Monteliusvägen, Skinnarviksberget and Söder Mälarstrand for best views of Stockholm

24 May 2017

It was good to be back to Stockholm in May and blessed with Summer weather while still officially in Spring. We headed out to Monteliusvägen, one of our favourite spots to enjoy panoramic views of Stockholm city.

The 416m walking path is between Kattgränd on the west and Skolgränd on the east.  Once again, we took the subway to the Slussen T-bana station and walked the rest of the way to Skolgränd.

The views of Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen from the lookout point under the spring morning sunshine and blue sky was stunning.

I can never be tired of this view. When we came in January, in the middle of winter, we shot some awesome pictures of the frozen lake.

It was hard to decide which was better.

Personally, I prefer the winter photo of the iced-up lake. However, Spring was more colourful. Further down at the Olle Adolphsons Park, colourful tulips and other spring flowers were blooming.

At entrance to Olle Adolphsons Park.

Spring flowers at Olle Adolphsons Park.

Continuing down the walking trail, panoramic views of the City Hall (Stadhuset) and the Norr Malastrand houses could be seen across the lake.

Panoramic views of the City Hall (Stadhuset) and the Norr Malastrand houses.

A love-lock attached to the fencing. There were a few of these but not so much as compared to other cities like Paris or Seoul.

A peek through the fence at the colourful tulips in someone’s garden.

So much greenery in Spring when compared to the white and icy snow covered path we encountered a few months ago  (see post of Monteliusvägen in winter)

Approaching Kattgränd on the west side of Monteliusvägen.

Wild spring flowers along the trail.

From Kattgränd (Cat Alley) on the west side of Monteliusvägen, we walked to Skinnarviksberget, another good lookout point. Skinnarviksberget is the highest natural point in central Stockholm and offered another vantage point with an extensive panoramic view of the city. Skinnarviksberget is the only hill in Stockholm to retain its original bare, treeless character.

There are information boards explaining that we were walking through a protected area. This place has preserved historic houses. Skinnarviksgatan (Skinner Bay Street in English) meant that in skinners and tanners used to live and work here.

This path with well-preserved 18th Century houses of stones and timber on the right leads to Skinnarviksberget.

There were also tobacco plantations and factories here in the old days.

View of the City Hall from Skinnarviksberget.

View of the houses in Norr Malastrand from Skinnarviksberget.

Skinnarviksberget is a nice place to sit, relax and laze around during the warmer days of summer. In fact, locals flocked to this place to have picnics and watch the sun set in Summer.

We were blessed with above 20 degrees C temperature on this spring day with little wind.

We sat for almost an hour, watching the birds, boats and even one small tour group come and go. The only thing that triggered us to move was the need for lunch! Gamla Stan was the place we picked to have our lunch.

We back-tracked to Kattgränd (Cat Alley) and walked down the path to Söder Mälarstrand. We met some Ajax fans walking up. There is a Europa League Cup Final match between Manchester United and Ajax in Stockholm on this day. I wished the Ajax fans all the best for their team tonight.

View of Lake Malaren from Söder Mälarstrand.

To get to Gamla Stan, we walked along the shores of Lake Malaren, along a stretch of shoreline called the Söder Mälarstrand. Gorgeous views of the blue lake could be seen. And there were a few boats operating as hostels/hotels along the shores, with guests on deck enjoying the Swedish sun.

One of the house boats, operating as hostels along this stretch of the lake.

We crossed the Centralbron bridge towards Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen. The viewpoints on this bridge were quite awesome as well.

View of Söder Mälarstrand (where we came from) from the Centralbron bridge. Monteliusvägen trail is just above the green tree line.

We saw more soccer fans at Gamla Stan. Thankfully, no drunken fans at this moment. All were orderly, enjoying their beer, lunch, Swedish sunshine and sights within Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm.