Bergianska trädgården: Stockholm's botanical garden on Lake Brunnsviken

In the district of Frescati, at the northern end of the Norra Djurgården park, the Bergius Botanic Garden (Bergianska trädgården) occupies a tongue of land facing the Brunnsviken, a brackish lake north of Stockholm's centre. It is a scientific garden, not a theme park: it is administered jointly by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University, and it is precisely its closeness to the university campus that makes it a place frequented more by students and residents than by tourists.

The origins

Its origins go back to 1791. The brothers Bengt Bergius, a historian and antiquarian, and Peter Jonas Bergius, a physician and naturalist, donated their collection and their garden to the Academy of Sciences. The garden was originally located next to their residence along Karlbergsvägen, in present-day Vasastaden; in 1885 it was moved here to Frescati because the original site was earmarked for building. Since then the head of the institution has held the historic title of "Professor Bergianus", a post created with the botanist Olof Swartz.

The collection

Today the collection gathers over 9,000 species distributed among open-air beds and greenhouses. Walking through, you pass thematic sections: the terraced Italian garden, the plot of useful and medicinal plants, the rose garden, the pond. Much of the charm lies in the landscape around it: the paths descend toward the Brunnsviken and the water stays almost always in view, with the option of continuing on foot along the shores toward the rest of the royal park. It is a garden to explore slowly, reading the labels, rather than to photograph in half an hour.

The greenhouses

The two main buildings can both be visited. The Victoriahuset is the historic greenhouse built to house the giant water lilies of the genus Victoria, whose floating circular leaves can exceed a metre in diameter: it is the highlight of the visit, especially in summer when the plants are in full growth. Not far off, the large modern greenhouse named after Edvard Anderson holds the flora of Mediterranean and arid regions, and is a much-appreciated destination in the cold months precisely because it offers greenery and warmth when Stockholm outside grows dark early. The greenhouses have an admission ticket, while the open-air park is free to enter.

The reason it stays off the beaten track is simple and almost geographical: it lies beyond the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in an area that most visitors associate with the campus and the museums, not with a botanical stroll. Those who come to Stockholm for Gamla Stan, the Vasa and Skansen rarely push this far, and so the garden remains above all a neighbourhood garden, where locals come to read, run or bring their children.

How to get there

Getting there is easy: the metro, red line toward Mörby centrum, stops at Universitetet station, from which the entrance is reachable on foot in a few minutes; alternatively the Roslagsbanan light rail serves the same stop. The garden's coordinates are 59.36944, 18.04558. The best period runs from late spring to early autumn, when the open-air beds and the water lilies of the Victoriahuset are at their finest; in winter the visit still makes sense, focusing on the greenhouses. It is worth checking the updated hours on the official website before going, because the park and the greenhouses follow different calendars.

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