Touring the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) in Stockholm
Spending a month in Stockholm, during the summer, is an incredible experience.
In addition to near 24 hours of daylight, sunshine, blue skies, glistening water, the ability to walk (or bike) everywhere—with clean air escorting us along the way—there was plenty of time for us to meander on over to the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) for a leisurely visit.
The Royal Palace is enormous, containing the Royal Apartments, Treasury, Museum Three Crowns (Tre Kronor), Royal Gift Shop, Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, Royal Armoury, and more.
So, to eliminate any confusion, I checked out the Royal Palace website before arriving, to determine exactly what we wanted to see. We saw nearly everything.
There are endless rooms in their near original state. It was beautiful to see them presented authentically—as imperfect history—with broken items pieced back together, original fabrics and aged painting.
Incredibly, these rooms are still used for official events today. Royal life is clearly not about perfection.
There were stunning statues.
There were frightening statues, sitting exactly where they were first placed hundreds of years ago.
If you can believe it, the Royal Chapel is open for services on Sunday (Söndag). Next visit, I want to attend...just to experience what it's like.
But my favorite part of our visit?
You never know who else you might just see.
TIPs:
The Royal Palace is located in the beautiful Gamla Stan section of Stockholm. This entire area was very easy to walk (though keep an eye out for some ostrich-egg-size cobblestones).
If hungry or thirsty while at the Royal Palace, there’s a delightful Summer Café located in the courtyard. There were even a few plant-based/gluten-free options and we enjoyed a little fika. If more food is needed, there are more restaurants nearby in Gamla Stan.
Ways to help another visitor: I overheard an elder in line behind me who did not think he could place his coffee (kaffe) order, in either English or Swedish, so I included his order with my order, as I wanted to be sure he and his wife had their fika, too.
The main bathroom (toalett) is also located in the courtyard. To enter, one swipes their entry ticket at the little kiosk gate, located right before the bathroom (unless you get lucky and find the little gate open).
I think the best bathroom (more privately located, with fewer people) is in the Museum Three Crowns (Tre Kronor). After entering the museum and walking down the stairs, it’s to the right.
Some portions of the Royal Palace might not be accessible to those who are mobility challenged, due to stairs. One should verify accessibility with the Royal Palace.
We were allowed to take flash-free photographs of just about everything—except in the cellar vaults, which held crowns. Of course, I wanted to photograph those the most.
As someone who is rarely drawn to palaces or castles, I'm so grateful to have toured the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) in Stockholm. It's filled with interesting—and imperfect—history.