Drottningholm Palace is Sweden’s best preserved royal palace constructed in the 17th century. The palace features a beautiful Palace Park, a unique Court Theatre and a Chinese Pavilion. In 1991, Drottningholm Palace was the first Swedish attraction to be put on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.
To reach Drottningholm Palace, you need to first take metro to Brommaplan station. Once you are out of the station, there’s a Mc Donald’s on your right, turn to the left and wait at bus stop B.
From here, you need to take a bus (176, 177, 301-323) to Drottningholm Palace. If you are unsure, don’t feel shy to ask the bus driver if the bus is heading towards Drottningholm Palace.
Drottningholm Palace is opened daily from April – September, Friday – Sunday in October and weekends only at all other times. See the opening hours on the website: https://www.royalpalaces.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/drottningholm-palace/opening-hours.html
The Palace Park is opened all year round. The Baroque Garden was created in the late 17th century and it is next to the palace.
The Hercules fountain at the centre in the Baroque Garden.
Walking towards Drottningholm Palace.
Royal Guard of the palace.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the ticket counter inside. Ticket price is 130 SEK per adult. The Chinese Pavilion ticket is 100 SEK or you can buy a combined ticket for 190 SEK.
The current Swedish royal family have used Drottningholm as their primary residence since 1981. The rooms in the southern part of the palace are reserved for members of the royal family.
The 24 year old Queen Dowager, Hedvig Eleonora, had bought the Palace in 1661. She celebrated Christmas at Drottningholm that year and travelled to Stockholm the day before New Year’s Eve. Four hours later, the palace was destroyed by fire on 30th December that same year. After the fire, the Queen Dowager engaged the architect Nikodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuilt the palace. In 1662 work began on the palace, as we know it today.
The Library was added after an extensive refurbishment of the palace initiated in 1747. The long gallery which is the current library was initially fitted out as a mirrored gallery for Lovisa Ulrika’s museum collection. In 1760, work began on converting the gallery into a library.
Hedvig Eleonora’s State Bedchamber was the heart of the 17th century’s official apartment and was used as an audience chamber where the most notable guests would be received. Queen Hedvig Eleonora’s private bedroom was, however, located in her private apartment in the south part of the palace.
The Ehrenstrahl Drawing Room was Queen Hedvig Eleonora’s audience chamber where she received guests and tributes. Next to the entrance, is a depiction of Queen Hedvig Eleonora’s regency. Her son Karl XI was only four years old when his father Karl X Gustav died and a regency was appointed for the heir apparent, chaired by the widowed Queen.
The staircase is the most extravagant and expensive design to have been created by the palace's chief architect, Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. Following the death of Tessin the Elder in 1682, his son Nicodemus Tessin the Younger carried on and completed the great project.
The upper floor of the palace.
In 1744 the palace was given as a wedding present to Crown Princess Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, on her marriage to the Swedish heir apparent, Adolf Fredrik. During Lovisa Ulrika's ownership of Drottningholm, the interior of the palace was transformed in a more sophisticated French-inspired Rococo style.
When King Gustav III took over Drottningholm Palace in 1777, he planned several new buildings in the Park. However, only two were realised: the Guard’s Tent in 1782 and the Gothic Tower in 1792.
The Guard’s Tent was decorative in the park, but the idea came from Gustav III himself.
The entire facade is sheet metal and it is painted to resemble canvas. The facade conceals a two-storey wooden building. On the lower floor, there is two dormitories for guards, a kitchen and a hall with stairs leading to the upper floor, where the officers had their rooms. If you think the building is dark, walk round to the back and you will see six windows.
The Chinese Pavilion was secretly built by King Adolf Fredik as a surprise birthday present to Queen Lovisa Ulrika in 1753. At that time, all things Chinese were the latest fashion. The Pavilion was originally a wooden construction, but it was replaced with a brick building in 1763 - 1769.
The Chinese Pavilion is located in the far section of Drottningholm Palace Park. It is closed from October to April, opens in May – August daily from 11am – 4.30pm and in September daily from 12pm – 3.30pm. Make sure to allocate your time accordingly as the distance between the palace and the Chinese Pavilion is at least a 15 minutes walk away and the pavilion closes earlier than the palace.
Inside the Pavilion, the royal family were surrounded by an exotic world of art objects and murals from a Chinese paradise. Here, they spent time reading, drawing, embroidering and conversing.
Imported Chinese porcelain in the Pavilion.
The green parlour.
Several rooms still have their original Chinese silk and paper wall coverings.
In the 19th century, the Chinese Pavilion was used only sporadically. Today it is the most prominent example in Europe of a Chinese inspired pavilion.
There are several smaller buildings around the Chinese Pavilion such as the Silver Chamber, Billiard Room, Confidence (a dining hall for ‘confidential’ dinners) and a kitchen.
Rows of trees in the Palace Park.
Opening hours of Drottningholm Palace and Chinese Pavilion.
Drottninghom Palace by the waterfront.
The visitors' centre in the white building beside the palace's waterfront – known as Karamellan – also houses Drottningholm Palace Café. There are toilets besides this building if you need to use one.
Drottningholm Palace is well worth a day trip from Stockholm. I would recommend a visit to the exotic Chinese Pavilion as it makes a unique experience.
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