Stockholm is built across 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea, and walking from the medieval island of Gamla Stan to the heights of Södermalm is to cross centuries of Swedish history in a single afternoon. This post accompanies the YouTube walking tour “4K Stockholm Walking Tour — Charming Gamla Stan | Stockholm Old Town,” which explores the Old Town island and its surrounding waterways in immersive 4K. It is the companion to your stockholm walking tour.

About This Walking Tour

This charming 4K summer walk through Gamla Stan (Old Town) captures Stockholm’s medieval island at its best — narrow cobblestone streets, colourful painted facades in ochre and rust, and the ever-present glint of water visible between buildings. Gamla Stan is one of the best-preserved medieval old towns in Scandinavia, with a street plan that has barely changed since the 13th century. The video walks through the island’s main thoroughfares and its smaller side alleys — including Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, at 90 centimetres wide one of the narrowest streets in Stockholm — and past the landmark buildings that give the area its distinctive character.

The walk covers Stortorget (the Great Square), the oldest square in Stockholm and the scene of the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520; the Storkyrkan cathedral (founded in the 1270s); and the Swedish Royal Palace, a Baroque structure completed in 1754 with 607 rooms, making it one of the largest palaces in Europe still used as an official royal residence. From Gamla Stan the route can extend across Riddarholmen island and along the Södermalm cliffs for the panoramic views from Monteliusvägen and the Katarina Elevator.

Highlights of Gamla Stan and Södermalm

Stortorget (Great Square) is surrounded by colourful 17th- and 18th-century buildings and contains a medieval well. On 8–9 November 1520, the Danish king Christian II executed over 90 Swedish nobles here in an event that became known as the Stockholm Bloodbath — it triggered a Swedish uprising that ended in independence. The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) with its 607 rooms is one of the largest palaces still used as an official royal residence in the world; the Changing of the Guard takes place daily. The Nobel Museum on Stortorget explores the history of the Nobel Prize and the lives of laureates. City Hall (Stadshuset) on the Kungsholmen island — within easy walking distance — was completed in 1923 and hosts the annual Nobel Prize banquet; its Blue Hall is actually red brick, named for the blue sky visible through its planned glass roof (never built). The Monteliusvägen path on Södermalm’s northern cliff edge offers one of the finest free panoramic views in any European capital: a sweeping vista of Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace, City Hall, and Lake Mälaren.

A Brief History of Stockholm

Stockholm was founded as a fortified island settlement in 1252 by Birger Jarl, who needed to control entry to Lake Mälaren. The city became Sweden’s capital in the early 14th century. Its strategic position made it a target for Danish aggression; the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520 shocked Swedish opinion and drove the formation of an independent Swedish kingdom under Gustav Vasa. Stockholm expanded rapidly as the capital of the Swedish Empire in the 17th century, when Sweden controlled much of the Baltic coast. The current Royal Palace, destroyed the original by fire in 1697, was built in its current Baroque form over the following 60 years. The 19th and 20th centuries brought industrialisation and the social welfare reforms that created modern Sweden.

Practical Tips

Stockholm is in the Central European Time zone (UTC+1, summer UTC+2). The currency is the Swedish krona (SEK), not the euro. Swedish is the language; English is universally spoken. The T-bana (metro) stops at Gamla Stan station. The Royal Palace and Nobel Museum are free or low-cost to enter. Summers bring long daylight hours — it barely gets dark in June — and the outdoor terraces of Gamla Stan’s cafés are very popular. December brings Christmas markets to Stortorget and Gamla Stan’s surrounding streets.

Watch & Explore More

The 4K video above is an excellent guide to Gamla Stan’s character and layout — watch it before your Stockholm visit. More walking tours at @walkingtoursvideoscom. Related guides: Copenhagen: Nyhavn to Christianshavn and Oslo: Aker Brygge to Vigeland Park.