"Sweden's oldest town" a Sigtuna Travel Page by Sjalen

Quite popular amongst the Stockholmers themselves, few tourists know that this is considered Sweden's oldest town and they certainly don't know what they miss by not going! Sigtuna was founded as a royal centre around 980 (and not long after, Sweden's first coin was minted here) when the nearby viking town of Birka was abandoned for an unknown reason. As a result, the region is littered with viking rune stones (around 150 of them), many of them in the town centre. It also has three medieval church ruins and the surroundings are full of interesting baroque castles due to the good agricultural land and proximity to Stockholm.

As many old towns around Stockholm, it is beautifully situated along the shores of Lake Mälaren and in summer, there are boat trips from Stockholm. For Swedes, Sigtuna is mostly famous for its boarding schools where royals have been sent but also some expat children who want to stay in Sweden when their parents move. You might actually have skirted town without knowing it since it hosts Sweden's largest airport known as Stockholm Arlanda.