The cherry tunnel
Two pink weeks, Sweden's most photographed.
Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain · Holger.Ellgaard — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0
Kungstradgarden is a long rectangular square in the heart of commercial Stockholm, a royal kitchen garden in the fifteenth century before becoming a formal pleasure garden and then the city's principal public square. It is not a garden in the green sense: it is stone paving, water basins, fountains and two rows of trees, designed for gathering rather than strolling. Its most famous moment comes in late April when the Japanese cherry trees flower all at once along the central walk — a fortnight in which the place turns into a pink tunnel and becomes the most photographed spot in Sweden. The trees were a gift in the 1980s and their flowering is now an annual event the papers track. The rest of the year runs a continuous programme: a free ice rink in the middle of the square in winter, concerts, markets and food festivals in summer, and awninged cafes along the edges. Its position between the department stores and the Royal Palace makes it the city's default meeting point.
Two pink weeks, Sweden's most photographed.
Concerts and food markets all season.
Kungstradgarden, 111 47 Stockholm
Berzelii ParkBerzelii Park is a small park in central Stockholm between Nybroplan and Hamngat3 minutes walk4.4
The Hallwyl MuseumThe Hallwyl Museum is a private late-nineteenth-century town palace left exactly3 minutes walk4.6
Raoul Wallenbergs torgA small square on the water in central Stockholm, named after Raoul Wallenberg a3 minutes walk4.3
Kulturhuset StadsteaternA cultural centre and city theatre in a glass building on Sergels torg in centra4 minutes walk4.2
The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern AntiquitiesMedelhavsmuseet is Stockholm's museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeol4 minutes walk4.3There is no fixed date — usually between late April and the first days of May, shifting a week either way with the spring's warmth, and peak lasts barely ten days. The city publishes a daily bud-status tracker in season, which is the most reliable reference if you are planning a trip around it.