Holiday apartment in Sigtuna: Discover Sweden’s first town

Sigtuna is Sweden’s first town and was founded in 980 AD by Erik the Victorious. To this day, Stora Gatan follows the route of the original main street, while 30 significant rune stones within the town bear witness to its early history. The historic centre also preserves an impressive and well-maintained collection of wooden houses from the late 18th and 19th centuries.

History and townscape

The Sigtuna Museum tells the story of the town and presents current exhibitions. The Viking Age exhibition Vikingasilvret offers a special insight into this period: it explains how silver reached Sigtuna and covers mining, coin minting and long-distance trade. The ruins of S:t Pers preserve the remains of a church built in the 12th century that was intended to serve as a cathedral. The ruins of S:t Olof are the remains of an early Romanesque church from the late 11th century.

Mariakyrkan is the only church in Sigtuna to have survived the Reformation and is also Sweden’s earliest monumental brick building. Further historical insights can be gained at Lundströmska gården, a preserved bourgeois residence and a small general store from around 1900, as well as at Sigtuna Rådhus. The town hall was completed in 1744 and is one of Sweden’s smallest town halls. It retains its council chamber and presents an exhibition about the history of the building and the people associated with it.

Drakegården is also part of the historic townscape. The 300-year-old house is associated with people who lived and worked in Sigtuna. Its garden is open to all visitors year-round; one of the rooms in the house continues to host the permanent exhibition Sigtunahistorier. Borgmästargården has an outdoor exhibition that can be visited year-round and focuses on the architecture of the house and the various styles represented by its objects.

Culture and trails

Guided town walks in Sigtuna provide an insight into the town’s thousand-year history and may include a visit to Mariakyrkan. For exploring Sigtuna stad independently, Destination Sigtuna provides a walking map. There is also a map guide in Sigtuna for a public art walk, with walking routes that include Sigtuna.

The Ruinen blommar project highlights the floor plan of the former S:t Lars kyrka with tens of thousands of spring stars. Ruinen blommar is held annually and celebrated with a spring festival.

Nature and water

Sigtuna has hiking trails and paths through nature reserves and beech forests, along the shores of Lake Mälaren, through ancient woodlands and across open meadows. There are ten nature reserves in total, with different habitats and natural values. Rävsta, a municipal protected area and recreational area with a bathing area, outdoor fitness course and equestrian facility, lies in the vicinity of Sigtuna and Märsta. The Upplandsleden trail passes through Rävsta nature reserve between Sigtuna and Märsta.

Sjudargårdsbadet is located on Lake Mälaren, west of central Sigtuna. The bathing area has a jetty, barbecue area, toilets and showers. Excursions by kayak or SUP board are also possible on Sigtunafjärden: an unmanned Kayakomat station in Sigtuna rents out kayaks and SUP boards for this purpose. Two stages of the Ingegerdsleden lead to Sigtuna stad: stage four from Rosersberg and stage five from Odensala kyrka.

Getting there and other destination pages

Sigtuna can be reached from central Stockholm by train, bus or boat. For further destination options, see the pages for Arlanda, Märsta and Sigtuna. More destination pages can be found under Nynäshamn, Danderyd, Täby, Yxlan and Nacka.

To the main travel overview: Stockholm.