6 Best Sights in Gamla Stan and Skeppsholmen, Stockholm

Designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, the Royal Palace was completed in the 1770s to replace the Tre Kronor palace, which burned down in 1697. Each of the four facades has a distinct style, signifying different characteristics: the west is the king's (or the male) side; the east is the queen's (or female) side; the south belongs to the nation; and the north represents royalty and power in general. Watch the changing of the guard in the curved terrace entrance and view the palace's fine furnishings and Gobelin tapestries on a tour of Representationsvåningarna (the State Apartments). Remnants of the earlier palace, as well as artifacts recovered after the fire, can be seen at the Tre Kronor Museum on the ground floor of the north side. To survey the crown jewels, which are no longer used in this self-consciously egalitarian country, head to Skattkammaren (the Treasury). Livrustkammaren (the Royal Armory)—Sweden's oldest museum, dating back nearly 400 years—has an outstanding collection of weaponry, coaches, and royal regalia. Your admission ticket includes the State Apartments, the Treasury, Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, and the Tre Kronor Museum within seven days. Entrance to Livrustkammaren is separate.  Entrances to the Treasury and Armory are on the Slottsbacken side of the palace.

The museum's excellent collection includes works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Dalí, Brancusi, and other international artists. You can also view examples of significant Swedish painters and sculptors and an extensive section on photography. The building itself is striking. Designed by the well-regarded Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, it has seemingly endless hallways of blond wood and walls of glass, offering tantalizing glimpses of the island of Djurgården across the water. The building also houses the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design (ArkDes), showcasing dozens of detailed architectural models of notable Swedish and international buildings.

The Swedish Academy meets at Börshuset (the Stock Exchange) every year to decide the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. The building is also the home of the Nobel Museum. Along with exhibits on creativity's many forms, the museum displays scientific models, shows films, and has a full explanation of the process of choosing prizewinners. The museum does a good job covering the controversial selections made over the years. It's a must for Nobel Prize hopefuls and others.

Dating from 1270, Riddarholmskyrkan, the Greyfriars monastery, is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm. It's the burial place for two medieval kings, as well as every Swedish sovereign since 1632 except Queen Kristina, who abdicated and died in Rome, and Gustav VI Adolf, the current king's predecessor, who is buried at Haga Park. The redbrick church, distinguished by its delicate iron-fretwork spire, is rarely used for services and is more like a museum now. The most famous figures interred within are King Gustavus Adolphus, hero of the Thirty Years' War, and the warrior King Karl XII, renowned for his daring invasion of Russia, who died in Norway in 1718. The most recent of the 17 Swedish kings to be put to rest here was Gustav V, in 1950. The different rulers' sarcophagi, usually embellished with their monograms, are visible in the small chapels dedicated to the various dynasties.

When in session, the Swedish Parliament meets in this Neoclassical building, which was inaugurated in 1905. Above the entrance, the architect placed sculptures of a peasant, a burgher, a clergyman, and a nobleman. Take a tour of the building not only to learn about Swedish government but also to see the art within. In the former First Chamber are murals by Otte Sköld illustrating different periods in the history of Stockholm, and in the current First Chamber a massive tapestry by Elisabet Hasselberg Olsson, Memory of a Landscape, hangs above the podium. An English-language guided tour is the only way to gain admission; tours are first-come, first-served and limited to 28 persons, so arrive early.

Here, in 1520, the Danish King Christian II ordered a massacre of Swedish noblemen, known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. The slaughter paved the way for a national revolt against foreign rule and the founding of Sweden as a sovereign state under King Gustav Vasa, who ruled from 1523 to 1560. One legend holds that if it rains heavily enough on the anniversary of the massacre, the old stones still run red. Nowadays, the square is lined with cafés where you can enjoy fantastic people-watching over lunch or a coffee break. During the month before Christmas, the square fills with a market selling handicrafts, glögg (hot mulled wine), and other seasonal foods and gifts.