Walking Södermalm when Stockholm turns wet

Starting at Slussen

Come up at Slussen, on the red or green metro line, and open the door of Stockholms stadsmuseum in the ochre 17th-century building on the square. Entry to the exhibitions is free. The cellar galleries hold old Stockholm shop signs and street models. Look at them before you walk the island and you will understand why it looks the way it does. It is open 11:00 to 17:00 Tuesday to Sunday, until 20:00 on Wednesdays, and closed on Mondays. The square outside is being rebuilt and partly fenced off, so look for the entrance off the inner courtyard, by stairs or by lift. There is a café for coffee and sandwiches, and a children's room called Mellanrummet.

Katarinahissen is the black iron lift tower above the locks. The ride up to the walkway at the top is free, and so is the view over Gamla Stan. It runs roughly 08:00 to 22:00, and it is cut back or stopped in strong wind. When it is closed, take the stairs up from Mosebacke torg.

Gondolen sits inside the old steel gangway at the top, on the 11th floor of Katarinahuset, with long windows down both sides. You get the rooftops of Gamla Stan and the locks below from behind glass, which is the point when the sky turns. It opens at 11:30 on weekdays and 12:00 at weekends, and runs to 01:00. There is live jazz most days. Tables are booked online, and parties of more than eight have to book by email.

The cliff path to Mariatorget

Monteliusvägen runs about 500 metres along the top of the Mariaberget cliff, a gravel path with a wooden railing and benches and red timber cottages behind it. You look across the water to Gamla Stan, Riddarholmen and the City Hall tower. It is free, open at any hour, and a 15-minute walk from Slussen. Snow and ice make it slippery and the gravel is not salted, so wear something with grip or leave it for a drier day.

Drop Coffee is a few minutes from Mariatorget metro, on Wollmar Yxkullsgatan. They roast what they pour, and filter coffee is brewed to order on a V60, Chemex or Aeropress. It opens at 08:00 on weekdays and 10:00 at weekends, and closes at 18:00 (17:00 at weekends). The room is small and fills up, so treat it as a 20-minute stop.

Akkurat on Hornsgatan has a back wall of whisky bottles and a bank of beer taps, with husmanskost (Swedish home cooking) and mussels from the kitchen. Weekday lunch runs 11:00 to 14:30 and comes with bread, a salad buffet and coffee. It opens at 11:00 and closes at 23:00 early in the week, later from Wednesday. On Sunday it is 15:00 to 22:00, earlier than most of the street. They also run beer and whisky tastings, with a minimum of eight people.

Hotel Rival on Mariatorget has its own theatre, a bistro and two bars, so a show and dinner can happen in one building. The Tavern serves a weekday Today's Special at 165 kr from 11:30, while it lasts. Mariatorget metro is on the square itself.

Fotografiska on the quay

The museum is in a red-brick former customs house on the Stadsgården quay, all arched windows outside and dark halls of large-format prints inside. From Slussen it is an 800-metre walk along the waterfront, for now by a temporary staircase and walkway. Admission is 195 kr for adults, and free for children of 12 and under with an adult. Students and anyone aged 13 to 25 pay 135 kr. On Wednesdays from 18:00 two people get in for the price of one, so 98 kr each. Guided tours are included with your ticket, first come first served unless you book a place ahead. Father, by Diana Markosian, is on until 9 May 2027. An exhibition of women photographers opens on 5 December 2026. The restaurant on the top floor looks over the water to Djurgården. The galleries stay open to 23:00, so save this for the evening, once the daylight has gone anyway.

Up on Mosebacke

Katarina kyrka stands on the high ground in the middle of the island, with a green copper dome and a bright whitewashed interior. A fire in 1990 brought the tower down through the vault and left only the outer walls standing. It was rebuilt using traditional lime and timber and reopened in 1995. Entry is free, and it is open 10:00 to 17:00 Monday to Saturday, from 08:30 on Sunday.

Södra Teatern on Mosebacke torg can hold a whole evening indoors. There is the main stage, the vaulted Kägelbanan cellar and several bars, so you can see a show and then drink without going back outside. From Slussen, take the Götgatan exit and walk up Hökens gata. If stairs are hard, use the Fiskargatan 3 entrance, where staff will meet you. After 16:00 on days without a concert the age limit is 20. The outdoor terrace is closed for the season and opens again in spring.

Medborgarplatsen and Skanstull

Söderhallarna reopened in October 2026 after a long rebuild, on Medborgarplatsen. Under the glass roof there are tiled counters for fish and cured meat, a ramen bar and a café, with communal seating and no need to book. A Systembolaget, the state off-licence, is already in the hall. The beer hall, the bakery and the cinema are still to come, so do not build an evening around them.

Pelikan on Blekingegatan is a short walk from Skanstull metro, one stop south of Medborgarplatsen. The dining hall dates from 1904 and still has its tall green-tinted windows, moulded ceiling and globe lamps. The kitchen does husmanskost, so hand-rolled meatballs, herring and calf's liver, with rhubarb pie or Småland cheesecake after. It is open 11:30 to 01:00 every day, with weekday lunch until 13:30. Tables can be booked online.

Hornstull and Långholmen

Bio Rio is a single-screen cinema from the 1940s on the Hornstull waterfront, with a curved facade, neon lettering and red velvet seats sloping down to one screen. The programme mixes independent films, premieres and children's screenings, with breakfast showings at weekends and pram-friendly screenings for parents. There is a bar in the foyer. It opens at 09:00 Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 at weekends and 17:00 on Monday, and closes at 22:00 or later. If the day's film is a Swedish title without subtitles and you do not read Swedish, pick a different screening.

Långholmens Fängelsemuseum is a short walk from Hornstull, on the small island of Långholmen, in the cell wing of a prison that closed in 1975. You can go into a restored cell with its iron bed and chamber pot and read how prisoners were treated and how their days ran. It is open 11:00 to 16:00 every day and costs 50 kr, 25 kr for children. The prison history tours are in Swedish only, so walk round on your own if that rules them out.

When to walk it

Weekday mornings are the quietest on the island. In winter the daylight goes early, so take the cliff path and the view first and leave Fotografiska for the evening. If a guided boat trip is part of your day, book it ahead. The trips run seven days a week, and 16 to 19 November are already sold out.

Before you go

The city museum is the one closed door to plan around, as it does not open on Mondays. Book Gondolen and anything at Södra Teatern before you arrive. Check that the lift at Slussen is running before you count on it. See the Stockholm guide and the Stockholm hotel search.