Being Swedish and grown up in Stockholm, Drottningholm was probably the first World Heritage Site I ever visited, long before UNESCO’s took the initiative to create the famous list. For me personally the site is associated with many memories and it’s truly a wonderful place for an excursion while visiting Stockholm. The castle and its surrounding park is obviously best visited in the summer and the best way is to approach the site is by boat. Many tour boats depart from the Town Hall in central Stockholm and it takes about an hour to slowly cruise through Lake Mälaren on a steam boat, a nice experience in itself.

The castle is inspired by Versailles but obviously not as enormous as its French cousin. Still it has played an important role in Swedish history. You will find wonderful French and English park as well as the oldest theatre in Europe still in use. A slow stroll through the park to the China Castle, were you will find a nice café, is an absolute must.

Seldom noticed by the tourist is the small village on the right side of the main road that runs by the castle. This village was planned and built in the mid 18th century for the people working at the castle and contains many picturesque houses and villas and is in itself a good example of how a Swedish village once would have looked like. Don’t miss this when you visit Drottningholm.