Mariefred & Drottingholm

Drottningholm

We've travelled 425 miles since our last blog entry, across Sweden from Varberg to Stockholm, stopping in two great wild camping spots in Granna and Eskilstuna. The route, however, has been largely unrewarding and we've checked both Lonley Planet and Eyewitness Guides for this area and found not a lot of interest - I think in an ideal world you would approach Stockholm via a coastal route if you wanted scenery.  That's not to say the countryside hasn't been pleasant enough, you can't expect great sights every stop! We've had a couple of pretty grey days weather wise but we've made a bee-line for Stockholm because of a break in the weather forcast for this weekend - fingers crossed it materialises.

Mariefred 

Today we went to Drottningholm - a large country estate on the outskirts of the capital in which the Royal Family now resides after giving up their residence in the Palace in central Stockholm, which is now only used for formal occasions. It was largely deserted and we spent a couple of hours getting lost in the grounds. We then decided to explore the island further - which turned out to be the back of beyond so we quickly turned round and headed for the capital.

Following our sucess with parking in the centre of Copenhagen we've wanted to try our luck with Stockholm, so following a tip off, we've found some parking right in the centre (as in I can see the palace from here!) which is free after 5pm and free Sat/Sun - so just £12 tomorrow to pay! We spent 3 hours having a wander round and getting our bearings, I see we're going to need the full 3 days at least to try and take it all in! More to follow...

Stockholm Preview...