Humlegården

The Hops Garden
Public park on the grounds around the Royal Library

The Swedish Royal Library collects copies of every book and most periodicals (magazines, journals, and so on) published in Sweden—and it’s been doing this for hundreds of years. The library’s main building is at one end of Humlegården Park. As impressive a building as it is, it’s not nearly big enough to house all those books. In fact, most of the library’s books are not in the above-ground building at all. They are under the park, where miles and miles of bookshelves have been set up in several stories of subterranean concrete vaults. If you read Swedish, the library is definitely worth a visit. If not, Humlegården Park has rocks to climb, a well-equipped playground—with municipal child-care staff who will lend you toys when their cabin is open—and a stage for Theater in the Park performances.