Having not been able to visit Buckingham Palace, we were very excited to be able to discover the Royal Palace of Sweden. Once out of the subway in Gamla Stan, simply head north to the imposing palace. Take the southern entrance on Slottsbacken to purchase the tickets that will give you access to 3 visits (The Royal Apartments, the Treasury and the Tre Kronor Museum) for a whole week. In order to be able to walk more freely in the palace, we chose to avoid taking guided tours and frankly it was fantastic.

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We started with the Treasury and widely admired the many regalias worn at coronations through time. Glittering crowns, coats made from fine materials or imposing scepters, we admired these magnificent history filled objects without, unfortunately, being able to take some pictures. Much smaller than the Tower of London, this jewelery collection was still quite impressive and interesting. We then went to visit the Royal Apartments, accessible from the western entrance of the Palace, on Högvaktsterrassen. There were, too, a lot of beautiful amazing things to admire. We wandered through many huge history filled rooms decorated with great refinement. Tables, carpets, gilding, sometimes we didn’t even know where to look! Special mention to this huge table that seats up to 120 guests (yes, we counted) and seemed to be perfect for soap (or even champagne) sliding!

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Being completely starved, we decided to skip the Tre Kronor Museum, which traces the history of the Swedish court. And once outside, we had the nice surprise to stumble upon the Changing of the Guard! Again, the setting was much less ostentatious than in England but it was still a good show. Many military anthems were played accompanied by perfectly orchestrated walks, it was very nice.

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