waterfrontpocket

Reimersholme: the quiet island and the canal

The calm 1940s housing island almost no visitor finds — a shore path all the way round, and the old aquavit works.

Photo: Holger.Ellgaard / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3 km

Time

~ 70 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Hornstull (T-bana)

End

Hornstull (T-bana)

Best at

afternoon

Right now

21°C· Overcast

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Reimersholme is the island visitors don't find. It hangs off Södermalm's south-west corner, west of nowhere they're heading, and it's reached by a single bridge — so almost no one crosses it by accident. What's there is a calm 1940s housing estate, a shore path the whole way round, and the bones of a distillery. Three kilometres, flat, an afternoon's quiet.

Start at Hornstull, walk down to the water, and cross Reimersholmsbron. The city drops away in a few steps. The point towers come first — the slim 1940s blocks Sven Wallander and Axel Grape designed for HSB, part of nine hundred flats finished by 1944 and shown off that summer as a model of the new Sweden.

Then the shore path, which is the real walk: right at the waterline, Långholmen across the channel to the west, the City Hall tower rising to the north. On the south side, the remnants of Reimersholms aquavit works — a portal, a cistern called Åttingen, stretches of wall.

The loop closes at the eastern point, by the merchant's old house, and back to Hornstull.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 29 m·↓ 47 m·8–32 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Hornstull
Start at *Hornstull* and walk south-west off Södermalm toward the water. The bridge onto *Reimersholme* — *Reimersholmsbron* — is a short walk down; the island is small enough that you'll have circled it before you've quite registered arriving.
01
Hornstull
Start at *Hornstull* and walk south-west off Södermalm toward the water. The bridge onto *Reimersholme* — *Reimersholmsbron* — is a short walk down; the island is small enough that you'll have circled it before you've quite registered arriving.
02
2
Reimersholmsbron
The single road bridge onto the island. Cross it and the noise of the city drops away within a few steps — *Reimersholme* is residential, calm, and almost entirely missed by visitors. Turn right and start the loop along the shore.
02
Reimersholmsbron
The single road bridge onto the island. Cross it and the noise of the city drops away within a few steps — *Reimersholme* is residential, calm, and almost entirely missed by visitors. Turn right and start the loop along the shore.
03
3
The point towers (Flaskan / Räkenholmen)
The slim 1940s point blocks designed by Sven Wallander and Axel Grape — part of the nine hundred flats HSB built here in 1942–46, shown off at a jubilee exhibition in 1944. Early Swedish *folkhem* housing at its most confident; look up at how thin and tall they are.
03
The point towers (Flaskan / Räkenholmen)
The slim 1940s point blocks designed by Sven Wallander and Axel Grape — part of the nine hundred flats HSB built here in 1942–46, shown off at a jubilee exhibition in 1944. Early Swedish *folkhem* housing at its most confident; look up at how thin and tall they are.
04
4
The shore path
The path runs the whole way around the island at the waterline. The west side faces *Långholmen* across the channel; keep going and the City Hall tower appears on the skyline to the north. Benches the whole way; this is the walk.
04
The shore path
The path runs the whole way around the island at the waterline. The west side faces *Långholmen* across the channel; keep going and the City Hall tower appears on the skyline to the north. Benches the whole way; this is the walk.
05
5
The old aquavit works
The southern shore held *Reimersholms* distillery — outside the city's spirits monopoly, which is why it was here. Most of it came down in the 1970s, but a portal building, the old cistern *Åttingen*, and stretches of factory wall survive. Read the remnants on the way round.
05
The old aquavit works
The southern shore held *Reimersholms* distillery — outside the city's spirits monopoly, which is why it was here. Most of it came down in the 1970s, but a portal building, the old cistern *Åttingen*, and stretches of factory wall survive. Read the remnants on the way round.
06
6
The eastern point
The tip facing back toward Södermalm, where Anders Reimers — the 18th-century merchant the island is named for — kept his house. Quiet water, a long view, then the loop closes back at the bridge and *Hornstull*.
06
The eastern point
The tip facing back toward Södermalm, where Anders Reimers — the 18th-century merchant the island is named for — kept his house. Quiet water, a long view, then the loop closes back at the bridge and *Hornstull*.

Reimersholme: the quiet island and the canal

On the map.

Things to notice.

Hornstull

Hornstull

Reimersholmsbron

Reimersholmsbron

The point towers (Flaskan / Räkenholmen)

The point towers (Flaskan / Räkenholmen)

The shore path

The shore path

The old aquavit works

The old aquavit works

The eastern point

The eastern point

Two more, on similar days.

Stora and Lilla Essingen: the funkis islands

Långholmen: the prison island and the beach