Drottningholm, Stockholm

Have a visit to Drottningholm Palace.
Drottningholm Palace has been the home of the Royal Family since 1981.
The name Drottningholm (literally 'Queen's Island') originated in the late 16th century, when King Johan III built the first Palace on this site, for his Consort, Queen Katarina Jagellonika. The 16th century Palace was destroyed by fire on 30th December 1661. Earlier that year the Queen Dowager, Hedvig Eleonora, had bought the Palace. After the fire, the architect Nikodemus Tessin the Elder was commissioned by the Queen Dowager to design a new building, and in 1662 work began on the Palace, as we know it today. At the time, Hedvig Eleonora headed the Regency for the young King Karl XI. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 had made Sweden one of the most powerful states in Europe, and, according to the contemporary way of looking at things, the Queen, as head of the Government of Sweden, had to be provided with a suitably impressive residence at a convenient distance from the capital.

This is the royal palace where the king and his family actually lives - unlike the castle in the old town (Gamla Stan). There's a beautiful huge park around it and the castle itself looks much nicer than the palace in Gamly Stan. Oh and .. it's great for tourist watching, too ;)

This is the residence of the Swedish royal family and a very beautiful estate. I was there in late October when it was cold, grey and rainy, but it was still magical. Inspires all sorts of wannabe-princess fantasies. Tours of the palace apartments are available.

Drottningholm Palace is a great place to visit while you're in Stockholm. It's not right in town but it is easy enough to get to by train. We loved the palace and had our own private tour of the old theatre. :)

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The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. Apart from being the private residency of the Swedish royal family, the castle is a popular tourist attraction.

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A lovely baroque palace this is!

There are lovely gardens to the front, and a nice, tranquil lake with gardens to the rear side.

Guards are everywhere, and you can pose near (not beside) the one in the front. Changing of the guard takes place around the rear, the part facing the lake. It's a lovely experience.

While there is probably copious amounts of information and reviews about the 16th century palace that has served as the home of the royal family since 1981. I will try not to add too much clutter to these.

The Palace is fairly impressive (Open May-August 10am~16:30pm daily / September 1200n~15:30pm daily / October - April Saturdays and Sundays 12n~15:30pm) and the gardens have been likened to Versailles. Since the Royal Family does reside here, there is a full time guard which you may be fortunate enough to see them changing over.

To get there, you can take the ferry from Stockholm, or you can take a number of guided tours. However these are all rather pricey.

The cheapest way to get there would be as follow:
Take the metro to Bromoplan. From there, take bus #312 (direction Adolsö), or bus #176 (direction Stenhamra) or bus #177 (direction Ekerö).

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Very nice castelt, and even nicer garden with a lake, ducks, swans and little birds, looks like a fairy tale.