Overview

Gamla Stan is Stockholm's old town, and it is one of the largest and best preserved medieval centres in Europe. The area has its own little island. As well as historic buildings which have been turned into gift shops, cafesm bars and restaurants, there is also the Royal Palace, Storkyrkan, the cathedral and the Nobel Museum. The area is quite hilly but some of the roads are relatively flat or have a slight slope. There is a lot of cobblestones.

Transport & Parking

Gamla Stan has it's own metro stop, which is step free with lifts. There are several buses, trams and even ferry boats that stop close by.

Access

Gamla Stan is on its own island. the waterfront edges of the old town are flat. However the central area is very steep. This is the route I took, there were cobblestones but the walk was generally flat or with a gentle rising slope, see photos. I started off at the Royal Palace end of Gamla Stan. I walked along the waterfront. I realised as i walked by that the Royal Palace was up a steep slope and therefore not do-able for me, see photos. I continued on and turned into Skeppar Karls Grand, this was a quiet side street, near the palace. It only had cobblestones but it was relatively flat, with a slight gradient, with a do-able buy bit more noticable slope towards the top. This road was quite so I could also take my time without feeling rushed. At the top of the street is a T junction and I turned left into Osterlanggaton. This was another cobbled padestrianised street. This one had a lot of cafes and restaurants as well as a few shops. The road was relatively flat but the streets leading off on the right were too steep for me. As I walked down I passed opposite number 45, a public accessible toilet on the right. The road lead into a small square called Jarntorget. There were a lot of tourist style restaurants there and I stopped at Jerntorgith Bar and Cafe for a late lunch of pizza. I ate outside as the restaurant had stairs. The buildings in Gamla Stan are historic and have not been adapted to make them accessible. Most of the shops and restaurants have a couple of stairs without handrail to go inside. Sean also informed me that toilets are often located downstairs, which would make the diffcult for me to access. As you walk round the old town, you will be able to judge for yourself which places are accessible for you. I continued on into Västerlånggatan, which had gift shops and restaurants. On this road i stopped off at Cafe Krans, which were serving delicious cinnamon buns and only had a couple of easy steps to get inside. This road had some narrow pavements and cobblestones on the road. This was a very busy street and lively street. Again the roads lead off it sloped quite noticably. I retraced my steps at the end of the road and then went down a road on the right handside, which looked not too steep. I eventually turned into the road where at the bottom, Gamla Stan metro station was located. Sadly Royal Palace and Storkyrkan were up a too steep a hill for me. However, I really enjoyed what I saw.

Toilets

Opposite the cafe at 45 Osterlanggaton, was a public accessible toilet. As i walked by I saw the door was open and the toilet had grab rails.

Staff

Not applicable. The staff in the cafes and shops I went into we polite and welcoming but it will depend on which places you visit.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I would like to say a big thank you to Sean Naughton, concierge at the Rival Hotel, who helped to plan this accessible walking route for me. His insight and knoweldge made it easy for me to explore parts of Gamla Stan. I had a great time visiting, despite the areas challenges for disabled people it is really worth visiting.

Photos