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Sjalen Says: Known as the Chinese Pavilion in English, this too is a part of Drottningholm's World heritage. Queen Lovisa Ulrika was given the castle as a birthday gift by king Adolf Fredrik and as Chinese things were in fashion all over Europe, the palace has a wonderful architecture...
Sjalen Says: Versailles and Schönbrunn are perhaps bigger sights but a Heritage site is a Heritage site and this was the first Swedish one in 1991 together with its theatre in the following tip. It is a very nice palace and has a scenic lakeside setting. You cannot visit all of the...
Sjalen Says: There has been a castle in this village since medieval days (see next tip) but Svartsjö as it looks today was built in 1734-39 as the old castle burnt down in 1687. Such a castle was no longer needed out here, so the new castle was instead built as a hunting lodge for queen...
Sjalen Says: Next to the castle are the overgrown ruins of an older castle in the form of a Vasa fortress. This was a royal mansion already at 1345 and had a 15th century stone fortress but king Gustav Vasa built an impressive Renaissance castle here along with his sons. One of them was...
Sjalen Says: Just as important to UNESCO was the Court theatre next to the palace. Built in Lovisa Ulrika's days on the site of an older palace theatre, it was completed in 1766, during the height of Swedish enlightenment, and the stage and its Italian machinery looks exactly the same...
Sjalen Says: Next to the theatre in Duke Carl's Pavilion is a museum dedicated to it. I have actually never visited it (funnily enough since I grew up in various theatres) so I have no personal reflections, but it is a part of the general Swedish Theatre Museum. It is open May to...
Sjalen Says: Not as good as it sounds as there is nothing but the foundation traces left of this once so important place but it is because of its meaning to history that you should see it and because of this that it is included in the Birka World Heritage site. "Hovgården" was where the...
Sjalen Says: One of the nicest rune stones I have seen in the Stockholm area and they are a few by now with a viking mad husband! You will find it in the field between the church and the Hovgården ruins as you walk along the little road.
Sjalen Says: This is where you get off the bus to see Hovgården so you are likely to see it and try to get in as it is a picturesque little countryside church with good English narration inside and it is nicely decorated. If you are lucky, there is a guard in the church who can then show...
Sjalen Says: This place needs to be seen as I cannot explain the special atmosphere. Everywhere you turn there are viking burial mounds and memories. You walk around with an archeologist guide and ponder on why the town was abandoned in the 10th century. Then you can visit the exhibition...
Sjalen Says: From Stockholm's City Hall quays you can catch a steam ship to Drottningholm with several departures in each direction (April to October) so it is easy to get back too. It is a very scenic and relaxing journey and in fact commuters on the Mälaren islands sometimes do it...
Sjalen Says: Well, not by the commuters who go to Stockholm City every morning, but you will see that most of them live in the communities closer to Stockholm and once you get further out, it is easier to discover by car. Nevertheless, getting to Ekerö and the Mälaren islands are still...
Dizzyhead Says: This is a local organisation in Ekerö and they want to protect and survive the memories and the history of this place. So, if you are interested in knowing when they have any event, check there web page. for 75 crones you can become amember and according to their brochure I...
Sjalen Says: Ekerö is a bit of a Garden of Stockholm and if you go to a Stockholm supermarket in Stockholm and look for vegetables or strawberries, you will often find they are from one of the islands. You too can go strawberry picking in summer - look for "självplock" signs along the...
Helpfulness
Those tiny spider like creatures that also exist in the Alps and Central Europe...In Sweden, they exist up to Gävle and then in a strip just along the coastline a bit further north. They are a nuisance if you walk in the grass in the countryside but wear bright clothes and you will soon see them. Good boots eliminates many on a forest walk. They are mostly harmless and only itch when they have found a nice and humid place on your body to stay. However, in the Stockholm, Uppland, Sörmland area - especially in the archipelagos and Lake Mälaren - they sometimes carry disease. One type is called "borelia" and is a bit like lymes disease. There is no vaccination for this but it can be cured with antibiotics. Symptoms are a bit like the flue. The other one is TBE but luckily fewer ticks carry this one. It CAN give you a sort of meningitis although usually it stays with flue like symptoms and you can vaccinate yourself against this. In fact, there are even special vaccination ships in the Stockholm archipelago in early summer. But don't let any of this stop you from coming to Sweden - if you are a forest walker, just check yourself in the evening so you spot them in time. Best way to get them off if they have already bitten you is NOT to pour anything on them but take a pair of tweezers and pull them straight out, then burn the buggers! What a pleasure that is even for an animal lover like me. I don't understand the existence of these ones!!!
Updated Aug 15, 2003
Sjalen Says: Lovö island is where most people stop to discover Drottningholm or drive straight through on the way to the other islands, but few make the detour around Lovön itself to discover this gem of a church with a runestone in its grounds. It is only a few kilometres a way from...
Sjalen Says: In the middle of the pine forest up on a hill, are the remains of a fortress used by the vikings who could see far across the lake from here and also had a good steep cliff to fight off enemies from. This is the entrance from the forest. You find it after the village by the...
Helpfulness
Enjoy a brought picnic and swim after all the history. There are lots of beaches on these islands - even a tiny one at Birka. Usually the beach in this picture (all the way out on Adelsö) is not crowded at all if there is no football game (see below) and the beach is child friendly - just try to bring flipflops or something as there are pebbles once you get in.
Updated Jul 21, 2006
Sjalen Says: Behind Svartsjö Castle itself is a wonderful bit of forest. It starts off with "Kristina's" old lyme tree which is one of the oldest in Sweden and has a statue of 17th century statesman Axel Oxenstierna beneath it. Then you can wander past the castle fish ponds (housing rare...
Adelsö Church and Hovgården area
Sjalen Says: For a great day out in rural county Stockholm, tracing the vikings, get off a bus at Adelsö Church and stroll around down to Hovgården, passed the runestone. You can then also catch a ferry to Birka (once a day in late morning summertime) or stay on Adelsö and visit the...
Ekerö is the municipality with all the islands in Lake Mälaren, just west of Stockholm city centre. The main island with all administration is Ekerö, hence the name, but you will also find Färingsö,...
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