- Stockholm
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Sweden
In the Old Town, this little café is friendly and cheaper than most places in the area. The coffee is decent and there’s a little cult bookshop downstairs along with free Wi-Fi for all which is a real bonus for travelers with laptops as using the internet can be a pricey experience in Stockholm.
Stora Nygatan 35
Think of Sweden and we inevitably think of IKEA and wrestling with flat-pack furniture. You can browse the flagship store near Stockholm – free buses from Regeringsgatan/Jakobsgatan in the centre depart every hour, Monday to Friday. Just try not to bring back too much Swedish design to fit in your backpack!
IKEA Kungens Kurva, Modulvägen 1
Youthful crowds of artists and designers have made this neighborhood in the southern inner city of Stockholm into a trendy destination. Actually called Sodermalm but nicknamed SoFo (inspiration from London’s notorious Soho?), it’s a bohemian mecca that’s home to numerous individual shops and tiny cafés and restaurants, all with a fun, lively atmosphere. Take a stroll around its squares or enjoy a picnic in the park at Nytorget, right in the center of SoFo.
Nearest metro station is Medborgarplatsen (Green Line)
Very centrally located near the cool district of SoFo (Sodermalm), this new hostel in Stockholm was a great find. Beds here are very reasonable for the city and the whole place is stylish and modern. There are no bunkbeds - just spacious shared rooms with nice personal touches and comfy beds. The metro is a block away when you want to explore the rest of the city.
www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/sweden/stockholm/24104/
Ringvägen 135, Stockholm, 11661
The palace in Stockholm is well worth the SEK 120 admission fee - it was one of the highlights of our stay in the city. For a little extra grandeur and spectacle, try to catch the changing of the guard which takes place at 12.10pm (1.10pm on Sundays).
Slottskajen, Gamla Stan
In summer consider renting a public bicycle. The cost of three days is 125 kr (or 250 kr for the whole season). You can get the card to use the bikes at any SL centre. You can use a Bicycle for three hours, then place it back in one of the 70 stations in Stockholm, and you can grab another one.
It's available from 6am to 6pm every day.
SL centre
I strongly recommend a little extra time when planning your transport time in the summer months. Most Swedes take all 5-6 weeks of vacation in one stint in July or August so buses and train schedules are greatly adjusted for what staff there are.
www.sl.se for the schedule and www.xpats.nu for other advice from the discussion forums frequented by English-speaking locals.
Only a short ride from Stockholm, you will find a magnificent red brick building, which used to be a factory, brimming with activity. This is the 'science centre' Tom Tits Experiment.
Here children (and adults) can try out more than 400 experiments using water, wind, gravity, sound, light and movement while at the same time learning about themselves and the world around us.
The huge house has four floors, and an enourmous outside area for water experiments. There is a buffet restaurant serving food that will appeal both to the young and older taste buds, but there is also space for eating a packed lunch.
Tom Tits Experiment is located in Södertälje 35km south of Stockholm, close to the E4 and E20. If travelling by train from Stockholm, it is within walking distance from Södertälje station.
en.tomtit.se/
This is a perfect place for sea-kayaking in the south part of Stockholm archipelago. A lot of beautiful islands where you can camp. You can borrow a map of the area and get suggestions and help were to kayak and where to camp.
Askfatshamnen Dalarö
08-501 501 80
0739-74 10 34
www.dalarokajak.se
This is a perfect place to start kayaking in the south of Stockholm archipelago. Beautiful islands and easy to camp.
Fantastic and underrated modern art museum/ gallery on Djurgarden (past the huge tourist destination, Vasa Museum). Every year it hosts about four exhibitions of contemporary and modern art.
We were there for an exhibition of Alberto Giacometti and it was amazing to see 'Walking Man 1' in full height. His drawing and paintings were an absolute revelation and it was a great way of spending the afternoon.
Djurgårdsvägen 60
STOCKHOLM
www.liljevalchs.stockholm.se
There are 24,000 islands in all and you are free to camp on any of them. The bigger ones have campsites; the smaller ones you can have all to yourself. Buy a five-day Batluffarkortet archipelago ferry pass, for about £25 and use taxi boats to get to the smaller islands.
It's 100 giant outdoor photos of wildlife from all over the world. you can see it at even at night.
The photos are huge, incredible, and moving, and the whole exhibition is easy to find, and free!
Raoul Wallenbergs Torg. Really central.
A great new Indian restaurant at 90 Luntmakargatan. We had more than we could eat for about £12 each and the daily house recommendations are good value. The food was freshly prepared and delicious and the staff very friendly.
Just north of Stockholm is Linnaeus' garden. It is also the 300th anniversary of his birth this year so there are exhibitions about him. He was the man who intoduced the notion of species and genus etc.
This is Sweden's national gallery and shows a wide range of work from the middle ages to the start of the twentieth century.
Like the other countries in Scandinavia, Sweden's painters especially loved landcape and nature, and there are many beautiful examples of this kind of work. The murals on the grand staircase are by Carl Larsson.
Nationalmuseum, a short walk from Gustav Adolf's Torg (city centre) westwards, along the waterfront, past the Opera House.
The theatre offers a very wide programme each year of new and classic plays, often in radical productions. Last season's production of Macbeth (in Swedish - well, you know the story) was set at the time of the Great War, and was highly imaginative and wholly convincing.
Drama in Sweden has a long and distinguished history, and the high quality of work at the national theatre is a reflection of this tradition.
The website is clear, well illustrated and easy to use.
City centre, short walk, or subway to Ostermalmstorg. www.dramaten.se
The Arlanda Express is a fast train service from the airport to Stockholm city centre. Although it is quite expensive, around £12 one way, it covers the 40km to the city in 20 minutes.
Tickets can be bought from easy-to-use machines. The airport itself is modern, clean and well-organised.
Arlanda Airport is the main connection for Stockholm.
Norway is what's usually considered the main 'Viking' country, Sweden also has a fascinating Viking past. It's amazing to see how the Swedes have turned around to become one of the most peaceful nations on Earth. Sweden has a rich history that is definetely worth a look at.
We rented an apartment through an agency called Checkin Apartments. The apartment was great - newly renovated with trendy kitchen and bathroom, but still kept the charm of the old building. The location on Kungsholmen in central Stockholm was also perfect.
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