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Home , Beckholmen, Hagaparken, Haga Palace, Junibacken, Ulriksdal Palace, Waldemarsudde

Facts: The National City Park,

National parks can be found around the world, but Stockholm is home to the world’s first National City Park, The Royal National City Park in Stockholm. The area covers approximately 27 km2, 6,671 acres, of unbroken land from the Fjäderholmarna islands in the east, via the three royal parks; Djurgården, Haga and Ulriksdal, to Sörentorp in the north. The city islands of Djurgården, Skeppsholmen, Kastellholmen and Beckholmen are also included in the Royal National City Park.

The park was designated the world’s first National City Park in 1995 due to its importance for national cultural heritage, the city’s ecology and the people’s recreation.

The Royal National City Park extends over 10 kilometers covering a total area of around 27 square kilometers. www.nationalstadsparken.se

The Royal National City Park is owned by the Royal Family but open to the general public. However, the park has more to offer than just rural areas. It’s a popular recreational area for Stockholmers as well as visitors. Here you will find more than twenty of Stockholm’s 80 museums and attractions, as well as historic buildings, lovely restaurants and cafes’, hotels, educational institutions, as well as several royal palaces.

There is an abundance of flora and fauna to discover in the National City Park; foxes, badgers, marten and deer, as well as hundreds of bird species. You will also find a number of animals found on the national list of endangered species. In fact, it is often in the National City Park that the rarest species are found in . Two of the rare species are: the wide striped oak bark beetle (ekbarkbocken) an insect living in old oak trees and the stoan loach (gröngöling) which is a freshwater fish, both endangered in Sweden.

The park’s nature creates a mosaic of open meadows and pastures, pine forests, wetlands. Lakes, coasts and islands. This is where you will find Northern Europe’s largest population of large oaks. The many ancient oak trees, provides a habitat for a large number of different species.

There are over 800 different types of flowering plants, more than 1200 types of beetles and around 100 species of birds that breed here.

The best way to discover the park area is on foot, bicycle or from the water with a guide.

The Royal National City Park is home to several learning institutions and several sporting and events venues.

The Royal National City Park consists of eight areas each one with its own unique character:

1. FJÄDERHOLMARNA ISLANDS Restaurants, a crafts village, and beaches can be found on Stockholm’s closest archipelago island, just 20 minutes by Fjäderholmslinjen boat from Slussen. The island is also home to a popular summer theatre (only in Swedish). The “Fjäderholmarnas Krog” is a fine dining restaurant; “Rökeriet” is a harbor restaurant and fish-smokery and “Röda Villan” is a local restaurant situated in a typical Swedish red house. The crafts village includes embroidery, pottery, a smithy a glassblower and the Mackmyra Whisky Distillery. www.fjaderholmarna.se www.fjaderholmarnaskrog.se www.fjaderholmslinjen.se (boat) www.rokeriet.nu

2. SKEPPSHOLMEN AND KASTELLHOLMEN The navy’s former activities have made their mark on the two islets’ marine character, with their yellow houses and verdant park environments. The two islets are home to three museums: the Museum of Modern Art (), the Museum of Architecture (Arkitekturmuseum), and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (Östasiatiska). There are several restaurants on the islands, a hostel and a contemporary design hotel in a building from 1699. The name Skeppsholmen means “islet of ships” and Kastellholmen means “islet of the citadel”. www.modernamuseet.se www.ostasiatiska.se www.hotelskeppsholmen.com www.stfchapman.com (hostel) www.arkitekturmuseum.se

3. DJURGÅRDEN ISLAND (AKA SOUTHERN DJURGÅRDEN) Djurgården is a popular destination for visitors and popular among locals for walks and recreation, often ending at one of the many cafés and restaurants. For centuries, Djurgården has been an island of pleasure. In the late 1500’s as royal hunting grounds and today as the site of some of Stockholm’s premier attractions and museums. A visit to Museum and the open air museum is considered a must. You can get to Djurgården on foot via the beautiful Strandvägen-boulevard, by tram from Sergels Torg Square or by ferry from Slussen. Rent a bike or a canoe by the Djurgården Bridge.

If you are interested in art you will probably visit Liljevalchs and Prince Eugene’s , and if you are travelling with kids: , the Aquaria Water Museum and Gröna Lund amusement park are prioritized. The Rosendals Palace was built for King Karl XIV Johan, and is an outstanding example of Swedish Empire style. Classic well-prepared Swedish home-cooking in a historical atmosphere can be found on Djurgården, among them Gubbhyllan and Soliden restaurants on Skansen, and a large number of cafés, among them the sustainable Rosendals garden café. www.djurgarden.net www.waldemarsudde.se www.aquaria.se www.vasamuseet.se www.biologiskamuseet.com www.rosendalstradgard.se www.cirkus.se www.skansen.se www.gronalund.com www.ullawinbladh.se www.junibacken.se www.villagodthem.se www.liljevalchs.com www.helinvoltaire.com (café) www.nordiskamuseet.se www.restauranghasselbacken.se www.skansen.se www.scandichotels.se/hasselbacken www.thielska-galleriet.se www.royalcourt.se (Rosendals Palace)

4. GÄRDET (AKA LADUGÅRDSGÄRDET) The area of functionalist architecture named Gärdet and the field also named Gärdet separates the northern and the southern part of Djurgården. On the large Gärdet field, former military training ground, lays Stockholm’s well-known landmark the Kaknäs tower. The area near the canal, Djurgårdsbrunnsviken, holds several museums, hotels, restaurants and attractive diplomatic neighborhoods. The small but species-rich bird lake “Isbladskärret”, known for its colony of herons, is situated on the border between Djurgården and Gärdet. www.kaknastornet.se (tower) www.kallhagen.se (hotel and restaurant) www.tekniskamuseet.se www.etnografiska.se www.polismuseet.se www.sjohistoriska.se www.bockholmen.com/djurgardsbrunn/ (inn)

5. NORRA DJURGÅRDEN The wildest nature area with the greatest biodiversity lies in the area around Stora Skuggan just behind the University and in the park Lill-Jansskogen. Among them you will find Lappkärret, a former wetland area which is now a bird lake, and Stora Vargjakten, one of the few remaining ancient pine forests in the park. This area has Northern Europe’s greatest collection of ancient oaks, some of which are almost 500 years old. The oaks play a key role in the biological diversity of the park. An ancient oak can harbor up to 1000 species of insect! The hollows in the tree are utilized by bats, starlings, woodpigeons, and tawny owls.

Norra Djurgården is also home to several institutes of learning, the Universitetet, , and Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Royal Institute of Technology. Stadion, the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, was built in 1911 and is still used for sporting events and concerts. Kungliga Tennishallen, a lawn-tennis stadium, and Ryttarstadion, an equestrian stadium are also part of Norra Djurgården. Fiskartorpet (fishing cottage), is the oldest building (1696) and considered to be owned by King Carl XI. The cottage has also given name to the Ski-jump in the area. Stora Skuggan is a destination with an inn and a 4H City farm. By Brunnsviken lake you will find the Bergius Botanical Garden and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. (Read more on Brunnsviken. www.nrm.se www.storaskuggan.gastrogate.com www.bergianska.se www.kltk.se (tennis) www.skafferiet.eu (cafe)

6. The area around Brunnsviken lake is a cultural landscape. The crown jewel is the Haga Park with attractions such as: (residence of HRH Crown Princess Victoria and HRH Prince Daniel), Gustav III’s Pavilion, Ekotemplet, the Copper Tents and Fjärilshuset (Butterfly House). Haga Park is one of Sweden’s most outstanding examples of an English landscape park. It was created in the 1780s under the direction of Gustav III. It offers many of the distinctive features of this style of park, including meandering paths, outstanding views and romantic features such as exotic buildings.

The Copper Tents was erected between 1787–90 as a barracks and stable for the life guards of Gustav III. It was intended to suggest the shape of a Roman army tent. Today it houses a café and the Haga Park Museum, which includes an exhibition about Haga Park and its buildings. Between the Norra Djurgården area and the Haga park lays Bellevue Park, one of the three English landscape parks around Brunnsviken (the other are Haga and the Tivolipark in Ulriksdal). Its heights command views over the whole of Brunnsviken area.

The park contains meandering paths and features Carl Eldh’s Studio Museum. If you like to stay in the Hagapark you can choose between the four star inn Stallmästaregården (southern Haga) or the Radisson Blue Royal Park Hotel (northern Haga), both by the Brunnsviken lake. There are also several cafés and

restaurants in the area. www.royalcourt.se www.royalparkhotel.se www.fjarilshuset.se www.stallmastaregarden.se www.eldhsatelje.se www.visithaga.se/en

7. BRUNNSVIKEN (LAKE) Brunnsviken is the largest lake in the Royal National City Park. It’s situated between Hagaparken and Norra Djurgården. The parks and the lake are popular for skating in the winter or canoeing or swimming in the summer. You can rent canoes from Brunnsviken Kanot Klubb (Frescati Hagv. 5) The Royal Haga Tour is a Hop-on-hop-off tour in the Brunnsviken lake with possible stops at Haga Palace, Bergius garden and the sustainable small café Sjöstugan (Pipers väg 22). Tivoliberget lies in northern Brunnsviken, near Sjöstugan, and is one of the area’s late 18th century English landscape parks. Here you can walk along the original paths and enjoy magnificent views over the water from the viewing places erected at that time. www.kafesjostugan.se www.bkk.se (canoe rental) www.stromma.se/en/STOCKHOLM/Tours/Stockholm-Sightseeing/Boat-Tours/Royal-Haga/

8. ULRIKSDAL (INCL SÖRENTORP) One goes to Ulriksdal for culture, recreation and gastronomy. Here you will find “The Confidence”, a working 16th century theatre, the royal with its Orangery museum and a lovely french baroque park. The nearby palace flower shop and café (Rappnes Ulriksdals Slottsträdgård) is a lovely excursion in itself. Swedish home cooking, smorgasbord and Christmas dishes are served at the inn, Ulriksdals Wärdshus. The private villa on Bockholmen Island viewing the Baltic Sea is also an alternative. Bockholmen – A private villa has turned in to a restaurant by the waterfront. www.ulriksdalswardshus.se www.rappne.nu www.royalcourt.se www.bockholmen.com www.confidencen.se

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION As a journalist, we provide you with news, tips, story ideas, facts, images, and spokespersons within areas of tourism. If you are about to visit Stockholm, contact us to make sure you will get the most out of your stay.

Birgitta Palmér, Press Officer Germany, Russia, Netherlands and China Sylvie Kjellin, Press Officer UK, France, Spain and Italy Tina Larsson, Press Officer Denmark, Norway, and USA Ann-Charlotte Jönsson, PR Manager [email protected] www.mynewsdesk.com/pressroom/stockholmvisitorsboard www.visitstockholm.com

Sources: www.nationalstadsparken.se