This was once upon a time a working elevator, but obviously Stockholm city council or whoever is in charge are lazy and it's been broken for a few years. HOWEVER, once you get up there, there's a fantastic view of Gamla Stan and the surrounding area that no visitor to Stockholm should miss.
Woop there it is!
I've been here a few times, just because it's nice and it's free. It's located beside the Slussen Metro station (close to Gamla Stan) and there are two ways up, one is to enter the building it's attached to and take the elevator to the 11th floor, labelled Gondolen (this is a really fancy restaurant, you should probably eat here if you're rich) and then you have to walk up some stairs and you're at the top! Or else, you can walk up lots of stairs built into the wall across the street. It's a tiresome journey but it's worth it!
Not the cleanest, but it's free!
Taken back in snowy January!
City Hall on left, Gamla Stan on right
Taken on a bright March evening
And I haven't even mentioned the best part, the entrance/exit at the top is about 5 minutes away from Lisbeth Salanders luxurious apartment at Fiskargatan 9. You exit almost directly beside Sodra Theatre, and then from there simply walk up the steps past the little red brick tower and you'll find it, it's the yellow apartment block with the partial green roof. Exciting for those Stieg Larsson fans out there!
Oh there it is!
So to conclude, Katarina Hissen is quite a popular place for tourists, but I think there are still many people who visit Stockholm and don't know about it, and opt to visit somewhere like the Kaknastornet TV tower instead, which costs 50kr.
Update: There are also other free viewing places, such as Skinnarviksberget, which is near Mariatorget.
