Södermalm Guide: Monteliusvägen Views, SoFo and Fotografiska

Rising on steep granite cliffs immediately south of Gamla Stan across the Slussen lock, Södermalm (called simply Söder by locals) is the largest and most populous of Stockholm's central islands. Historically a working-class quarter of steep wooden cottages and textile mills, and famously the setting for Stieg Larsson's Millennium novels, it is today the creative heart of the capital, home to Stockholm's best free viewpoints, vintage boutiques, coffee roasters and late-night photography galleries.

The Northern Cliffs: Monteliusvägen, Mariaberget and Fjällgatan

Because Södermalm's northern edge drops straight down into Lake Mälaren and the Baltic harbour, three elevated cliff walks offer postcard views across the water without paying for a viewing tower:

• Monteliusvägen and Ivar Los Park (Mariaberget): five minutes west of Slussen Tunnelbana station, turn behind the ochre 18th-century townhouses of Bastugatan onto Monteliusvägen, a 500-metre cliff-edge footpath with wooden benches looking straight across Riddarfjärden to Stockholm City Hall and the iron spire of Riddarholmen. Halfway along, pause in tiny Ivar Los Park, then continue west to the bare granite outcrop of Skinnarviksberget, the highest natural point in central Stockholm and the favourite summer sunset picnic spot in the city.
• Katarinavägen, Mosebacke and Fjällgatan: walk east from Slussen past the elevated Katarinahissen viewing walkway and the open-air terrace of Mosebacke Torg onto Fjällgatan and Stigbergsgatan, where preserved 1700s red-and-ochre timber cottages perch on a stone ledge overlooking the ferries bound for Djurgården.

Fotografiska and Exploring SoFo (South of Folkungagatan)

Below the eastern cliffs at Stadsgårdshamnen stands a grand 1906 red-brick Art Nouveau customs house converted into Fotografiska, one of the world's leading contemporary photography centres. Open late in the evening every night of the week, its changing exhibitions are topped by an award-winning sustainable top-floor bistro and wine bar with floor-to-ceiling windows facing Gamla Stan and Gröna Lund.

From Medborgarplatsen or Skanstull station, wander into SoFo (the grid of streets South of Folkungagatan centred on Nytorget square, Bondegatan and Skånegatan). Packed with Swedish independent fashion labels, vinyl shops, sourdough bakeries and relaxed neighbourhood bistros, Nytorget park and nearby green Vitabergsparken (with its wooden Sofia Church and 18th-century red cottages) show Stockholm at its most local.