When visiting Stockholm, Sweden, you'll find a wide variety of nice parks, interesting museums and beautiful buildings to explore. In fact, you'll probably want to spend at least a day or two just wandering around, seeing the sights without having a specific destination or plan in mind. However, there are also many "must-see" sights in Stockholm that you won't want to miss. If you are planning to visit or live in Stockholm, here are a few sightseeing destinations that should be on your list.

Gamla Stan

This old town center is one of Stockholm's most popular destinations for visitors and tourists. This area represents where Stockholm originally began, and it's a great way of experiencing what it must have been like years ago. Although Gamla Stan is the largest island of Stadsholmen, it's not actually the oldest part of Stockholm. However, it quickly became a central and important location. Today, you can enjoy walking through the streets of Gamla Stan, enjoying the medieval and fairy-like appearance. In many ways, it almost seems as though time stood still, allowing you to look back to early Stockholm. Of course, today the area is geared towards tourists. But originally Gamla Stan was the commercial, cultural and political center of Stockholm.

Skansen

This beautiful museum was actually the first open-air museum. It was originally founded by Artur Hazelius in 1891. Artur's vision was to create an area that showcased how Swedes actually worked and lived. The area is filled with beautifully rebuilt cottages, houses and farms, representative of what you would find throughout Sweden. Located on Djurgarden Island, this beautiful open-air museum is actually more like a large park. You can view 150 buildings, each carefully rebuilt to represent the original. There is a zoo where you can see Nordic animals such as brown bears, elk and reindeer. There are also many beautiful flower beds and gardens. Overall, Skansen is a smaller overall representation of Sweden - which of course, is exactly what it was originally intended to be. Most of the buildings are recreations of those from 18th and 19th century Sweden. You can explore homes, shops, farms, churches and a school. Inside the buildings you'll find authentically recreated décor, along with workers dressed in period costumes, demonstrating traditional crafts. There are also numerous special events planned throughout the year, such as folk dancing, concerts, markets or plays.

Archipelago

If you want to view the natural beauty of Stockholm, you simply cannot miss visiting the Archipelago. The Archipelago stretches from the center of Stockholm almost to Finland. Throughout this area you'll be able to see beautiful islands, some which are sandy and others which are quite rocky or beautifully green. In all, there are thousands of small to medium sized islands throughout the Archipelago. It's fascinating to see how different the islands can be. You'll find some islands covered with forests, while others are hilly, rocky or flat. When visiting Stockholm, it can be well worth your time and effort to take a boat trip through the Archipelago.

Staff writer for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, Jessica Ackerman has extensive design experience, using large hanging vases and wine wall hangings.