This small lakeside town near Stockholm has a well-preserved 17th-century royal castle, Gripsholm, and Sweden's oldest steam train running through its historic center.
Mariefred sits 50 kilometers west of Stockholm on Lake Mälaren. You can walk through Duke Karl's 16th-century chambers at Gripsholm Castle, ride a steam locomotive from 1903, or sail across the lake on a vintage steamship. The town's wooden buildings in red and yellow colors line narrow streets that slope down to the waterfront, where boats dock at long wooden piers during summer months.
Getting to Mariefred
You can reach Mariefred from Stockholm in several ways. By car, the journey takes about 50 minutes via E20 highway. From June to August, the S/S Mariefred steamship departs daily from Stockholm, taking 3.5 hours to reach Mariefred. The ship's original 1903 dining saloon serves lunch during the journey. For train travel, take the Stockholm-Eskilstuna line to Läggesta station, then a 10-minute bus ride to Mariefred center.
Gripsholm Castle
The red-brick castle stands by the waterfront, with four round towers rising above Lake Mälaren. Built in 1537, it now contains Sweden's State Portrait Collection - 4,000 paintings from the 1500s to present day. Inside, you can explore Duke Karl's chamber with its original 1500s furniture and visit King Gustav III's theater from 1781. The castle opens daily from May to September, and weekends only in winter.
Railway Museum and Train Rides
From May to September, steam trains run on the 600mm narrow-gauge track between Mariefred, Läggesta, and Taxinge Näsby. The railway museum displays 15 passenger railcars from the early 1900s. The wooden station building from 1895 still has its original ticket office and waiting room. You can take a combined train and boat trip to Taxinge Castle, which serves a daily buffet of 60 different cakes and pastries.
Around Town
The streets climb uphill from the lake, with wooden houses painted in red, yellow, and white colors dating from the 1700s and 1800s. The town church from 1624 sits at the highest point, built where a Carthusian monastery once stood. Along Storgatan and Långgatan streets, you'll find small shops selling crafts and antiques, plus several cafés serving Swedish fika (coffee and pastries).
Gripsholms Hjorthage Nature Reserve
A 2-kilometer walking path circles through this deer park next to the castle, where fallow deer have lived since the 1600s. The best times to spot deer are early morning or late afternoon. Oak and lime trees, some over 400 years old, grow throughout the park. From the eastern side of the reserve, you can see both the castle and the lake. The park is open year-round, with the most activity from April to October.
