Sweden · Stockholm County · Stockholm
Gamla Stan, Stockholm — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gamla Stan is the old town of Stockholm, a district of ochre and rust-red houses packed onto the island of Stadsholmen between the bridges.
Hotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Where to stay in Gamla Stan
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Beds here come at a premium. The lanes around Stortorget and Köpmangatan hold small hotels in converted merchant houses, steps from the Royal Palace and the waterfront. You trade space for atmosphere.
Rooms are snug and the cobbles are quiet before the day-trippers arrive, and for more choice Södermalm sits one bridge south across Slussen.
Few places to stay in Gamla Stan — most visitors book in Södermalm nearby.
Find hotels in Gamla Stan
Direct booking search for this neighbourhood.
Hotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Stockholm
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
6- S/S Blidösund Heritage Swedish steamship built in 1911
- Saltsjön Heritage working life museum
- Nobel Prize Museum museum about Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize
- Royal Armoury Swedish state historical museum with exhibits of Swedish military history
- Treasury of Sweden museum where regalia of Sweden and other valuable objects are exhibited
Show 1 more →
- Royal Collections Department organization that manages the furnishings collections of the royal palaces of Sweden
Churches & Religious Sites
4- German Church Heritage
- Finnish Church Heritage Church of Sweden church building
- Riddarholm Church burial church of the Swedish kings and was opened approximately in 1300
- Grey Friar's Abbey monastery for males of the Franciscan Order
Castles & Historic Sites
4- Stockholm Palace Heritage official residence of the Swedish monarch
- Bonde Palace Heritage
- Wrangel Palace
- Statue of Olaus Petri statue and memorial
Landmarks & Notable Places
1- Jacob Sauers house Medieval house
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Stockholm
About Gamla Stan
What are the main landmarks in Gamla Stan?
The island is the city's historic core. Stockholms slott, the royal palace, fronts the water with its state apartments, armoury, and the treasury vault of Skattkammaren, while the spire of Tyska kyrkan rises over the old German merchants' quarter. Beneath the Parliament on Helgeandsholmen, Medeltidsmuseet keeps the excavated town wall.
Stortorget, the oldest square, opens at the centre.
What is the history of Gamla Stan?
Stockholm began here. The town first enters the written record around the middle of the thirteenth century, when Birger Jarl is held to have fortified the island to guard the passage between the Baltic and Lake Mälaren. Trade with Lübeck and the Hansa filled its lanes.
In 1520 Stortorget ran with blood in the killings remembered as the Stockholm Bloodbath.
Where is Gamla Stan?
The district covers 36 hectares of Stadsholmen, Helgeandsholmen and Strömsborg in the middle of Stockholm, in eastern Sweden, with Riddarholmen alongside.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Gamla Stan?
Stortorget: atmosphere-first travellers. Riddarholmen: history with water views.
Good for
More areas in Stockholm
Updated October 2026