Stockholm ~ Mamma mia, how can I resist you?

March 2018

Well hello there …

I have a bachelor degree in tourism. During my studies, I got to know a bunch of fun girls, who obviously, all share the same passion: travelling and exploring the world. After graduation, we kept seeing each other every 3 months. So after 15 years, we decided it was time to celebrate our friendship and to create a new friendship goal, an annual tradition; going on a city trip together, once a year. Dublin in 2017, was our trial. It was such a success, that we decided to book Stockholm, a year later in 2018. Can’t wait to hear what will become our destination in 2019! I already have a few ideas for sure: Marrakech, Tallin in combination with Helsinki, Copenhagen, Ibiza, or something really out of the box :-)

A visit to Stockholm is equivalent to: wandering through Gamla Stan, visiting many interesting museums, enjoying beautiful viewpoints, looking for design articles and above all enjoying a "fika" (cup of coffee with something sweet & tasty).

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Practical Wisdom

Stockholm has 2 airports; Bromma & Arlanda. If you arrive at Arlanda, the “Arlanda Express” can bring you to the city center within 20 minutes, a ticket is around SEK 490 (€ 47,5) per person, roundtrip. We arrived at Bromma, and as a group of 5, we decided to order an “Uber”. We paid between SEK 351 - 443 (€ 34 - 43) for an Uber XL to the city center, so less than € 10 pp.

Stockholm has got an excellent subway network. We bought an SL Accescard, rate SEK 20 (€ 2), which you can re-use and re-load. If you want to visit multiple museums, the Stockholmcard can also be interesting.

To visit the island Djurgarden, it’s best to take the ferry.

I heard that Stockholm is also easy to explore by bike. As it was freezing cold and the city was covered by snow, we quickly dropped this option :-)

As you probably know, Sweden does not currently use the Euro as its currency, and has no plans to replace the Krona in the near future. 1 € is more or less 10 SEK. (Subject to the current exchange rate). I exchanged some € to SEK in a local exchange office, were they tried to rip me off! And looking back, we almost paid everything with our debit card, so in my opinion it’s not recommendable to change a large amount of money.

The tourist hotspots

The inner city is made up of 14 islands connected by bridges. Beneath I will only discuss the most touristic ones:

  • NORRMALM
    The shopping heart of Stockholm. Here you can find all major chain stores, many hotels, but also beautiful squares and stately old buildings. The most famous shopping streets are Drottninggatan, Hamngatan and Kungsgatan. Stockholm is also known for its metro art, a nice example of this can be found in the station of Kungsträdgarden.

  • ÖSTERMALM
    This is the more upscale district of Stockholm with many restaurants and exclusive shops. If you want to go out, you can go to the neighborhood of Stureplan. Worth a visit is the food market - Östermalms Saluhall.

  • GAMLA STAN
    The old part of Stockholm with narrow alleys and numerous squares with historic buildings. The main street is Västerlanggatan and Stortorget is the central square. Important sights are the Royal Palace, Mårten Trotzigs Gränd (the narrowest street in the city), Storkyrkan (the cathedral), … 

  • RIDDARHOLMEN
    A very small island West of Gamla Stan. Visit the Evert Taubes Terrass for the beautiful view, from here you have a good view on the Stadshuset. Birger Jarls Torg, is the central square with its beautiful authentic buildings.

  • DJURGARDEN
    A unique nature reserve in the middle of the city, where it is nice to cycle or walk. The Abba museum, the Vasa museum and many other museums are located on this island. The fastest (15min) and funniest way to get there is with the Djurgardsfarjän, a ferry (+/- SEK 31-44 one way pp equals to € 3- 4) between Slussen (Gamla Stan) and Djurgarden.

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  • SODERMALM
    Is the largest island of Stockholm. Streets with wooden workers' houses, beautiful views and trendy neighborhoods. In short it is called SoFo. There are many vintage shops, and lots of great lunch and fika addresses. The smallest house in Stockholm can be visited at Nytorgsgatan. Also worth a visit is the Fotografiska museum (SEK 145 pp /  € 14 pp).

When I first saw you, you took my breath away!

  • ABBA The Museum
    This must be one of the funniest museums I have ever visited! No ordinary museum, but very interactive with lots of fun activities. You spontaneously start dancing and singing when you enter the place and oh yeaaah you keep humming their songs the next couple of days. There are small studios were you can sing along all their golden oldies, you can jump on the stage and experience what it’s like to be their fifth member, try their dance moves etc …
    Entrance fee is SEK 195 pp - € 19 pp if you book tickets online; when buying tickets over the counter a booking fee will be added.

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  • Kannelbullar
    Swedish cinnamon buns. In Sweden there is a social institution called “Fika“. It’s a time to disconnect from what we’re doing, talk to friends while enjoying a hot drink and something sweet, for example a delicious Kanelbullar.

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  • The city library
    The city library in Stockholm was created by the architect “Gunnar Asplund” and is listed as one of the world's most beautiful libraries by the magazine “Conde Nast Traveler”. I can understand why, as its most definitely the most beautiful library I ever saw.

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My cup of tea (read Fika)

Before our departure, I looked up the best places in town to have a Fika.

Tried & tested:

Heard about, but not experienced:

Would you like a table?

Swedish food is much more than just the iconic meatballs (Köttbullar), like herring (Sill) , salmon (Gravad lax), reindeer (Radjur), etc …

When we arrived we had lunch at a seafood bar “Kajsas Fisk” in the “Hötorgshallen”. Really delicious …, a fresh fish soup followed by a very tasteful Gravad lax toast.

The question, everyone is asking when he or she is planning a trip to Stockholm is off course: “Where can I eat the best meatballs?” The hotel were we stayed, recommended the restaurant “Tranan” - http://www.tranan.se/ , and this seemed to be an excellent choice. Honest good food, a friendly and fluent service and a busy but cozy atmosphere.

Other restaurants renowned for their Swedish food are:

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If you’re looking for a nice place for lunch, you can try:

Do you prefer a good fish restaurant ?

Look at B.A.R. Blasieholmens Akvarium o Restaurang at Norrmalm.
http://restaurangbar.se/

One last thing, if you are visiting Stockholm during the weekend, I recommend you to make dinner reservations in advance. We had difficulties finding availability in the restaurants, we preferred!

Good night, sleep tight!

When I travel with “the Colomietjes”, as we call ourselves. We always try to find a small affordable hotel, with a central location and a good breakfast. At booking.com we found “Freys Hotel Lilla Rådmannen”. As they offer family rooms, we were able to sleep with 5 on 1 room. It’s centrally located on Norrmalm, at walking distance from the shopping area (Drottninggatan), and many restaurants. We were pleased with our stay, I can recommend it, if you’re looking for something middle class, good value for money, nothing fancy pansy.
https://www.lillaradmannen.com/

Here is a shortlist of some other hotels I heard or read about :

I could give up shopping, but I am not a quitter.

Scandinavian design and fashion have become very popular the last couple of years. It’s characterized by a dedication to minimalism and simplicity.

 I’d like to point out the best shopping streets for you:

  • Drottninggatan is the queen of Stockholm’s shopping streets. Here you find chains like H&M, Zara, …

  • Bibliotekstan is the fashion district of Stockholm were you find the high-end shops like Louis Vuitton, Prada, …

  • Gamla Stan, the old town is known for the tourist and craft shops

  • Södermalm ( SoFo ) is known for his vintage and design shops

During our stay, we visited following shops:

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We went home with a beautiful Klippan blanket, a biological shampoo of Maria Nila ( that seems to be extremely good , if I can trust the rumors ) and of course some Kanelbullars to share with the beloved ones at home.

If you want to find out more about Stockholm and Sweden, I can recommend you to visit the blog of Heidi Vandenbussche, https://www.takemetosweden.be