The waterside garden
Sculpture and paths at the island's edge.
Udo Schröter — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Rainer Halama — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AleWi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rainer Halama — CC BY-SA 4.0
Waldemarsudde is Prince Eugen's house at the far end of Djurgården, and its story is unusual: the prince was the brother of the King of Sweden **and a professional painter** — not an amateur — and among the most important Swedish landscape painters of the early twentieth century. He built the house for himself in 1905 at the water's edge and designed it to combine living and working: a drawing room, a north-lit studio on the upper floor, and a gallery wing added later to show his collection. He left everything to the state on his death in 1947. So a visit today is three things at once: a **house** furnished as he left it, a **museum** of his collection of Swedish and Norwegian art, and a **garden** on the water with sculpture and paths — the best of it in summer. Its position at the far end of Djurgården, away from the crowds at Skansen and the Vasa, is part of its value: complete quiet by the water. **The garden alone justifies the trip.**
Sculpture and paths at the island's edge.
North light on the upper floor, as he left it.
Prins Eugens väg 6, Djurgården, Stockholm
Djurgarden IslandDjurgarden is an entire island inside Stockholm that was a royal hunting reserve7 minutes walk4.8
SkansenSkansen is the world's first open-air museum, opened in 1891 on an idea that was11 minutes walk4.4
Grona LundGrona Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park, running since 1883 on a very small13 minutes walk4.3
ABBA The MuseumABBA The Museum is devoted to the most successful band Sweden has ever produced,14 minutes walk4.6
The Viking MuseumThe Viking Museum on Djurgarden is a modern narrative museum rather than a colle16 minutes walk4.4An island in the middle of Stockholm that was a royal hunting ground and is still largely unbuilt — half of it parkland and forest. It carries Stockholm's most visited museums: the **Vasa Museum** with the warship that sank in 1628 and was raised whole (do not miss it), **Skansen** the open-air museum and zoo, the **Nordic Museum**, the **ABBA Museum**, the **Gröna Lund** funfair, and **Waldemarsudde** at the far end. A full day covers three of them, no more. It is twenty minutes' walk from the centre, or reached by tram or ferry — the ferry being the more enjoyable.