Sunset at Stockholm, Sweden by Olof Senestam

Djurgarden Island

Considered as the top attraction center, the Djurgarden Island is smack in the middle of Stockholm and well appreciated for its events, parks, greenery and many sights and sounds. This island alone handles 10 million visitors every year. A popular 2 hour walking tour takes tourists on a myriad of interesting features of the island.

Grona Lund

Probably a top pick for the entire family, the Grona Lund is an amusement park in Stockholm that is always an excellent spot for tourists. The Tivoli in this amusement park offers a Viking Ship ride the Scandinavian way.

Stockholm Nightlife

Compared to the nightlife of any major metropolitan city in Europe the one in Sweden and in particular Stockholm stands on top. Plenty of bars, discos and all night café offer a lot of drinking and partying for party lovers.

Vasa Museum

A 17^th century Swedish vessel, Vasa was christened and sent on its maiden voyage never to return again. This warship was salvaged after its discovery some time back with its remains brought back intact to the Vasa Museum. Today, this is the only museum exhibiting an intact war ship of the 17^th century. Chosen as one of the 7 Swedish wonders, the museum provides a glimpse into the six different levels of the ship.

Change of guards in the Royal Castle, Stockholm, Sweden by Clemens v. Vogelsang

Guard Changing Of Stockholm

One of the free excitements to witness in Stockholm is the Change of Royal Guards. A 40 minute long event shows over 30,000 guards changing in front of the King’s Royal residence.

Artwork Shopping

Considered as the shopping capital in the North of Europe, Stockholm provides many streets lined with designer shops and bargain points. IKEA, a major Swedish furniture brand is just one of the few shops set up in the city. You can find anything and everything related to Swedish design and styling in its streets from famous and not so famous artists, craftsmen and designers.

Kungstradgarden Ice Skating

For those who visit Stockholm in winter, the Kungstradgarden is a must-visit site. This park offers free ice skating in a city that adores this sport. A major reason why travel guidebooks and websites advise visiting Sweden in winter is because of the many winter activities you can engage in.

The ABBA Museum

This museum is the only ABBA museum in the world and it will receive well over half a million visitors each year. The museum provides a 4000 sq. meter tour of interesting items belonging to ABBA and displayed on three different levels. Stated to open real soon, keep your calendar empty to take this never seen before spectacle in full glory.

Guided Tours of the City

The best way to take in all the splendors spread across 14 islands is to go on a guided tour of the Swedish capital. There are plenty of guides and tour companies around to choose from but it is best to book in advance.

Autor Bio: This article was produced by Catalita G. (the girl standing behind the travel blog Channel Voyager).  On that blog you can read more information about trips and learn how to book a hotel in Stockholm (it is interesting to know that the term in Swedish is boka hotell Stockholm).

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Marian Hubinsky

Trenčín Castle was built in the 10th century. Since 11th century it was the royal castle, which not only withstood Tatar invasions, but also served as a fortress against the Turks. It was gradually rebuilt and expanded, but the castle burnt down in 1790. Its reconstruction began just after 1945.

Trenčín Castle is accessible all year-round except for Mondays. You can get there directly from the city centre by following the street leading from the main city’s square (Mierové námestie). The castle is nicely illuminated at night.

Various events are held on the castle during the summer, such as folk exhibitions, fencing tournaments, live music concerts and more. One part of the castle serves as a gallery where you can see oil paintings of local nobility, emblems and seals.

The biggest attraction of the castle is 80 metres deep well, called Well of Love. The well is excavated into the hard rock and it is said that the well was built by Turkish Omar Pasha. Stephen Zápoľský held in captivity a beautiful girl Fatima, loved by Omar, and Zápoľský promised him that if he sink a well at the castle, he will let her go. The works lasted three years and then Fatima and Omar could really leave the castle.

In Trenčín you can also find many other historical sites. It is one of the most beautiful cities in Slovakia and certainly worth a visit.

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Photo by zamek-hradec.cz

Slavic people settled at this place already at the end of 8th century. In the 11th century Slavic settlement turned into a royal castle of the Přemyslids. After next 200 years it was rebuilt by Czech King Premysl Otakar II. into the palatial castle protected by a massive fortification. In 1531 the castle burned down, but despite major repairs still holds its medieval appearance.

The total reconstruction was done in the late 16th century by Kaspar Pruskovský from Pruskov, who in 1585 inherited this property. At the castle was established ornamental garden with a breeding pond Pilar.

In February 1796 a renaissance castle was badly damaged by fire. A year later started its reconstruction, which not only brought substantial changes to exteriors, but also a fundamental change in the surroundings. The chateau was rebuilt into the form that has survived with minor changes until today. One of the first guests in the renovated castle was composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who stayed here between 1806 – 1811. A little later the castle even welcomed Niccolò Paganini and in 1846 and 1848 also hosted the pianist and composer Franz Liszt.

The second half of the 19th century brought another neo-Gothic transformation. The most important building of that time was an economic extension of the Red Castle dating from 1874 – 1895 and the White Tower.

The castle Hradec nad Moravicí became in 2002 a national cultural monument, and is an important center of social events.

For further information visit official site of Chateau Hradec nad Moravicí (only in Czech ).

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Adam Jones

Buda Castle is situated on 60 m high ridge known as Castle Hill, overlooking the city already since the 13th century. The first written mention dates from 1255, when Béla IV. built a fortified castle here. Around 1356 Ludwig I. then began to build a Royal Castle on the southern slopes of Castle Hill. With the advent of the year 1400, the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg built a Gothic palace here, which was in 1458 rebuilt into a Renaissance style.

The palace was constantly besieged since the beginning by Turks and the Habsburgs, and was almost destroyed and then rebuilt to a smaller one. After the conquest of Buda in 1541 by Turkish troops the palace served as stables and storage of gunpowder. Its expansion was issued later by Maria Theresa, who changed it into a palace with 203 chambers. Habsburgs made a reconstruction of the palace in the 18th century by which they rebuilt it into a huge palace.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Benjamin Vander Steen

Buda Castle includes several major institutions such as the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest History Museum and National Széchényi Library.

The Hungarian National Gallery is a home to an extensive collection describing the turbulent past of the country. It was founded in 1957 and now holds exhibits of Hungarian art from the Middle Ages to the present. Originally, these works were located in the Hungarian National Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, but in 1975 were moved to the royal palace. Visitors can now see the six permanent exhibitions of the most valuable works of Hungary.

The Budapest History Museum is in operation since 1873, when began to collect historical artifacts related to the capital city. During the World War II was in the south wing of the royal palace discovered medieval hall in which you can now see an exhibition called The Royal Palace in the medieval Buda. Here you can find the weapons, sealants, tiles and early crafts. An exhibition shows development of the city from Roman times up to the Hungarian settlement in the 13th century. The first floor hosts an exhibition of contemporary Budapest, the city’s history from 1686 to present.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Országos Széchényi Könyvtár

National Széchényi Library holds a stunning collection of books. The library was founded in 1802 by Count Ferenc Széchenyi. It consisted of 15,000 books and 2,000 manuscripts. Now the collection includes five million prints, it’s everything that has ever been issued in Hungary. Among the most valuable gems are Corvinus manuscripts, which are collections of old books and manuscripts which formerly belonged to King Matthias Corvinus. This collection formed one of the largest libraries in Renaissance Europe.

Once you are in Budapest, I’m sure you cannot miss this great Castle!

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Maciej Kasprzyk

The first written mention of the Książ castle dates back to 1288. It was one of several defensive castles built by duke Bolek I “the Cruel”. In 1508 Książ castle fell into the hands of John von Haugwitz, who sold it to Conrad von Hochberg.

Książ castle was rebuilt many times, so it combines many architectural and artistic styles – including the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and eclectic elements. The most beautiful part of the castle is certainly Maximilian Hall, which was used for concerts and theater performances, and its interior served as a setting for several movies.

One of the most important and also the most tragic periods in the history of the castle was the time of the World War II. In 1941 Książ castle was occupied by the Nazis. All the valuable works of art, furniture and contents of the castle library where took by Nazis. Many underground corridors were built below the castle, which proves that Nazis prepared here one of the seats of the German dictator Adolph Hitler.

Książ castle combines the history of several nations and many people. In addition to the standard attributes of building castles like beautiful gates, bastions and towers, also hundreds of undiscovered secrets are waiting here for the visitors.

The castle is open daily except for Mondays from 10:00am to 3:00pm (extended in Summer and weekends). You can attend several routes, the basic admission is 20PLN (€5).

For further details visit the official website of Książ castle.

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If you reshuffle historical records and manuscripts, you will learn that King Francois I played a significant role to reshape this castle after modification. There are many critics and historians who claim that Domenico da Cortona attributed a lot to redesign this building. Some of them claim that Philibert Delorme – the French Renaissance architect or Leonardo da Vinci had an important role in designing the structure of chateau.

Architectural Beauty of Le Château de Chambord

According to researchers, exterior and interior parts of Le Château de Chambord are fantastic to look as professional architects have used sumptuous marble slabs, stones and wall painting color shades. The central keep is beset with four decorated pillars with arches (four immense bastion towers at the corners). Le Château de Chambord is also designed with an eye-catching garden, moats and backyards. Conventional moat or water ditch adjacent to the castle was not constructed to defend enemy but this water moat has accelerated overall beauty of the building. There are 440 spacious rooms, 365 fireplaces along with more than 80 well decorated staircases inside the building.

So far as architectural aesthete is concerned, architects have borrowed Italian architectural style to install large windows and a rooftop gallery with open sides (loggia) to gear up visibility and clarity. Designers used their razor sharp intelligence and imaginative faculty to construct roof of the castle by setting up 11 towers, 3 different chimneys inclusive of double helical or spiral staircases in the chateau. There is also a well decorated beautiful lighthouse at the top of Le Château de Chambord.

Le Château de Chambord was confiscated as enemy property in 1915 but after severe legal battle, it was got back to the family of the Duke of Parma. Engineers and architects started the building renovation works after World War II. Right now, this historical site has become one of the most attractive tourist centers.

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The original royal castle of Přemysl Otakar II from the second half of the 13th century was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century by the Lords of Hradec. It received its present appearance under Count Jan Adam of Schwarzenberg. In 1940, the castle was seized from the last owner, Adolph Schwarzenberg by the Gestapo and confiscated by the government of Czechoslovakia after the end of WWII.

Hluboká castle is opened to the public and it is recomended to visit also the inside of the castle, that is really beautiful, as well as from the outside. The extremely rich interior amenities include a valuable carvings and plaster work, a collection of tapestries, paintings, glass, porcelain, weapons, etc. Around the castle there is a large English park with baroque hunting lodge.

Hluboká castle is open daily except for Monday in June and every day from July to October. The full tour price is 130CZK / approx. €5 in 2010.

The castle has been used in a scene of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson’s Shanghai Knights.

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