We had the opportunity to visit Stockholm in March of this year and it was GORGEOUS! Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden, with nearly 2 million inhabitants within its vicinities.
Getting Oriented
Stockholm comprises a jigsaw of 14 islands where the Baltic Sea meets Lake Malaren. Gamla Stan, the Old City, consists of the three islands at the heart of things. The inner city is made up of 14 islands connected by some 50 bridges on Lake Mälaren, which flows into the brackish Baltic Sea, and passes the Stockholm archipelago with some 24,000 islands and islets. Stockholm has two bodies of water on either side–the Baltic Sea which is brackish (combo of both salt and fresh water) and a lake which is much higher than the Baltic–ships have to pass via a lock.
There are lots of different little areas of Stockholm that are connected by bridges– the main commercial and shopping districts – Norrmalm, Vasastaden and Ostermalm – are north of the city. South is Sodermalm, home to off-beat boutiques, bars and restaurants. East is the “museum island” of Skeppsholmen. We didn’t see ALL of the city but we saw enough to experience what a vibrant city Stockholm is.
Over 30% of the city area is made up of waterways, and another 30% is made up of green spaces. Air quality is fourth best of the European capitals – behind Berlin, Copenhagen and Vienna. EVERYONE was walking or running around–it was clearly a VERY fit city.
Transport from the airport into Stockholm is very easy. There are a ton of cabs right out front and the fare is set at 520 SEK (note that the fare TO the airport will be more expensive). We used Taxi Stockholm and Uber to get around Stockholm when we weren’t walking (which wasn’t often).
We stayed at the Radisson Blu Strand hotel. Excellent location on the water and close to the city center. It was easily walkable to many sights from here. Great service, small room, excellent bar. Our first night we had dinner at the Holy Cow Indian Restaurant (you don’t find a lot of Indian food in Turkey!) The owner was really nice and the food was delish! The Holy Cow was about a 30 minute walk from the hotel.
We started every day with breakfast and coffee at the Espresso House–yum! It’s a coffee chain around the city but despite being a big chain they make great coffee, good quiche and have a tasty assortment of sandwiches and breads.
Sights to See!
The Vasa Museum (my FAVE!)
The Vasa is the only preserved seventeenth-century ship in the world, and a unique art treasure. More than 95 percent of the ship is original, and it is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures.
The 69 meter-long warship Vasa sank on its maiden voyage in the middle of Stockholm in 1628, and was salvaged 333 years later in 1961. For nearly half a century the ship has been slowly, deliberately and painstakingly restored to a state approaching its original glory. The three masts on the roof outside the specially built museum show the height of the ship’s original masts. Today the Vasa Museum is the most visited museum in Scandinavia, with over one million visitors a year. It is truly incredible, the story and seeing how they were able to recover SO much of this ship. Pretty sure I took 9 thousand pictures.
There are ten different exhibitions around the ship to tell about life on board the ship. The film about the Vasa is shown in 13 different languages. In addition there is a well-stocked shop and a nice restaurant. Tours of the museum take place every day but you don’t really need one!
Royal Palace
Next we ventured to the Royal Palace where we saw the changing of the guards and toured the royal apartments and treasury. Definitely worth the trip. The sights in the castle are quite beautiful and ornate. Entrance fee gets you tours of the Royal apartments, the Treasury and the Museum.
We of course needed a wine and snack break and we stumbled upon a great little wine bar in Gamla Stan. It had an awesome selection of wines and cool Americana photos. The exhibit up at the time was photographs by an who took pics of U.S. images of politics that were on the covers of Time magazine.
Stockholm’s Old Town (Gamla Stan)
After being fortified by wine and snacks, we wandered around Gamla Stan (Old Town) which is super cute and interesting. Lots of cute little shops and fun places to eat with tons of atmosphere.
We rounded out our day with dinner at Borgmastarn in Gamla Stan and cocktails at Pharmarium in Gamla Stan.
The next morning, after grabbing coffee at Espresso House, we had breakfast at Vete Katten–a cute little French like feel location with good coffee and pastries. Following that we walked to the Globen for Lucas to check out hockey gear–a must in any new city for him!
We had heard so much about Fotografiska–a photography museum. To be honest, in my opinion it was only so so, and I would skip it in favor of other sights. The café at the top of the museum looked cute (right on the water) but it was so incredibly crowded that we decided to eat grab a bite to eat at Gastabud in Gamla Stan–AMAZING! The food was great and they had lit candles everywhere which you think would be fire hazard but it just added this amazing ambience to the place.
As I write this, I feel like all we did in Sweden was eat and drink—and walk! 🙂
We had dinner that night at the Hairy Pig–amazing and cute location. Intimate and cozy. Candles lit everywhere. Awesome Swedish mulled wine and homemade sausage, homemade mustard and ketchup.
Drum roll please———WE WENT TO AN ICE BAR!! I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I heard they existed. The one is Stockholm is the first permanent Ice Bar and the only one sanctioned by the Ice Hotel. We bought tickets online which included the entrance, first drink and a refill. You select a certain window of time to go. They give you a huge warm coat and gloves–obviously it is super cold but totally worth it!
On our final day, we had breakfast at Café Saturnus–amazing selection of breakfast foods, breakfast burritos, eggs benedict (all types), pastries, shakes and delicious coffee. We then walked around Kings Garden which was right near the breakfast place.
We wandered past City Hall–beautiful building and great views of the city. The clock tower was closed but it was still worth the trip to just wander around and take in the city views.
Stockholm by Boat!
We took a 1 hour and 15 minute boat cruise around the city and out into the archipelago. The Stockholm archipelago (skärgården) is one of the world’s most spectacular. Stretching 80 kilometres east of the city centre, the archipelago comprises 24,000 islands, islets and rocks. Drinks and snacks were on board and the guided tour was in English.
Our last meal was dinner at Five Little Houses in Gamla Stan–you must have a reservation here! It literally is a restaurant composed of these five houses that are all connected. Probably the coziest and cutest atmosphere I’ve seen. The food was incredible as was the service.
Another memorable trip in the books!
