Stockholm City Hall

A landmark on the water

Stadshuset is Stockholm's town hall and one of the best-known buildings in the city. Its full Swedish name is Stockholms stadshus, shortened in everyday use to Stadshuset, "the town hall"; English guidebooks say Stockholm City Hall. All of them mean the same monumental brick building from 1923, with its 106-metre tower crowned by the three golden crowns of Sweden. It stands prominently on the water on the island of Kungsholmen, a favourite photo subject, especially from the old town across the bay.

Despite the grandeur, this is not a museum but a working town hall: the city council meets here, couples marry here, and the city receives its guests here. That is why the state rooms can only be seen on a guided tour.

The Nobel Banquet and the Golden Hall

Stockholm City Hall is world famous as the setting for the Nobel Banquet on 10 December. After the prize ceremony, the laureates and their guests dine in the Blue Hall (Blå hallen); dancing then follows one floor up in the Golden Hall (Gyllene salen).

The Golden Hall is the showpiece: its walls are clad in more than 18 million mosaic tiles, made between 1921 and 1923 to designs by Einar Forseth in the Berlin workshop of Puhl & Wagner, using around ten kilograms of gold. At its centre sits the "Mälardrottningen", the Queen of Lake Mälaren, an allegorical figure of Stockholm.

What the guided tour shows you

The tour lasts around 45 minutes and covers the central rooms: the wide Blue Hall, the shimmering Golden Hall, the wood-panelled Council Chamber with its roof structure recalling a Viking hall, and the Prince's Gallery. The gallery is closed on Saturdays, when wedding ceremonies are held there. Tours run in Swedish and English; there is no other way into the interior.

If you stay in the building, you can eat one floor down at the restaurant Stadshuskällaren (since 1922) - by its own account the only place in the world that serves every Nobel Banquet menu since 1901 on original Nobel china.

The tower

The tower is climbed separately and opens in the summer season only; the city gives no fixed month boundaries, and the official calendar lists the bookable days one by one (in September 2026, for example, it still showed slots from 09:00 to 15:30). The climb covers around 365 steps and the famous ramps - the architect Ragnar Östberg is said to have walked half of Stockholm to find the right gradient for them. A lift takes you about halfway, where you also find the small Tower Museum with drawings and models of the sculptures and details of the building. At the top, a wide view opens over the island city, Gamla Stan and the water.

The visit takes around 40 minutes in total. Capacity is tight: each time slot has only 27 tickets. Prams, large bags and other bulky items cannot be taken up, and the tower is not wheelchair accessible; the main building is reachable for the guided tour via a ramp in the courtyard. Note that a renovation is announced for 2027-2028, during which the tower closes to visitors. If you want to climb it, plan accordingly.

Tickets, opening hours and getting there

The interior is guided-tour only: 150 SEK for adults, 130 SEK for seniors and students, 60 SEK for young people aged 7 to 18, free for children up to 6. The tower costs an extra 100 SEK (free for children up to 11 when accompanied). Both are sold officially through stadshuset.stockholm, with tour tickets released one week in advance. Tickets for the current day are also sold at the ticket office inside the building, which opens at 08:30 - the entrance is at the top of the staircase in the courtyard.

Stockholm City Hall has no fixed opening hours: because the building still works as a town hall, slots change from day to day and individual days drop out entirely for events. Current times and prices are therefore always on stadshuset.stockholm (correct as of September 2026).

The building sits on the eastern shore of Kungsholmen right on the water, an easy walk from the old town: the bridges bring you to Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen Church in a few minutes. The nearest Tunnelbana station is Rådhuset, and T-Centralen is also walkable. For more on the district see the Kungsholmen overview, and to see how the town hall compares with the city's other sights, read Stockholm's highlights compared.