Gamla Stan (Stockholm Old Town)

One of northern Europe's best-preserved medieval city centres, Royal Palace, cobblestone lanes.

Gamla Stan is Stockholm's medieval old town on Stadsholmen island — one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in northern Europe. Narrow cobblestone lanes, colourful 17th and 18th-century facades, and the basic medieval street grid of the 13th-century founding city survive largely intact. Highlights include the Royal Palace designed by Nicodemus Tessin, the Storkyrkan cathedral with Bernt Notke's 1489 Gothic equestrian statue of St. George, and the German Church. Lanes like Maerten Trotzigs Graend (90cm wide) lead into unexpected hidden corners.