Wild Stockholm: Salmon, Old Oaks and the National City Park

The natural side of Stockholm, from the Royal National City Park, with its great stands of old oaks, to the fish of Strömmen in the heart of the city and the nature reserves and islands within easy reach, with a directory of the parks in our guide.

Stockholm is built on islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, and its nature is never far away. Through its centre runs the world’s first national city park, a green belt of oak woods, meadows and shores, and in the channel beneath the Royal Palace, fish pass on their way to spawn.

This is a short, honest guide to Stockholm’s natural side: the park, the water and the islands. Walk or cycle, bring a picnic, and remember the Swedish right of public access, allemansrätten: you may roam freely, as long as you don’t disturb or damage nature.

The Royal National City Park

Kungliga nationalstadsparken, created in 1995, is the world’s first and Sweden’s only national city park: about 27 square kilometres running from Ulriksdal and Haga in the north, past Brunnsviken, to Royal Djurgården and the islands of Fjäderholmarna in the south. It holds one of the largest stands of big old oaks in Northern Europe.

Those oaks are a world of their own: the county board names the broad-bordered oak longhorn beetle and the green woodpecker among the park’s residents. Walk the shore paths of Djurgården or the meadows of Haga Park early in the morning, when the woodpeckers are calling.

Lakes and islands

East of the city, the Nacka nature reserve surrounds the lake of Källtorpssjön, with trails, swimming and the outdoor centre of Hellasgården. A short boat ride from the centre, Fjäderholmarna are the first islands of the archipelago, the place to sit on the rocks and watch the Baltic.

In the heart of Stockholm, salmon and sea trout swim past the Royal Palace.

Feature: fish in the heart of the city

Strömmen, the channel that runs past the Royal Palace and the Opera, is where the fresh water of Lake Mälaren meets the brackish Baltic, and the City of Stockholm calls it unusually rich in fish. Smelt and Baltic herring come here to spawn in spring; zander and perch pass through on their way to Mälaren; and in summer, among the bream, the occasional salmon heads upstream to spawn. Anglers line the quays with the palace behind them.

Did you know? Sea trout fishing in Strömmen is kept going by the annual release of two-year-old smolts, young sea trout ready to begin their life at sea.

Our advice

Our advice: hire a bike and follow the shore of Djurgården and on to Haga, and take the boat to Fjäderholmarna on a summer evening. Before lighting a fire or a grill, check the fire-ban status with the Greater Stockholm Fire Brigade, never use disposable grills in the national city park, and take your rubbish home. Check the City of Stockholm’s rules before fishing in Strömmen.