Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Pastel de nata
Portugal • 8 days, 7 nights
Portugal: A Culinary Adventure from Porto to Lisbon
from
Italy • 9 days, 8 nights
Flavors of Italy: Roman Carbonara, Florentine Steak & Venetian Cocktails
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The wall commemorating 11,908 Jewish victims of the Shoah from Frankfurt.
Börneplatz Memorial
Entrance to the munitions area of the lower part of the bunker
Simserhof
Carlos Calderón Yruegas calls the villa his personal playground.
Villa Tabaiba
Apples and pears, Spitalfields Market.
Brick Lane Roundels
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
about 19 hours ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
1 day ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
1 day ago
Longwood House, where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final years.
The Longwood House: Napoleon Bonaparte’s Beautiful Prison
2 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Sweden Stockholm Stockholm Metro Art Gallery

Stockholm Metro Art Gallery

Stockholm's decidedly unique public transit system has doubled as the world's longest art gallery for decades.

Stockholm, Sweden

Added By
Evgeny Koptev
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
T-Centralen   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
T-Centralen   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
  Bart Severein / Atlas Obscura User
Radhuset station.   tylercole / Atlas Obscura User
Retro pixel art at Thorildsplan metro station.   Johan SWE / Atlas Obscura User
  AURELIEN / Atlas Obscura User
  AURELIEN / Atlas Obscura User
Tekniska Högskolans   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
T-Centralen   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
T-Centralen   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Tekniska Högskolans   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Universitetet   raemoth / Atlas Obscura User
Östermalmstorg   raemoth / Atlas Obscura User
Pillar   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Stockholm Metro Art   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Retro pixel art at Thorildsplan metro station.   Johan SWE / Atlas Obscura User
Newton’s apple at KTH station   CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
  Bart Severein / Atlas Obscura User
Kungsträdgården   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Kungsträdgården   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Colourful pillars   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Like a fairytale   Klara / Atlas Obscura User
  Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Retro pixel art at Thorildsplan metro station.   Johan SWE / Atlas Obscura User
Funny monsters   Klara / Atlas Obscura User
  Jtrain / Atlas Obscura User
  Jtrain / Atlas Obscura User
T-Centralen   A secret club / Atlas Obscura User
Rådhuset station   A secret club / Atlas Obscura User
T-Centralen   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Kungsträdgården   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Kungsträdgården   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Kungsträdgården   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Tekniska Högskolans   miluta / Atlas Obscura User
Videogame theme   Klara / Atlas Obscura User
Neon   Klara / Atlas Obscura User
  Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Rådhuset station   A secret club / Atlas Obscura User
  Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Stockholm Metro has more than one hundred stations, and at least ninety of them have elaborate art installations as part of their status quo decor.

The subway system was created in 1941, and first opened for public use in 1950. The Metro has since grown to incorporate more than one hundred stations, only one of which is not in use. 

Travelling by subway in Stockholm is like being in a personal, mobile art  gallery that allows everyone in transit to experience the beauty of incredible mosaics, paintings, installations, and sculptures. It evokes feelings of being part of a modern-day archeological expedition, full of undiscovered secrets and surprises. The best part? Admission to this gallery costs nothing except for the train ticket, which has been extremely well-received by citizens of Sweden, as well as foreign visitors.

In the early 1980's, an outbreak of graffiti and vandalism threatened the beauty and the safety of the unique artwork in a number of stations, but eventually the vandals took their art elsewhere, allowing the gallery to exist unfettered. During that time however, the government spent an exorbitant amount of money in order to protect the subway from desecration.

Related Tags

Sweden Murals Public Art Subways Collections Architectural Oddities

Community Contributors

Added By

ekoptev

Edited By

SkareMedia, Simpluree, ehorkley, tylercole...

  • SkareMedia
  • Simpluree
  • ehorkley
  • tylercole
  • CoolCrab
  • miluta
  • A secret club
  • Luis Morato
  • Klara
  • AURELIEN
  • Xavixavir
  • Johan SWE
  • raemoth
  • Bart Severein
  • Jtrain

Published

February 6, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://stockholmartwalk.se/?lang=en
Stockholm Metro Art Gallery
Stockholm Metro Stations
Stockholm, 11152
Sweden
59.32893, 18.06491
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

'Hemlös räv' ('Rag and Bone')

Stockholm, Sweden

miles away

Museum of Medieval Stockholm

Stockholm, Sweden

miles away

Royal Waiting Hall

Sweden

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Stockholm

Stockholm

Sweden

Places 129
Stories 5

Nearby Places

'Hemlös räv' ('Rag and Bone')

Stockholm, Sweden

miles away

Museum of Medieval Stockholm

Stockholm, Sweden

miles away

Royal Waiting Hall

Sweden

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Stockholm

Stockholm

Sweden

Places 129
Stories 5

Related Places

  • Brooklyn, New York

    Newkirk Plaza Mural and Mosaic

    A mosaic made of materials gathered from this Brooklyn community adorns the walls of this tunnel.

  • Osokorky Metro Station.

    Kyiv, Ukraine

    Osokorky Metro Station

    This underground transport hub doubles as an art gallery.

  • Charing Cross Mural.

    London, England

    Charing Cross Mural

    The medieval woodcut-style artwork chronicles life in medieval London.

  • Copilco Station.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    'El Perfil del Tiempo'

    A "time traveler's" vision of human history stretches throughout Mexico City's Copilco metro station.

  • One of the murals depicting the Maratha Empire.

    Pune, India

    Maratha Empire Murals

    These relief murals on Parvati Hill depict significant milestones of the Maratha Empire.

  • One of the BHS murals tells the origin story of Stockport.

    Stockport, England

    The BHS Murals in Stockport

    The history of Stockport is rendered In colorful concrete artwork.

  • A mural depicts a slightly different version of the Northampton bank robbery of 1876.

    Northampton, Massachusetts

    Northampton Bank Robbery Mural

    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stop thieves at the site of a historic 1876 bank robbery.

  • A metro ticket gets you entry to one of the city’s best galleries.

    Madrid, Spain

    Iguazú Digital Waterfall

    This 40-meter waterfall of light graces one of the most iconic stations in the Madrid metro network.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.