The capital of Sweden is spread across 14 islands that are part of the vast Baltic Sea archipelago and connected by more than 50 bridges.
Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö – you have heard something about each of these Swedish cities. But what else, besides the well-known metropolises, can you see in Sweden? The portal Sweden.ru tells about the cities that appear in every guidebook to the country and with which Sweden is primarily associated.
STOCKHOLM
Year founded – 1187. Population including suburbs – about 1,250,000. More info: www.visitstockholm.com
The capital of the kingdom, and also the largest city in Scandinavia, lies on 14 islands where the waters of Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea bay meet. Stockholm leaves no one indifferent. The capital impresses with how harmoniously the rhythm of a metropolis combines with proximity to nature, adherence to long-established order with innovation, and a not-small scale with a comfortable environment and coziness. It is precisely because of such pleasant contrasts that Stockholm year after year ranks high in the rankings of the world's most livable metropolises.
Over eight centuries of history, Stockholm has accumulated a rich and diverse heritage, so each guest takes home their own favorite picture. Some long remember walks along the narrow cobblestone streets of the Old Town, others – the view of the islands, church spires, and rooftops from the viewpoints in the Södermalm district, others – the rock-carved and intricately designed metro stations, and still others – the blooming cherry blossoms in Kungsträdgården. And then they argue for a long time about what should not be missed next time.
Take a photo with the guards at the Royal Palace – or with the processions of laureates who came for the Nobel Prize ceremony? Admire the ancient ship Vasa raised from the seabed or examine the original costumes and instruments at the ABBA Museum? Go on a tour following the footsteps of Stieg Larsson's characters or finally figure out that-very-roof where Astrid Lindgren placed Karlsson? Perhaps only one question is not up for debate: whether it is worth returning. The answer is obvious, because love for Stockholm is immediate and forever.
GOTHENBURG
Year founded – 1621. Population – 590,000. More info: www.goteborg.com
The second city of the country and its largest port, founded by King Gustav II Adolf at the beginning of the 17th century to give Sweden access to the North Sea – bypassing the Baltic straits controlled by rival Denmark. Since then, Gothenburg has been a diligent No. 2 in the kingdom: it never challenged the capital's primacy, but constantly made sure not to be written off as a sleepy province.
Gothenburg carries itself with wide avenues and stone-lined canals, rustles with fountains, clangs with trams, strictly ensures it has plenty of ambitious architecture on the streets, capable chefs in trendy restaurants, and energetic students in university lecture halls (no matter whether they later become academics and Nobel laureates or popular video bloggers like Gothenburg native PewDiePie).
It is especially nice here in summer, when flowers bloom in two botanical gardens. In the Liseberg amusement park, roller coasters speed up to full speed, and a warm breeze blows across the decks of ships in the Maritiman maritime museum.
But even in the cold season, Gothenburg has something to surprise – for example, real sharks and humid tropics at the Universeum science museum, Scandinavian painting at the local Art Museum, or cutting-edge productions at the modernist Opera House in the harbor.
MALMÖ
Year founded – 1275. Population – 307,000. More info: www.malmotown.com
The southern gateway of Sweden – Copenhagen lies just across the strait. For half its history, Malmö belonged to the Danes until the mid-17th century, when together with the entire province of Skåne it came under Swedish crown rule. The third city of the country has not lost its habit of good neighborliness with Denmark. It has especially taken root since 2000, when the Öresund Bridge stretched from the southern outskirts of Malmö across the strait, and the journey to the center of the Danish capital was reduced to forty minutes by train or car.
Time in the capital of Skåne flies by: there are plenty of temptations for the traveler. You can stroll through the fairy-tale Old Town, where some buildings have been preserved since Danish times, and landscape parks have been laid out on the site of former fortifications. You can stock up on a special map at the information center and search for addresses familiar from the legendary TV series "The Bridge." You can head to the Möllevången district, one of the most cosmopolitan in all of Sweden, where market trade bustles, and Kurdish kebab shops and Indian curry houses neighbor Vietnamese noodle bars and Balkan cafes.
You can kick a ball on the football pitch that Malmö native Zlatan Ibrahimović built in his home district of Rosengård. Finally, you can spend the whole day on the shores of the Öresund: in the ultra-modern Western Harbor, the new symbol of the city – the Turning Torso tower – screws into the sky, and from here stretches a chain of picture-perfect city beaches with views of the strait, the bridge, and Copenhagen on the horizon.
UPPSALA
Year founded – 1273. Population – 157,000. More info: www.destinationuppsala.se
The life of Uppsala is governed by the schedule of the kingdom's oldest university, in which every third local resident is either a student or a teacher. Until recently, all local students had to belong to one of the student nations, through which they obtained dormitory places, ate meals, competed, performed in amateur activities, and – an important privilege! – bought alcohol at a discount. Now mandatory membership in university student nations has been abolished, although you can still have lunch in a student cafeteria with interiors from the time of Carl Linnaeus – the great Swedish naturalist studied and taught in Uppsala.
All local attractions are somehow connected to the university: the Gustavianum museum with its anatomical theater, the Carolina Rediviva library, which houses ancient manuscripts, a large botanical garden with greenhouses, and a smaller pharmacy garden named after Linnaeus himself. Above the university buildings rise two spires of the Gothic cathedral – 118 meters, the tallest in Scandinavia. In 1273, the seat of the Swedish archbishops was moved here, and through their efforts, the university was founded in 1477 (the previous church residence, Old Uppsala, now lies beyond the northern outskirts – only a settlement with mounds of ancient kings remains there).
By the way, it's only an hour's journey from Stockholm to Uppsala – an ideal destination for a day trip from the capital.
LUND
Founded – around 990. Population – 91,000. More info: www.visitskane.com/cities-locations/lund
A major ecclesiastical center in the past and a charming university town in the present – the southern Swedish counterpart and eternal rival of Uppsala. At the beginning of the 12th century, Lund housed the seat of the only Catholic archbishop in Scandinavia. It was at that time that a massive Romanesque basilica was built here. Most of the current church, including its two stern pointed towers, was built not in the Middle Ages but just over a century ago – which does not diminish the impression.
The local university, founded in 1666, traces its history back to a 15th-century Franciscan school. Today, it occupies virtually all of Lund: every second local resident is connected to its faculties and institutes – not a small city, but a large campus, whose medieval streets and squares come alive as soon as classes end.
Several central blocks of Lund are occupied by an open-air museum – Kulturen. Essentially, it is a restored piece of the Old Town, to which additional house-exhibits were brought from all over the province of Skåne, turning Kulturen into an entertaining and illustrative exhibition of folk life in Southern Sweden. It is especially convenient to visit Lund from Malmö: they are separated by only 10-15 minutes by train.
KALMAR
Founded – around 1100. Population – 39,000. More info: www.kalmar.com
A Swedish city that inevitably appears in all middle school history textbooks thanks to the treaty signed here in 1397, which united the three Scandinavian crowns into the Kalmar Union under Danish supremacy. However, this union lasted only a little over a century, and in the subsequent struggle for dominance in the Baltic, Kalmar became a key point and the most important prize.
The victorious Swedish kings spared no expense to rebuild the local castle in Renaissance style and lay out a formal city center along straight lines. Since the end of the 17th century, the turbulent events of history bypassed Kalmar, and its harmonious ensemble with a solemn cathedral on the main square remains a monument to the Swedish Empire at the height of its power – well worth a stop.
VISBY
Founded – around 1100. Population – 24,000. More info: www.gotland.com
The port city on the island of Gotland has always lain at the crossroads of Baltic sea routes. Visby reached the peak of its power and wealth in the first half of the 14th century as part of the Hanseatic League, which controlled all trade in Northern Europe from London to Veliky Novgorod. At that time, the city was surrounded by powerful walls with fifty towers, 36 of which have survived to this day, and monumental churches and multi-story warehouses grew up within the walls. In 1361, Danish King Valdemar IV captured and sacked Visby, after which the city became a long-term arena of struggle between Danes, Hanseatics, pirates, and Teutonic knights. It all ended by the early 16th century, when after another attack, services continued only in St. Mary's Cathedral, while the other fifteen churches of the city – more than in Stockholm at that time – began to be dismantled for stone (some of them have survived to this day as ruins).
Several centuries of peace benefited Visby: it completely preserved the medieval layout of its historic center, so in modern times it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and thanks to Gotland's mild climate, the city became a popular summer resort. The streets are flooded with artists seeking inspiration – a great admirer of Gotland, Ingmar Bergman, filmed his movie "The Touch" here, and Japanese Hayao Miyazaki made sketches for "Kiki's Delivery Service."
The biggest crowd occurs in August, when reenactors from all over the country come to Visby for Medieval Week to dress in costumes and armor, fight, dance, craft, and cook as in the time of King Valdemar.
YSTAD
Founded – 1244. Population – 19,000. More info: http://www.visitystadosterlen.se
The Hanseatic town in the southeast of the province of Skåne has preserved its medieval character – cobblestone streets with pastel-colored half-timbered houses, an impressive brick St. Mary's Church, and a former Franciscan monastery with a cozy garden. And all this in the most pastoral part of southern Sweden – surrounded by idyllic farms and deserted beaches. Thanks to this, Ystad has become a cinematic center: a large film studio, a film school, and regular filming of movies and TV series operate here.
For the entertainment of visiting audiences, there is a small Film Museum and regular excursions to places associated with the name of Commissioner Kurt Wallander – the hero of a popular series was placed in Ystad by the writer Henning Mankell who created him. The townspeople themselves prefer to go to the kingdom's oldest operating cinema, Scala, and to the local drama theater – charming in its dollhouse scale. The theater stands away from the center, a step from the port harbor, from where large ferries depart daily to Poland and the Danish island of Bornholm.
KIRUNA
Year founded – 1900. Population – 17,000. More info: www.kirunalapland.se
The capital of Swedish Lapland appeared on maps thanks to mines where iron ore is extracted. Thanks to the mines, a railway was extended here at the beginning of the 20th century, and a city grew up in the middle of wild subarctic nature. Thanks to the mines – or rather, to avoid falling into them – Kiruna will have to move several kilometers east in the coming years. The government has already approved a large-scale city relocation program spanning several decades. Particularly valuable historical buildings (above all, the amazing wooden church) will be moved in their entirety; the rest will be demolished and rebuilt from scratch in a new location.
People travel to the Swedish north, of course, not only miners but also tourists. In winter – to see the northern lights and go dog sledding and snowmobiling; in summer – to admire the midnight sun, hike in Abisko National Park, or climb Mount Kebnekaise, the highest peak in the kingdom.
In 1990, the main attraction of these parts, the Icehotel, opened in the neighboring village of Jukkasjärvi. A giant igloo with a hundred rooms, its own restaurant, bar, and chapel for ceremonies, is built from ice blocks each season; recently, thanks to the use of solar energy, part of the hotel operates year-round. There is no shortage of those wishing to spend a night on ice beds (furs and warm sleeping bags are provided).
SIGTUNA
Year founded – 980. Population – 9,000. More info: www.destinationsigtuna.se
The oldest city in the kingdom is mentioned in chronicles as early as the reign of Eric the Victorious at the end of the 10th century. Judging by the number of rune stones on the streets of Sigtuna and its surroundings, the impressive ruins of two 12th-century churches, and the elegant brick patterns on the facade of St. Mary's Church, it was the richest and most influential city in Central Sweden at that time.
But in the 13th century, rulers and merchants moved to Stockholm, and Sigtuna fell into a timelessness, turning by our time into a quiet provincial town on the lake shore – with a picturesque promenade, a charming wooden town hall, and souvenir shops on the low-rise main street.
Moreover, Sigtuna is ideally located to be included in any tourist route around the capital – exactly halfway between Stockholm and Uppsala and just ten kilometers from Arlanda, the country's largest airport.