
The Royal National City Park’s 30th anniversary
The world’s first – and Sweden’s only – national city park is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated throughout the year, with a variety of events around the park.
The Royal National City Park stretches from Ulriksdal and Sörentorp in the north to Djurgården and the Fjäderholm Islands in the south, spanning the municipalities of Solna, Stockholm and Lidingö. The historic royal parks form the core of the National City Park, which covers a total area of 27 square kilometres, almost eight times the size of New York’s Central Park. It is open to everyone – around the clock, and all year round!
During the park’s inauguration on 19 May 1995, King Carl XVI Gustaf released three doves at Ulriksdal Palace. The doves were called Värna, Vårda and Visa (Protect, Preserve and Present), symbolising the park’s three guiding principles: Protect natural and cultural value, preserve the area for the future, and present the park’s beauty while explaining its significance.
The entire National City Park is an area of national interest, and is important from a national perspective. It boasts a wealth of natural and cultural value, including more than 800 different flowering plants, a hundred species of birds, four royal palaces and a number of museums.
ProgramME
We are celebrating the National City Park throughout the year.
Activities are continuously added to the anniversary calendar on the Royal Djurgården website: From generation to generation – Royal Djurgården External link.
The Royal National City Park is protected under the Swedish Environmental Code. A national city park should be a unique, historical landscape in an urbanised environment. It should have significance for the nation’s cultural heritage, for an urban area’s ecology and for recreation, based on the interaction between ecological, cultural-historical, social and recreational values. A national city park should also be close to an urban area, and should be largely undeveloped.
Top image: Folke Bernadotte Bridge connects Rosendal with the museum park on Southern Djurgården. Foto: Raphael Stecksén.


Gustav III’s Pavilion was part of Gustav III’s grand visions for Haga Park. Photo by Lisa Rehbäck Raihle

The Royal National City Park is Stockholm’s most visited recreational area. Photo: Jonas Borg

The Royal National City Park is protected under the Environmental Code. It is the interplay between ecological, cultural-historical, social, and recreational values that forms the foundation. Photo: Jonas Borg