Gamla Stan: Guided Old Town Walk or On Your Own?
4 min read
Gamla Stan is small enough to walk alone in an hour or two, and a guide earns the fee mainly through the stories that sit between the sights. The island is where Stockholm began, and one guided option is the Old Town walking tour with a local guide, which costs €10.50 per person, is rated 4.7 out of 5 and has 2,689 reviews.
What the guided walk covers
The page’s itinerary has eleven entries, which are grouped here: the Iron Boy statue (the page calls it a 15 cm figure), Riddarholmen and its church, the House of Nobility, Mårten Trotzigs gränd, the German Church, a rune stone, Stortorget with the Nobel Museum, Stockholm Cathedral and the Royal Palace, where the tour ends. The listing says the narrowest street is 90 cm wide, and that on Stortorget the guide tells the story of the 1520 Stockholm Bloodbath. Most stops are 5 to 10 minutes, and the page marks several as photo stops or pass-bys. The inclusions list names only the guide and the walk, so entry fees for the church or a museum are not part of it.
The tour lasts 2 to 2.5 hours in English and is a public group tour with a limited number of participants, according to the page. A private group is available as an option.
Practicalities
The meeting point is at street level outside Gamla Stan metro station, at the exit that leads towards the Old Town. The guide holds a “Nordic Freedom Tours” sign. The page says the tour runs every day of the year at 10:00 and 13:00, with extra departures in summer, and asks you to come 10 minutes early because the group leaves on time. If your plans change, the operator says it will move your booking free of charge if you message it through GetYourGuide. The page also says the tour runs in all weather. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours ahead.
The page lists wheelchair users among those the tour is not suitable for, and Gamla Stan is a hill of narrow, often cobbled lanes; ask the operator if mobility matters. It also lists a pickup option; check availability for the pickup choices, as the standard meeting point is the metro station.
Doing it on your own
You can walk the same route using the stops above as a checklist. It costs nothing, you can go into the cathedral or a café when you like, and you can start whenever you like. What you lose is the explanation: the Bloodbath, the Hanseatic merchants and the burial church are much easier to follow with a guide. If you want to go in somewhere, the Nobel Prize Museum on Stortorget has its own ticket, listed at €14.51.
The changing of the guard
According to the Swedish Armed Forces, the ceremony at the Royal Palace takes place at 12:15 on weekdays and Saturdays and at 13:15 on Sundays and public holidays, and lasts about 40 minutes. In November and December the parade departs from Mynttorget in the Old Town; the mounted parade is only held on selected days from April to August. Times and places can change, so check the guard’s own calendar. The 10:00 tour ends at the Royal Palace after 2 to 2.5 hours, which puts you there around the time of the 12:15 ceremony; the 13:00 tour finishes in the afternoon, after it.
Who should choose what
Choose the guided walk if it is your first visit, you are short of time, or you want the history explained. Walk alone if you have already been to Stockholm, if you prefer to set your own pace, or if you would rather spend the fee on museum entries. For Christmas time in the Old Town, see our guide to Christmas markets in Stockholm; all walks are on our page for walking tours in Stockholm.
