is known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. One bishop who had been forced to sign documents supporting the executions survived by slipping a secret written disclaimer beneath his seal, a piece of cunning so admired in Sweden that the word “brasklapp” (a discreet cover-your-back clause) entered the language and is still used. The massacre directly triggered Gustav Vasa’s revolt and Swedish independence from the Kalmar Union in 1523. Knowing this changes Stortorget from a scenic backdrop into something considerably more interesting.
What Gamla Stan Is
Gamla Stan occupies three small islands in central Stockholm, Stadsholmen, Riddarholmen, and Helgeandsholmen, and has been the core of the city since its founding in the mid-thirteenth century. The street grid has changed very little since the medieval period. Some of the alleyways are only wide enough for one person at a time. The Old Town is dense with the Royal Palace, the Cathedral, medieval churches, the Nobel Prize Museum, and a dense concentration of restaurants and tourist shops. It is also, genuinely, one of the better-preserved medieval city cores in Scandinavia, the buildings you are walking past are not reproductions.
It is also very popular. June through August is peak season and the main lanes (Vasterlanggatan and Osterlanggatan) are crowded from mid-morning to evening. Going early, before 09:00 on summer days, or in the evening after 19:00 gives you the streets with significantly fewer people and better light.
Sights
The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet)
The current palace was built after the Tre Kronor castle burned down in 1697. It is one of the largest palaces in Europe still in active use as a royal residence, with 1,430 rooms. Sections are open to the public.
Admission in 2026: SEK 160 for adults, SEK 80 for children aged 7-17, free for under 7s. The palace is open daily in summer (late June through August) from 08:30 to 17:00. Hours are reduced and parts may close on official royal function days, check the Kungliga Slotten website before visiting.
The changing of the guard ceremony takes place in the outer courtyard daily in summer (typically 12:15 on weekdays, 13:15 on weekends and public holidays). It is a formal military ceremony, not performative tourism, and runs for around 40 minutes. Arriving 10-15 minutes early gives you a reasonable vantage point.
Nobel Prize Museum
On the south side of Stortorget, the Nobel Prize Museum covers the history of the prizes and the lives of laureates in a display format that is more engaging than a standard museum treatment. Admission in 2026: SEK 160 for adults, SEK 120 for students and seniors, free for under 18s. A guided tour is included in the ticket.
The museum is closed on Mondays from September through May. Hours extend to 21:00 on Fridays year-round, making a Friday evening visit an option if the daytime is busy.
Riddarholmen Church (Riddarholmskyrkan)
On Riddarholmen, the smaller island west of Stadsholmen, this thirteenth-century Franciscan friary church has been the burial place for Swedish monarchs since the seventeenth century. The tombs span from Gustav II Adolf (died 1632) through to Gustav V (died 1950). The cast-iron spire visible from many angles of central Stockholm is one of the more recognisable silhouettes on the Stockholm skyline. The interior is quiet and comparatively uncrowded compared to the main Gamla Stan attractions.
Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan)
Stockholm’s principal church, adjacent to the Royal Palace, dates from the thirteenth century with a late-Gothic interior. The carved wooden statue of Saint George and the Dragon (1489), commissioned to commemorate a Swedish victory over Danish forces, is one of the best Gothic sculptures in Scandinavia and is not as widely noted as it deserves to be.
Where to Eat
Gamla Stan’s reputation for tourist-trap restaurants is not entirely undeserved, some of the most prominent spots on the main tourist lanes are mediocre. The better options require a small degree of navigation.
Den Gyldene Freden on Osterlanggatan has been in operation since 1722, making it one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in the world. Swedish classics, pickled herring, reindeer, traditional desserts, in a setting of dark wood panelling and historical atmosphere. Worth booking in advance.
Leijontornet occupies a medieval house on a side street off the main tourist circuit, with different rooms and a courtyard for summer dining. The menu draws on Italian and southern European influences rather than traditional Swedish cooking and is among the more serious kitchens in the old town.
Bistro Zissou is a small family-run restaurant with French-leaning food and a short menu rotating by season: three choices for each course, executed well. Reservation essential.
Slingerbulten serves Swedish weekday lunch classics, raggmunk (potato pancakes with lingonberries and bacon), isterband (fermented sausage), kalops (beef stew), at prices that reflect local rather than tourist rates. Lunch only.
Panem is the most reliable fika stop in Gamla Stan: cinnamon buns made on site, proper coffee, and a quiet enough seating area to stop without being rushed. The fika tradition, a mid-morning or mid-afternoon break for coffee and something sweet, is the most democratic of Swedish social customs and worth participating in rather than just photographing.
Getting Around and Getting There
Gamla Stan is connected to the rest of Stockholm by metro (T-Centralen is two stops away on the green line, changing at Gamla Stan station), by ferry from Slussen, and on foot from Sodermalm via the Slussen locks. The island is small enough that most sights are within a 10-minute walk of each other.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is 40 kilometres north of the city centre. The Arlanda Express train connects the airport to Stockholm Central Station in 20 minutes (SEK 299 single, SEK 598 return for adults; various discount options available). From Central Station, the T-Centralen metro station is within the same building.
Stockholm Bromma Airport (closer to the city, used by some domestic and European routes) connects by bus to the city centre in around 20-30 minutes.
Where to Stay
Hotel Gamla Stan occupies a seventeenth-century building on Lilla Nygatan, one of the quieter lanes in the old town. The rooms are compact (as medieval buildings require) and the location is excellent.
Lord Nelson Hotel on Vasterlanggatan has been operating as a hotel since 1975, with a maritime theme reflecting the street’s historic connection to the port. Central but on the busier tourist lane, noise in summer is a factor.
For a quieter and often better-value experience, staying in Sodermalm (the neighbourhood immediately south of Gamla Stan, accessible over the Slussen bridge) gives access to local restaurants and cafes that are significantly less tourist-oriented, while keeping Gamla Stan within easy walking distance.
Practical Tips
Crowds: The main pedestrian streets of Gamla Stan (Vasterlanggatan in particular) are tourist-dense from around 10:00 to 18:00 in summer. The narrower connecting alleys and the Riddarholmen side are noticeably quieter throughout the day. Visiting Stortorget before breakfast when the market stalls and cafes are just opening gives a significantly different experience of the square.
Weather: Stockholm summers are genuinely pleasant (18-24 degrees Celsius typically, with long daylight hours, sunset after 22:00 in midsummer). Stockholm winters are cold (averaging -3 to +3 degrees in January) but the Christmas market at Stortorget, running from late November into December, transforms the square into something considerably more atmospheric than it is in peak summer.
Currency: Sweden uses the Swedish krona (SEK). Cash is rare, most establishments accept card-only payment. Contactless payment works throughout the city. Foreign bank card fees vary, so checking your card’s charges before travel is worth doing.
Language: Swedish is spoken natively; English is functionally universal in Stockholm. Most restaurants, museums, and services operate in both without requiring visitors to specify.
The most useful thing to know about Gamla Stan is that it rewards lingering over lunch and wandering without an itinerary more than it rewards ticking off a list. The main sights can be covered in a morning; understanding the character of the place takes the rest of the day.