Gamla Stan walk: from Riddarholmen and the Royal Palace to Stortorget, the German Church and Slussen, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Stockholm. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Gamla stan metro station and finish at Slussen, the next stop on the red and green lines: 2.5 km, about 45 minutes of walking and a full day with the visits. Go on a Friday or Saturday. The Royal Armoury, the Nobel Prize Museum and the Stockholm City Museum are shut on Mondays, the German Church is open Friday to Sunday only, and Riddarholmen Church is closed for the 2026 season. The guard changes at 12:15 (13:15 on Sundays), so the palace goes in the morning. The streets, the squares and Mårten Trotzigs gränd are free; the palace is SEK 220, the Armoury SEK 180, Storkyrkan SEK 120 and the Nobel Prize Museum SEK 160. Or book a tour: the Old Town walking tour with a local guidead is from SEK 110 for two hours.

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

The route crosses to Riddarholmen, the island west of the Old Town, climbs to the Royal Palace for the guard, and works south through the Old Town’s squares and alleys to Slussen. Gamla Stan says what costs money in the district; this page puts the sights in walking order with the days they are open. Prices are the adult rate in kronor from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of these includes entry to the sights above. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Stockholm Gamla Stan: Old Town Walking Tour with Local Guidead: from SEK 110, 4.7 stars from 2,669 reviews, 2 to 2.5 hours.
• Stockholm: Walking tour of Gamla Stan, the Old Townad: from SEK 115, 4.8 stars from 625 reviews, 2.5 hours.
• Stockholm: Secrets of Gamla Stan Guided Tour w/ Fika Optionad: from SEK 143, 4.7 stars from 329 reviews, 2 hours, with a fika as an option.
• Stockholm: Gamla Stan Tour & Changing of the Guard Ceremonyad: from SEK 165, 4.4 stars from 24 reviews, 1 hour, meeting at the palace for the ceremony.
• Nordic Freedom Tours runs a walk on tips that leaves from outside Gamla stan metro station at 10:00, 13:00 and 15:00 and takes about two hours. Stockholm walking tours compares the free and paid walks.

1. Riddarholmen

Square and terrace free, always open · church shut for the 2026 season · SEK 65 when open · Birger Jarls torg

Gamla stan metro station is 410 m from the church, along Munkbron and the water’s edge to Riddarholmen, the small island west of the Old Town. Riddarholmen Church is the burial church of the Swedish kings and Stockholm’s only preserved medieval abbey. With Queen Kristina the one exception, every ruler from Gustav II Adolf (d. 1632) to Gustaf V (d. 1950) is buried in it.

The Royal Court opens the church to the public in the summer months only, and says it is closed for the 2026 season. It can also be seen at concerts, at Order of the Seraphim bell ringings or by special arrangement. When it is open the ticket is SEK 65, or SEK 270 with the palace.

Riddarholmen Church’s spire, with Stockholm City Hall on the left, seen across the metro tracks and Centralbron. Photo: OleNeitzel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

• Evert Taubes terrass: the terrace on the island’s western tip looks across Riddarfjärden to Stockholm City Hall. It is free, always open and adds 200 m. The City Hall tour goes inside.

Walk on to the palace: 540 m, over Riddarholmsbron and past Mynttorget.

2. The Royal Palace and the guard

SEK 220 · daily 10:00 to 16:00 · the guard is free, 12:15 on weekdays and Saturdays, 13:15 on Sundays and public holidays · Slottsbacken

The Royal Palace is the King’s official residence and the setting for most of the monarchy’s official receptions. One ticket, SEK 220 (SEK 240 from May to September), covers the Royal Apartments, with the Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry and the Hall of State, the Treasury and the Tre Kronor Museum. The Royal Court lists the palace open daily 10:00 to 16:00 through 2026, with no opening listed on 24 and 25 December. Royal Palace tickets has the rest.

• Closures: the Apartments close fully or partly for the King’s official receptions. The Royal Court lists the dates on its opening hours page, so look the day before.
• Guided tour: 45 minutes in English, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 14:30, Saturdays at 10:30, and Sundays at 10:30 and 14:30, from September to May. Tickets are sold on the Royal Court’s site or at the cash desk.

The ceremony of the changing of the guard takes place in the Outer Courtyard. It begins at 12:15 on weekdays, including Saturdays, and at 13:15 on Sundays and public holidays, and lasts about 40 minutes. In November and December the parade leaves Mynttorget in the Old Town and circles the palace before it enters the courtyard, so Mynttorget is where to see it set off; on certain winter days it leaves the Army Museum instead. The Swedish Armed Forces, who run the guard, say times and places are subject to change and keep a calendar on their page for the Royal Guard. Changing of the guard in Stockholm has the parade routes.

Walk to the Armoury’s entrance on Slottsbacken: 290 m.

3. The Royal Armoury

SEK 180 · Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, Thursday to 20:00 · shut Mondays · Slottsbacken 3

The Royal Armoury is Sweden’s museum of royal history, in the south-east corner of the palace with its entrance on Slottsbacken. It has its own entrance and its own ticket, and the palace ticket does not cover it.

• Tickets: SEK 180, the same for retirees and students; under-19s are free. Admission is half price on Thursdays from 17:00 to 20:00 from September to April, and SEK 90 for retirees and over-65s on Wednesdays from September to December. The annual pass is SEK 450.
• Hours: from 1 September to 31 December 2026 it is shut on Mondays and closed on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January.
• Rules: coats and bags go in the cloakroom, suitcases cannot be stored, and prams cannot go into the exhibitions. There is no café and nowhere to eat a packed meal.

Walk to the cathedral: 220 m.

4. Storkyrkan

SEK 120 · daily 9:30 to 17:00 until 31 December 2026 · Trångsund 1

Storkyrkan, Stockholm Cathedral, has stood in the middle of the Old Town since the 1300s. Its best-known objects are the wooden sculpture of St George and the Dragon and the Parhelion painting, and it holds concerts every week.

St George and the Dragon, the wooden sculpture in Storkyrkan. Photo: Palickap, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Tickets: adults SEK 120, seniors SEK 90, up to 18 years free. An audio guide for adults is included and runs on your phone, so bring headphones.
• Hours: 9:30 to 17:00 daily from 14 September to 31 December 2026. The cathedral can close for funerals and other events.
• Bags: large bags, suitcases and backpacks are not allowed.

Walk to Stortorget: 160 m.

5. Stortorget and the Nobel Prize Museum

SEK 160 · Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, Friday to 21:00 · shut Mondays from September to May · Stortorget 2

Stortorget is the square at the middle of the Old Town, and the Nobel Prize Museum stands on it in the old Stock Exchange building.

• Tickets: adults SEK 160, students and seniors SEK 120, under-18s free. They are sold at the desk.
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, Fridays to 21:00, and from 1 December Saturdays and Sundays to 18:00. It is shut on Mondays, except 7 to 10 December, when it is open 11:00 to 18:00, and it is open 14:00 to 18:00 on Sunday 6 December. It is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. The last entry is 15 minutes before closing.
• The free tour: a tour of about 20 minutes is included in the ticket. In English it runs Tuesday to Sunday at 11:15, 13:15 and 15:15, and on Friday evenings at 19:15. Places are limited, you sign up at the entrance, and there is no pre-booking.
• Bags: the cloakroom has small lockers, 33 x 28 x 36 cm, and the museum advises against larger bags.

Walk to the German Church: 160 m down Svartmangatan.

6. The German Church

SEK 30 · Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 15:00, Sunday 12:00 to 15:00, outside services · Svartmangatan 16 A

The German Church is St Gertrud’s, the church of the German congregation, which King Johan III allowed in 1571 to build its own church on the former Dominican monastery’s land. The master builder Hans Jakob Kristler of Nuremberg designed the present church, finished in early 1643. A fire in the tower on the night of 6 to 7 October 1878 destroyed the tower, the bells, the carillon and the organ, and the Berlin architect Julius Raschdorff rebuilt the tower from 1881.

The gate to the German Church on Tyska brinken. Photo: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

• Opening: the parish opens the church on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 to 15:00 and on Sundays from 12:00 to 15:00, outside services, for SEK 30 (members free). The Sunday service is at 11:00.
• The carillon: the bells in the tower have played since 1666. The automatic mechanism, which the parish calls the oldest in Scandinavia, plays chorales at 8:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 20:00 every day. On Wednesdays at 15:30 the parish organist plays the 37 bells by hand, unless it is too cold for the instrument and the player.

Walk along Prästgatan to the top of the alley: 190 m.

7. Mårten Trotzigs gränd

Free · always open · 36 steps

Mårten Trotzigs gränd is Stockholm’s narrowest street: 90 cm wide at its tightest point, with 36 stone steps down from Prästgatan to Västerlånggatan. It is named after a 16th-century merchant. It is a stepped alley, so there is no step-free way through it.

Go down the steps, 50 m to Järntorget.

8. Västerlånggatan and Järntorget

Free · always open

Västerlånggatan runs along the west side of the Old Town, and Järntorget, the Iron Square, lies 50 m south of the foot of the alley. Den Gyldene Freden is on Österlånggatan, 50 m east of the square.

Walk south to Slussen: 500 m.

9. Slussen

City Museum free · Tuesday, Thursday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, Wednesday 11:00 to 20:00 · shut Mondays until 16 December

Slussen is where the Old Town meets Södermalm, and the walk ends at its metro station, on the red and green lines. The Stockholm City Museum stands beside it. Admission to its exhibitions is free and all its texts are in English.

The courtyard of the Stockholm City Museum at Slussen. Photo: Ximonic, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Hours: from 24 August to 16 December 2026, Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00 and Wednesday 11:00 to 20:00; shut on Mondays. From 17 December to 12 January it is open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, and it is closed 24 to 28 December, 31 December to 1 January and 4 to 6 January.
• The Nobel Center: the Nobel Prize Museum will move to the Nobel Center at Slussen when it opens in 2031.
• Next: the Södermalm walk starts at Slussen, where this one ends, and climbs to Katarina Church, Fjällgatan and Monteliusvägen.

Where to eat

Bistro Nobel

Stortorget 2 · open during the museum’s hours · weekday lunch SEK 175, 11:00 to 14:00 · cash-free

The Nobel Prize Museum’s bistro, at the fifth stop. The weekday lunch is a choice of three dishes with a small soup, bread and butter and coffee, and can be taken away. The bistro takes orders until half an hour before the museum closes. Fika in Stockholm has the cafés.

Den Gyldene Freden

Österlånggatan 51 · Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 23:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 01:00 · meatballs SEK 275

A restaurant since 1722, between the eighth and ninth stops. Swedish meatballs in Stockholm compares the others.

The Stockholm City Museum café

Slussen · open the museum’s hours

The café at the end of the walk serves coffee, sandwiches, a light lunch and Swedish fika. Where to eat in Stockholm has the restaurants.

The best day to go

The timing that works, on a Friday: the palace at 10:00, the guard at 12:15, Storkyrkan at 13:00, then the German Church by 14:30, because it closes at 15:00. The Nobel Prize Museum is 160 m back at Stortorget and stays open until 21:00, and the Armoury is the stop to leave out.

What closes:

• Mondays: the Royal Armoury, the Nobel Prize Museum from September to May (except 7 to 10 December) and the City Museum.
• Monday to Thursday: the German Church.
• 24 and 25 December: the Armoury, the Nobel Prize Museum and the City Museum, and the palace lists no opening.
• The whole 2026 season: Riddarholmen Church.
• After 15:00: the German Church. After 16:00: the palace.

What does not close: the streets, the squares, the terrace on Riddarholmen, Mårten Trotzigs gränd and Storkyrkan, which is open daily, though it can close for funerals and other events.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Gamla stan metro station is on the red and green lines, and the church on Riddarholmen is 410 m from it. Stockholm public transport has the zones and fares.
• From the end: Slussen metro station is on the same two lines, one stop on, and buses and the Djurgården ferry (SL line 82) also leave from Slussen.
• From a cruise ship: ships dock at Skeppsbron beside the palace, so a short call can start at the second stop. See cruise port to the city.
• In reverse: you can start at Slussen and finish at Gamla stan, but the guard at 12:15 and the German Church’s 15:00 close fit better the way round above.

What to do with the rest of the day

• Södermalm: the Södermalm walk starts at Slussen, where this one ends.
• The views: Stockholm’s viewpoints has the free ones on Södermalm.
• Inside the sights: Royal Palace tickets, the best museums in Stockholm and the City Hall tour have the prices and hours.
• The days: 3 days in Stockholm fits these sights onto the days they are open, and what to book before you go to Stockholm has the closed days for every sight.
• Guided walks: Stockholm walking tours sets the free tours against the paid ones.
• Where to sleep: where to stay in Stockholm compares the areas.

Common questions

How long is the Gamla Stan walk?

2.5 km from Gamla stan metro station to Slussen, measured along the streets: about 45 minutes of walking. Evert Taubes terrass on Riddarholmen adds 200 m. The visits fill a day: the palace, the Armoury, the cathedral and the Nobel Prize Museum each take their own ticket, and the guard is 40 minutes.

Which day is best for the Gamla Stan walk?

Friday or Saturday. The Royal Armoury, the Nobel Prize Museum and the Stockholm City Museum are shut on Mondays, the German Church is open Friday to Sunday only, and the guard changes at 12:15 from Monday to Saturday. The Nobel Prize Museum stays open to 21:00 on Fridays. Sundays work, with the guard at 13:15.

Is the Gamla Stan walk free?

The streets, the squares, Mårten Trotzigs gränd, the guard and the Stockholm City Museum cost nothing. The Royal Palace is SEK 220, the Royal Armoury SEK 180, Storkyrkan SEK 120, the Nobel Prize Museum SEK 160 and the German Church SEK 30. Riddarholmen Church is closed for the 2026 season.

What do I need to book for the walk?

Nothing. The palace, the Armoury, Storkyrkan and the Nobel Prize Museum sell tickets on the day, and the Nobel Prize Museum's free guided tour is first come, first served at its entrance, with no pre-booking. The palace's English tour can be bought on the Royal Court's site or at its cash desk.

Where do I watch the changing of the guard?

In the Outer Courtyard of the Royal Palace, which is where the ceremony takes place. It begins at 12:15 on weekdays and Saturdays and at 13:15 on Sundays and public holidays, and lasts about 40 minutes. In November and December the parade leaves Mynttorget in the Old Town and circles the palace first.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at Gamla stan metro station and finishes at Slussen metro station, the next stop on the red and green lines. The Södermalm walk starts from Slussen.