Walk in Djurgården, Strandvägen, Norrbro and ending in Riddarholmen

28 May 2017

Djurgården in Stockholm has many popular attractions like the Vasa Museum, Skansen, ABBA Museum and Gröna Lund, all of which we had visited in previous visits. On a fine day, a walk on this island to explore the other points of interests and green open spaces is nice.

We took a combination of subway and bus number 67 and alighted just outside the entrance of Skansen Museum. From there, we made our way to the first point of interest, the Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde.

Along the way to the Waldemarsudde, we chanced upon the Djurgårdslinjen, a heritage tram line that is still operating between Norrmalmstorg and Waldemarsudde. It would have been fun to travel to the Waldemarsudde using this old train if we knew about this earlier.

Djurgårdslinjen, a heritage tram line that is still operating between Norrmalmstorg and Waldemarsudde.

It was always a good idea to snap of photo of the local area map to use as a reference as we explore Djurgården.

Tourist map of Djurgården that we saw on the way.

We could the rides at the Grona Lund Amusement park along the walking trail. Faint screams of delight (or terror) could be heard.

View of Grona Lund amusement park and the marina.

It was a hot sunny day but breezy, which made the walk quite pleasant.  Tall trees along the trail provided some shade.

Sculpture near the Waldemarsudde.

These small flowers called Fuschias looked like Chinese lanterns. Pretty!

Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde is one of Sweden’s most popular art museums. It is the former home of the Swedish Prince Eugen. Prince Eugen was a landscape painter and he also was a keen collector of art. The Prince’s art collection is displayed inside the main building and entry is chargeable.

Front of Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde is an excellent place to relax and enjoy the views of Stockholm.

Replica of the Thinker bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin in the front garden of Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde.

The garden outside is free to explore and is an excellent spot to enjoy views of Stockholm, spring flowers and sculptures in the garden.

 Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde.

The rare Black tulips amongst coloured tulips outside the Waldemarsudde.

This looked like a statue (Winged Victory of Samothrace)  I had seen before, in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

There were more flowers in the garden by the side of the main building.

A walking trail runs along the shore of Djurgården. Walking eastwards, we passed an old mill. This Dutch style mill with its sails removed was built in 1785 to extract oil from linseeds. This mill is one of five of its type left in the world. Prince Eugen, the artist, frequently used this as his art subject when he paints at the Waldemarsudde.

The linseed oil mill of Djurgården.

Enjoying views of Stockholm along the southern shores of Djurgården.

A good place to stop for lunch is the Ekorren Restaurant and Cafe, located near a marina. Alternatively, we could have brought a picnic lunch but we did not.

Ekorren Restaurant and Cafe.

The best thing to do after lunch on a warm day is to have an hour of siesta in the shade of a big tree at a nearby park. We were not the only ones doing that.

Green park at Djurgården. Ekorren Restaurant and Cafe could be seen in the background.

Heading northwards on a trail through forested land, our next stop was at the Rosendals Trädgård. 

The cafe selling salads, soups, sandwiches and pastries seemed popular and we could have taken our lunch here instead of the Ekorren. But what was most interesting was the orchard of apple trees.

The trees were in full bloom and people were having picnics beneath the trees. Quite similar to hanami parties we saw in Japan during the cherry blossom season.

Further north along the trail is the Rosendal Palace ( Rosendal Slott).

Front of the Rosendal Palace, built in the 1820s for King Karl XIV Johan as a place for summer retreat.

Porphyry Vase at Rosendal Palace ( Rosendal Slott).

There was a huge 9 tonne granite vase at the rear garden of the palace. An information board indicated that this vase took 3,500 man-days, spread over 2 years, to chisel out and polish the bowl and foot of the vase from a 140 tonne piece of raw granite.

From the Rosendal Palace, the walk continued on the northern shores of Djurgården, heading west-wards. This direction will lead us back to the Djurgårdsbron bridge connecting Djurgården island to Strandvägen.

Families of geese spotted as we walked towards the Blue Gate and Djurgårdsbron (bridge).

We walked through the Blå Porten (the Blue Gate). Gilded deer perched on top of the gate pillars is a reminder to visitors that this northern part of Djurgården used to be fenced off as a deer hunting park for royalties.

This part of the island was pretty busy as the Djurgårdsbron (bridge) carried trams, cars and pedestrian traffic to and from Strandvägen.

Seen on the waterways. Bus or boat?

Beautiful waterfront buildings in Stockholm.

Strandvägen is a waterfront boulevard on Östermalm, a posh area of Stockholm. Many boats were anchored along the wharf along Strandvagen, some serving as boat restaurants. This is also ferry terminal and  piers to board boat tours of the Stockholm archipelago.

We sat on a pier for a rest and enjoy the warm weather. It was 29 degree C accordingly to Accuweather.

The weather could vary quite a bit. Fine day today. The next few days would returned to the normal colder spring weather.

It was very comfortable weather to sit on the waterfront, even with the breeze.

Enjoying the views of Strandvägen from a bench in a ferry pier.

From Strandvägen, our walk continued westwards towards Gamla Stan along the beautiful Stockholm waterfront.

Beautiful Stockholm waterfront of Strandvagen.

A good place to cross over to the Gamla Stan (the old town) is via Norrbro. Norrbro was one of the first bridges of Stockholm to be built in stone.

Nice views of the waterways of Stockholm on top of the Norrbro.

View of the Parliament House or Riksdagshuset after crossing the Norrbro.

We stopped for dinner at Gamla Stan, the old town. There are many good restaurants within Gamla Stan. Having tried the Gastabud and Österlånggatan 17 previously, we decided to have dinner at the Restaurang Kryp In. We did not made any reservations but managed to get a table at 6 PM.

Riddarholmen is supposed to be a good place to watch the sun set in Stockholm.  At 7.30 PM, the warm orange rays of the evening sun made the Riddarholmen Church looked very nice.

Riddarholmen Church basking in the evening sun.

Shadow of a wall lamp at Riddarholmen.

Silhouette of the Stockholm City Hall and statue of Evert Taube from Riddarholmen.

We sat on a bench by the waterfront to wait for the sun to set. At this time of year, the sun set at about 10 PM.

The red fencing along Monteliusvägen could be seen from Riddarholmen. Monteliusvägen is also good place for panoramic views of Stockholm and also see the sun set.

3 crowns on top of the tower of the Stockholm City Hall.

It was a cloudy day.  I figured it was too cloudy for nice photos of sun set and decided not to wait till 10 PM. I was a little disappointed as we walked to the Gamla Stan Tunnelbana Station to take the subway back to our apartment at Alvik.

I shot a consolation photo from outside the Gamla Stan Station.

City Hall and Riddarholmen as seen at sun set from Gamla Stan Station.

Not much of a sun set photo but I think it was a good idea not to wait any longer in hope for better views on this cloudy day.