Sweden’s capital is a city of islands where palaces and peaceful hideaways line the shores, and where cobbled streets lead to city shops, cafés and lively cultural attractions.
The novelist Selma Laferlöf called Stockholm “the city that floats on water”. Nowhere do you see this more clearly than from the dizzy observation platform on the top of Kaknäs Television Tower (Kaknästornet), Ladugårdsgärdet, which rises 155 meters (508ft).

Below, Stockholm spreads out in a panorama of blue water, the red of the old buildings contrasting with the stark white and glass of the new, and swathes of trees and grass. This pretty low-rise city, designated Europe’s first Green Capital in 2010, rests on its 14 islands, for all the world like a raft traveler drifting down a lazy river.

Fresh and salt water are separated by the island of Gamla Stan (Old Town) and the great lock gate of Slussen, at the southern end. The island barrier is where Stockholm originated some time before the 13th century.

Today with a population of more than 2 million in the greater metropolitan area, Stockholm is a modern and sophisticated metropolis, famous for Scandinavian design in furniture, textiles and interiors, and a hotbed of innovation in information technology – Europe’s Silicon Valley.

The city features some of the most exciting cuisine in Europe. Stockholm’s nightlife has exploded into an array of young, hip clubs and older, more sedate nightspots. Infusing the old with the new is a specialty of today’s vibrant Stockholm.
Feature image (on top): Stockholm archipelago (Visit Stockholm)
Stockholm – The Capital City That Floats On Water, written by Tor Kjolberg
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