Why this ride
A 112 km round trip from Stenhamra - roughly 2 h 25 in the saddle. It goes by way of Royal Domain of Drottningholm, Skogskyrkogården and back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
HovgÃ¥rden and Skogskyrkogården starting at Stenhamra
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 112 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 25
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hovgården
The kings of the Svear lived here, on the island of Adelso in Lake Malaren, and their hall stood on a ridge from which they could watch the water traffic to Birka. Hovgarden means the court farm, and the name hints at what it was: a royal manor, the seat of power for the region in the Viking Age, set directly across a narrow channel from the island that held the trading town. The site is known today for the Kungshogarna, the royal mounds, a row of large grave mounds along the ridge, from the Iron Age and Viking Age, which are among the most visible reminders of Sweden's early kings, and for a runestone and a medieval church, built in the twelfth century, that stands on the highest point.
Read the complete Hovgården write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hovgården is where the day begins. Next is Royal Domain of Drottningholm.
2. Royal Domain of Drottningholm
The Swedish royal family does not live in Stockholm's city palace; since 1981 its home has been Drottningholm, a baroque palace on the island of Lovön in Lake Mälaren, a short ride west of the capital. The name means the queen's islet, and the present palace was begun in the 1660s for the widowed Queen Hedvig Eleonora, designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and finished by his son. With its formal gardens, fountains and an English landscape park, it is often compared to Versailles, though it is far more intimate. Parts of the palace are open to visitors, and the whole royal domain is a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Royal Domain of Drottningholm write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Domain of Drottningholm comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Skogskyrkogården.
3. Skogskyrkogården
The best cemetery in the world is not a bad claim to make for a forest on the southern edge of Stockholm. Skogskyrkogarden, the Woodland Cemetery, was designed by two young architects, Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, who won a competition in 1915 with a plan that used the existing pine forest and a gravel pit as the starting point. They built it in stages over the next twenty-five years, and it was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1994 as a masterpiece of twentieth-century landscape design. The idea was that death should not be shown as a dark hole, but as a return to nature.
Read the complete Skogskyrkogården write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Skogskyrkogården. Next is back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm.
4. back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Domain of Drottningholm write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm, late in the day. Next is Hovgården.
5. Hovgården
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hovgården write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hovgården. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hovgården to Royal Domain of Drottningholm
HovgÃ¥rden → Royal Domain of Drottningholm is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Domain of Drottningholm to Skogskyrkogården
Royal Domain of Drottningholm → Skogskyrkogården is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Skogskyrkogården to back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm
Skogskyrkogården → back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm to Hovgården
back through Royal Domain of Drottningholm → HovgÃ¥rden is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.