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Tullgarn Castle - in the footsteps of kings and tsars

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When we travelled home on Sunday from our Motorhome weekend at Jogersö we needed a place to stop and eat our lunchtime lamb sausage. What could be better than a castle? I googled on my iPhone and that's how we found Tullgarn Castle outside Trosa. Here we walked around in the footsteps of kings and tsars, while learning why the shopping centre in Huddinge is called "Kungens kurva"...

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Excursion destinations in Sörmland

Tullgarn Castle is located near Trosa in Sörmland. This royal summer palace is less than an hour's drive from Stockholm, yet we had not been here before.

Royal summer castle

Tullgarn Castle has been a royal pleasure palace since the 1770s when the state handed it over to Duke Adolf, 'Europe's most beautiful prince'. In the summers he lived here with his mistress, the young ballet dancer Sophie Hagman, who was fully accepted by the royal family.

The last royals to spend summers at Tullgarn Castle were King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1909, the castle was visited by Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family - the same family that was brutally executed by the Bolsheviks nine years later.

Tullgarns slott

Why it is called "Kungens kurva"

Gustav VI Adolf considered staying at Tullgarn, but when he learnt how hard it would be to heat the damp castle in winter, he decided against it... The castle has not been used as a residence since then, but it seems that the royals had a tradition of coming here in connection with hunting.

According to Wikipedia, it was while returning from a hunt at Tullgarn in September 1946 that Gustaf V's driver drove the entire hunting party into a water-filled ditch at Segeltorp. The place was then named Kungens kurva ...

Tullgarns slott

Fantastic waterfront location

Tullgarn Castle has a beautiful and peaceful location by the water. It felt like it was absolutely optimal to be here on a mild October day. The occasional visitor strolled around the Castle Park, and it was easy to find a solitary spot to quietly gaze out over the tranquil water.

If you visit the castle in the summer, you can also take a guided tour inside the castle, which is said to be decorated in a mixture of Rococo, Gustavian and Victorian styles. There is also an inn adjacent to the castle, which in the summer apparently organises parties with grilled wild boar in the castle park.

Tullgarn kungligt slott
Kungliga slott Tullgarn
Tullgarn
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