Drottningholm Palace

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991): The Private Residence Of The Swedish Royal Family, With Its 18th Century Court Theatre, Chinese Pavilion And Baroque And English Gardens · Drottningholm, Stockholm County

Drottningholm Palace (Drottningholms slott) stands on the island of Lovon in Lake Malaren, about 11 km west of central Stockholm, and is the best-preserved royal palace in Sweden. Built from the 1660s for the dowager queen Hedvig Eleonora by the architects Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the Younger, it was shaped by later queens, above all Lovisa Ulrika in the 18th century. In 1991 the Royal Domain of Drottningholm became a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the palace, its baroque garden and English park, the Palace Theatre of 1766 with its original stage machinery, and the rococo Chinese Pavilion. Since 1981 King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have lived here, so part of the palace is their private home and closed to visitors. People come for the state rooms, the rare working 18th-century theatre, a summer boat trip across Malaren and a free walk in the park. The honest caveat: the theatre and the pavilion are summer-only, winter opening is thin, and on summer weekends the rooms and the boats are crowded.

Drottningholm, Lovon island, Ekero Municipality, about 11 km west of central Stockholm, Drottningholm, Stockholm County, Sweden

The palace is open daily in summer, roughly May to September, with the longest hours from about June to August; from about October to April it is often open weekends only, with short midday hours, and it closes for some holidays and royal events - check the current schedule before a winter trip. The Palace Theatre can be seen only on guided tours, run in summer. The Chinese Pavilion opens in summer only, roughly May to September. The park is free and open all year. Getting there: in summer the steamboat from Stadshusbron by Stockholm City Hall takes about an hour across Lake Malaren; all year, take the SL metro green line to Brommaplan, then one of several SL buses towards Ekero for about 10-15 minutes to the Drottningholm stop. By bike it is roughly 12-15 km on cycle paths. Book the summer opera and ballet performances months ahead; palace tickets need no booking.

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