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Sweden
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/
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.
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
One of Sweden's main national parks and a true wilderness is only 20km from the centre of Stockholm. It is perfect for summertime walks and berry picking or cross-country skiing in winter, with many special tracks to follow. There is also an historic village with museum and cafe.
Tyresta National Park is an easy drive out of the city. Or take the 807 bus from Gullmarsplan tube station to Svartbäcken. Change there for the 834 to Tyresta. The buses are easy to use.
Easily reached by train, this beautiful seaside suburb south of Stockholm is an ideal place to visit for a day trip from the Swedish capital. The small sandy Baltic beaches are ideal for children and there are old-fashioned separate male and female nude swimming areas and saunas. You can go for walks in the woods, picking berries and mushrooms, or try one of the bars and fish restaurants.
Take the historic train ride from Slussen station in Stockholm to Saltsjöbaden.
Tivoli is a huge funfair on Djurgarden island, opposite the main Skansen entrance, with great views across to Gamla Stan and Sodermalm. The entry prices are a bit cheeky, as you pay to get in, only to find everything costs extra. If you have a Stockholm or Tourist card, however, initial entry is free. #
Tivoli isn't a particularly classy, or clean establishemnt but it makes for an exciting end to a Djurgarden day trip - a 180kr evening wristband gets you on all the decent rides between 7pm and midnight, when the park empties out and queues are short. Go on half a dozen rides, in particular the impressive Jetline, and it's value for money.
Get to Djurgarden via the 44 and 47 buses from Sergel Torg, the No. 7 tram from Ostermalm, or the ferry from Slussen. All journeys are free with the 72hr Tourist Card.
Quirky, rather old fashioned childrens museum devoted to the stories of Astrid Lindgren, including perhaps her best-known Pippi Longstocking books.
Galärparken, Djurgården;
tel: 08 587 230 00;
www.astridlindgrensworld.com; www.junibacken.se
There are several beaches around Stockholm and the water is so clean that you can and should go for a swim in the summer. Solvik is located in the suburb of Bromma and is well worth the travel out of the city centre. It gets quite busy at the weekends but you can always find a spot. It is a proper sandy beach complete with two jetties, a cafe and a minuature golf course. My family always went here when I was a child and I still go in the summers.
T-Alvik then the Spårvagn to Smedslätten followed by a scenic 10-minute walk.
Skeppsholmen is a tiny island best reached by crossing Skeppsholmsbron, a bridge from the Blasieholmen district (where the Nationalmuseum is, which might be worth a visit - check what exhibitions are on). Skeppsholmen is good for a pleasant stroll, and to see the exhibits at the Moderna Museet, which is the Tate Modern of Stockholm. Skeppsholmen also is home to af Chapman, Sweden's most famous youth hostel, a huge ship that, with its masts rigged, is a famous Stockholm landmark.
Gamla Stan is the old town of Stockholm, with narrow cobbled little streets. Lots of medieval history and the Royal Castle, Storkyrkan (oldest church in town), and Stortorget (where the bloodbath of Stockholm took place in the 16th century. Check out the red brick building with white stones on one side of the square - the white stones denote how many people got their head chopped off. Nice!).
There are plenty of medieval cafes to head into for lunch or fika (morning or afternoon tea/coffee break) - sitting sipping hot chocolate in a medieval stone cellar complete with arches and stuff is exciting for most people. Chokladkoppen on Stortorget is always good, and so is Kaffegillet on Trångsund.
Västerlånggatan is the main drag, but sadly quite touristy these days. But if you're in the business of getting some reindeer slippers or the like, this is where to go. Österlånggatan is nicer, with little antiques shops and galleries. Next to Gamla Stan is Riddarholmen, which also has lots of history. The Parliament and the beautiful Riddarholmskyrkan church are located here.
Good places for food/drink:
Pontus in the Green House on Österlånggatan (good for lunch) - traditional Swedish cuisine but with an exotic twist.
Pontus by the Sea on Skeppsbrokajen (good for lunch) - see above.
Grill Ruby on Österlånggatan (lunch) - brasserie.
Källaren Movitz on Tyska Brinken – doesn’t look that special, but the restaurant downstairs is good for Swedish food.
Järnet Matsal & Bar on Österlånggatan is cosy and does good food.
Engelen/Kolingen on Kornhamnstorg - a nice old-school type of place where you're pretty much guaranteed to get a good night out.
Walk from Norrmalm along Drottninggatan towards the Houses of Parliament, or northwards from Slussen.
On a sunny day, rent a bike (or inline skates) from the waterside hire shop by the bridge to the island of Djurgarden. Traffic is banned from the island at weekends, and you can ride through beautiful green spaces, just a stone's throw from the city centre.
By the bridge to Djurgarden.
An outdoor museum of Swedish traditional handicraft as well as a zoo where you can watch typical Scandinavian animals such as bears, lynx, wolves and elks. A great way to see them all is the guided feeding walk which starts every day at 14.00 by the wolverines. The Aquarium costs extra and houses exotic fish, snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlies. There is also a children's zoo of baby animals, and don't miss the bakery and glass-blowing cottage.
Djurgården, bus 44 or 47 from T-Centralen.
www.skansen.se
Get a boat from central Stockholm out to the island of Vaxholm (about an hour away). Vaxholm has cafés, shops, and an old fort museum that you can go and visit. It's a great day trip for a sunny day. You get to see a lot of Stockholm from the water on your way out.
Waxholmsbolaget also runs boats to loads of other islands - their website has good English pages telling you about them.
The ferries go from Stromkajen near the Grand Hotel. Look for the Waxholmsbolaget sign.
www.vaxholm.se/turism/eng/index.asp
www.waxholmsbolaget.se/
Even if you only spend a few days in the "Venice of the North", I would still advise you to get on a boat and go out to the beautiful archipelago surrounding Stockholm.
The closer islands in the archipelago, such as Waxholm, Finnhamn and Fjäderholmarna, are only an hour or two away and are nice places to wander around for a couple of hours.
It's a lovely way to spend a nice day or half-day out, and if you go during summer, the archipelago is a great place for a summer picnic and swimming - that's what the locals do.
You can catch boats from the ferry terminals at Slussen and Strömkajen, below the Grand Hotell. www.stockholmtown.com/templates/substartpage____2409.aspx?epslanguage=EN; www.waxholmsbolaget.se/
Vasastaden - nice area for a wander around in. Lots of nice old buildings, nice little independent shops and good for going out. Observatorielunden above the Stockholm City Library is a nice park with great views.
A nice walk is to start at Karlbergs Station, or the St Eriksplan tube stop nearby, and head down to the water, and follow Norr Mälarstrand along the north side of the Riddarfjärden canal. You'll pass through a park called Rålambshovsparken and eventually end up at the City Hall (with its three golden crowns), where the Nobel Prize dinner and ceremony takes place every December. Climb up it if you want, or head off to Gamla Stan for more.
Good places for going out around here are Tranan on Karlbergsvägen (just by Odenplan tube) which is a good hang-out place. Nice food and good music during the day, and a great bar at night.
Storstad on Odengatan (also Odenplan tube) is also a good bar, with good food for lunch and dinner. La Habana on Sveavägen (Odenplan/Rådmansgatan tube) is excellent for mojitos and all things Cuban and is a pretty good place to spend an evening. Paladar de Cuba is another cool Caribbean offering closeby, on Tegnergatan (also Rådmansgatan tube).
St Eriksplan/Odenplan tube
Norrmalm isn't the most interesting or pretty area, but it's the main shopping district and good department stores such as NK, PUB and Åhlens are here, and so is the Central Station. There's a nice bar/brasserie at the top end of the main shopping street, Drottninggatan, called Grill.
Designtorget is a great design shop at the bottom of Sergels Torg, which is a big square near the central station. Kulturhuset – called 'the living room in the city' - is here, with interesting exhibitions/plays, nice café/restaurant with great views, and a good shop downstairs.
Another good cafe is Vetekatten, which is on Kungsgatan. Hötorget has a good outdoor market selling lots of nice things including handicraft. Kungsgatan is a long long street with lots of shops, and leads down to Stureplan which is a major meeting place. Kungsträdgården has many cafes and restaurants, and leads up to the Opera, the Royal Castle and the Parliament.
A few good bars/restaurants:
KGB Bar and Restaurant on Malmskillnadsgatan – nice friendly bar with classic Soviet theme.
Halv Trappa plus Gård on Lästmakargatan – good food, good tunes, good cocktails.
Operakällaren/Bakfickan in Karl XII’s Torg near Kungsträdgården – food in the main restaurant is very expensive, but Bakfickan is good value with excellent food.
Sophies Bar on Biblioteksgatan – usually a good nightspot for some good cocktails, but sometimes full of people with way too much money, which tends to affect the atmosphere.
Fasching on Kungsgatan is a great night out - it's a jazz club that's been around for ages, and has a great soul night on Saturdays if you're up for some dancin'.
If you're after Asian food, a good bet is to check Luntmakargatan, which runs parallel to Sveavägen, which is like a mini-Chinatown. There are a couple of good Korean and Japanese restaurants there.
Södermalm (normally just Söder) - old working class area that has seen a revival in the last 10-15 years or so and is now oh so trendy. It's a very expensive area to live, but a good place for going out. The district commonly known as SoFo (south of Folkungagatan/east of Götgatan, two of the main roads in Söder) has many funky shops, good bars and nice restaurants, especially close to Nytorget which is a cute little square.
Folkhemmet on Renstiernas Gata is a nice bar/restaurant and generally the streets around Bondegatan and Skånegatan are filled with shops and places to go out. Götgatsbacken (leading up from Slussen) also has good cafes, bars and shops. A nice walk is to start at Mosebacke Torg and walk along the waterfront to Fjällgatan for spectacular views and a bit of cultural heritage.
Or turn the other way (i.e. westwards) and walk along Söder Mälarstrand and end up in Skinnarviksparken which has one of the highest points in Stockholm from where you can take some great touristy photos of the view.
Also, a must! Gondolen is a very posh restaurant at the top of Slussen, which is between Söder and Gamla Stan. You take the Katarinahissen lift up to the restaurant from Slussen, and the views are spectacular. The food is excellent but quite pricey, but I normally take people there for a drink just to admire the view. Vinbaren, which is downstairs from Gondolen is a good little place offering a more reasonably priced menu, especially for lunch. At the top bit (i.e. where Gondolen is) there is a place called Mosebacke (in Mosebacke Torg), which is a great club/hang-out place. Most Saturdays, there's a club there called Blacknuss which is really good. Kind of jazzy/funky. Great views as well if you sit outside. They also do jazz brunches on Sundays.
Kvarnen on Tjärhovsgatan is a classic old beerhall with good food, and has two good bars/clubs at the back and downstairs.
Other good places:
Pelikan on Blekingegatan – reasonably priced Scandinavian food.
Hannas Krog on Skånegatan – good lunch menu and good DJs after dark.
La Cuccaracha on Bondegatan is a good Spanish restaurant with good atmosphere.
WC Bar & Diner on Skånegatan – good food and good drinks. Gets very busy so get here early.
Street Restaurant by Hornstulls Strand (Hornstull tube) - bit of a trek, but worth it. Street itself is 'Stockholm's version of Camden Lock' so there's lots of fun things going on. It's just by the water which is nice and the food is good too.
South of Gamla Stan/Old Town, above the Slussen area, or take the tube to Medborgarplatsen.
A brilliant hands-on museum charting the history of musical instruments. There’s an interesting range of traditional Swedish instruments, alongside an array of harps, guitars and drums that you’re encouraged to pluck, strum and bang and just generally make a noise. There’s even a karaoke basement where you can dress up in wigs and belt out a few Abba numbers.
Sibyllegatan 2;
tel: 8 519 554 90;
nearest station is Östermalmstorg
www.musikmuseet.se
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