Östermalm is the posh area in Stockholm in which I always feel somewhat lost. It just does not appeal as much to me as other areas in the inner city of Stockholm. But to its defence, Östermalm certainly has many beautiful places worth visiting. Here are three non-touristic streets that should be on your bucket list of Östermalm’s Hidden Streets of Stockholm.
Series: Hidden Streets of Stockholm. Area: Östermalm.
Villastaden
To See
Architecture
Historic buildings
Embassies
Get Here
From T-centralen: metro to Stadion (15 min)
Walk 20 min f/ Sergels Torg
Nearby
Humlegården (park)
Engelbrektskyrkan (church)
Stockholms stadion
Villastaden is an area on Östermalm in Stockholm, bounded by Karlavägen, Sturegatan, Valhallavägen and Engelbrektsgatan. Before the 1870s, this is a completely rural area, but now, the city starts building a residential district influenced by English standards. Floragatan and Villagatan are lined with exclusive residential houses. One of these is Curmanska Villan on Floragatan 3, the oldest original house in Villastaden, which now holds the Thai Embassy.
Adelsköldska Villan is a building at Villagatan 2/Karlavägen 33. It has been a part of the Polish embassy, located at Karlavägen, since the 1970s. Adelsköld himself was a known traveller, well-aqcuainted with the European architecture of the times, especially the villas from the renaissance.
In modern time, the exclusive villas are replaced by magnificent residential houses. The few remaining villas are nowadays mostly used as offices or embassies.
Famous people like entrepreneur Ivar Kreuger, media man Jan Stenbeck and singer Lena Philipsson all have lived at Villgatan 13A & B, and director Ingmar Bergman had an apartment at Villagatan 22.
Tysta Gatan
To See
Architecture
Historic buildings
Boulevards
Get Here
From T-centralen: metro to Karlaplan (5 min)
Walk 30 min f/ Sergels Torg
Nearby
Karlaplan (park)
Fältöversten (shopping mall)
Gustav Adolfs church
The Historical Museum
In need of a break from the hustle and bustle of the city? We cannot guarantee complete silence, but the name of the street does imply this should be a place for relaxation. Welcome to Tysta gatan, The Silent Street, another gem of Östermalm’s Hidden Streets of Stockholm.
The townhouses at Tysta gatan are from the beginning of the 20th century. Today, they hold mostly offices, though a few are residential houses. All of them are classified as blue buildings by Stadsmuseet i Stockholm (Stockholm city museum). This means that they are of a particularly high cultural and historical value.
Danderydsgatan
To See
Architecture
Historic buildings
Small gardens
Get Here
From T-centralen: metro to Tekniska Högskolan+walk (30 min)
Walk 25 min f/ Sergels Torg
Nearby
Humlegården (park)
Engelbrektskyrkan (church)
Mr. Cake (café)
Restaurants
Another one of Östermalm’s Hidden Streets of Stockholm, lined with townhouses from about the same time as Tysta gatan, is Danderydsgatan. It runs from Karlavägen north through Danderydsplan all the way up to Vallhallavägen. The south stretch between Karlavägen and Danderydsplan is the interesting and picturesque part of this street.
Between 1925-1939, the green building at Danderydsgatan 4-6 holds a private girls’ school, Sandströmska skolan. Most houses though are painted in terracotta orange, yellow and faint pink which are the main colours of buildings in Stockholm from the 1920’s onward.
The small gardens in front of the townhouses give character to Danderydsgatan and are filled with cherry trees, smaller cypresses like thuja and square-cut hedges. In springtime, it truly is a treat to walk the short street from the portal at Danderydsplan to Karlavägen.
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