Stockholm sits on 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, and the city makes clever use of its geography — the water is clean enough to swim in, and boats connect the archipelago of 30,000 islands stretching east from the city. Called the "Beauty on Water," it is one of the most scenic capitals in Europe.
The medieval old town Gamla Stan is the historic heart, a tightly packed maze of cobblestone alleys surrounding the Royal Palace and Stortorget — the main square where the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520 took place. The Nobel Prize Museum occupies the former Stock Exchange on that same square.
A short ferry or bike ride away, Djurgården island holds the city's greatest museum concentration: the Vasa Museum — a near-complete 17th-century warship hauled up from the harbour mud after 333 years — is the unmissable centrepiece. Skansen, the world's first open-air museum, and ABBA The Museum are nearby. Gröna Lund amusement park occupies the waterfront edge of the island and doubles as a major concert venue.
For contemporary art, Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen has one of Europe's best 20th-century collections, and Fotografiska in Södermalm is one of the world's leading photography museums, open until midnight at weekends. Drottningholm Palace, the royal family's actual home, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site 40 minutes by boat from the city centre.
Stockholm was founded in the 13th century and now has around 1.6 million inhabitants including the metropolitan area. The city is well-served by metro, bus, and ferry, and most sights are accessible without a car.
