Gamla Stan Activities

While the Swedish royal family no longer reside in this six-hundred-room palace on the lake (they now live in Drottningholm Palace just outside the city), the Royal Palace still brings plenty of drama and splendor. It is the polar opposite of the typically restrained Scandinavian aesthetic; here, the architecture and lavishly decorated 18th-century reception rooms and banquet halls are Italian Baroque through and through, which means plenty of gold and ornate stucco details. Watch the changing of the guard in the morning and explore the palace’s five museums detailing all aspects of Swedish royal life—past and present—from costumes, armor, and coronation carriages to jewelry and antique thrones.