Travel
Built in the 17th century, Drottningholm Palace follows the prototype of the French ones, which is good and bad at the same time. It is good because French architecture never disappoints. It is bad because if you, like us, have previously seen a certain number of European palaces, many of them influenced by the French ones, well, you might have gone immune and not go all 'oh' and 'ah', especially when the guide explains that what looks like marble it's actually painted wood because when the palace was built Sweden was a poor country and therefore they had to compromise on quality. Actually the guide did such a good job at pointing out all the fakes that deceived our eyes that we left the palace wondering why on earth it this a UNESCO site?
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Travel
Drottningholm Palace, Stockholm. UNESCO World Heritage Site
Palaces and castles always fascinated me and tickled my imagination. Therefore it will come as no surprise that on our last day in Stockholm I dragged my husband to see Drottningholm Palace. The reputation preceded this place for being listed as a heritage site by UNESCO and I usually trust these guys. The entrance fee to the palace was also included in our Stockholm Card, so there was nothing to stop me from visiting it.
Drottningholm Palace is situated outside the city and can be reached either by boat or by a combination of subway + bus. As it is the permanent residence of the Swedish royal family no photos are allowed inside, which is a pity, because the rooms opened to the public look pretty good.
Built in the 17th century, Drottningholm Palace follows the prototype of the French ones, which is good and bad at the same time. It is good because French architecture never disappoints. It is bad because if you, like us, have previously seen a certain number of European palaces, many of them influenced by the French ones, well, you might have gone immune and not go all 'oh' and 'ah', especially when the guide explains that what looks like marble it's actually painted wood because when the palace was built Sweden was a poor country and therefore they had to compromise on quality. Actually the guide did such a good job at pointing out all the fakes that deceived our eyes that we left the palace wondering why on earth it this a UNESCO site?
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| Poor old baby. The woman selling trinkets on the palace's grounds said she needed to take him with her to work every day as she couldn't leave him home alone because of his poor medical condition - diabetes. |
The palace grounds are free to visit and host a number of buildings accessible with the Stockholm Card as well. First there is a theater, which is not much to see per se, but worth going in because of the guided tour which is entertaining and the ladies holding it are dressed in beautiful traditional Swedish costumes.
A 10-minute walk through the gardens and the Chinese Pavilion raised in front of us. This is advertised as the largest Chinese pavilion in Europe and when we visited there were a few music bands around entertaining the guests. However, this poorly decorated pavilion reminded us of the one in Brighton we visited years ago, which happens to be the most outstanding pavilion we've ever seen. The Brighton Pavilion is huge comparing, but it is decorated in a mixture of Chinese and Indian styles, and therefore it cannot be the largest Chinese pavilion. Maybe we shouldn't have made these comparison, but we just couldn't help it. I think we just got to the saturation point for the time being and we needed an aesthetics change. A couple of months later we landed in Tokyo.
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| The Chinese Pavilion |
For more Stockholm travel tips and ideas, check out VisitStockholm.com
You can also see our month long Interrail itinerary and read our tips for traveling Europe with an Interrail pass. Have you used an Interrail pass before or are you planning an Interrail trip in the near future? Please leave us your feedback. It means the world to us.
We’d like to thank Interrail for providing us with two complimentary global passes for our 1 month Eastern Europe & Scandinavia tour. Though we used the Global Pass for our journey, it's worth noting that single country passes are also available.
- Wandering Around Skansen - The Ultimate Folk Museum From Stockholm
Having enjoyed only days before the charming Den Gamle By in Aarhus and the quiet Old Bergen Museum, we were curious to see the Swedish version of them. So after exploring Stockholm's canals, we took one of the cute historical trams and...
- A Morning On Stockholm's Royal Canal Boat Tour
Before I even arrived in Stockholm I already knew that going on a canal boat tour was the one thing I wouldn't miss for anything in the world. Therefore when I spotted the Royal Canal Tour on the list of 'free sightseeing' of the...
- The Many Faces Of Skansen Museum From Stockholm
We simply love it when visiting a history museum the staff is dressed in traditional costumes, blending perfectly with the exhibition. But we haven't visited any other museum yet that features so much diversity both in term of social class and time...
- Orebro Castle. Majestically Rising In The Middle Of A Modern City
Situated right in the middle of the town, the Orebro Castle majestically dominates the views. We arrived in Orebro on a very rainy day. The castle revealed itself to us just as a pretty unusual site. A moat surrounds the castle and the city...
- The Delicious Pastries At Skansen Museum In Stockholm
Skansen Open Air Museum is probably Stockholm's best idea. Celebrating life throughout Sweden before the industrialization era, it features a wealth of different architectural style, customs and traditional costumes. We spent a day wandering through...