If you don’t mind having a few hours of sunshine during the winter and money draining so fast from your pocket, then Stockholm, Sweden’s cultural, political, and economic capital is your next travel destination in Northern Europe. Spreading over more than a dozen of islands and connected by bridges, Stockholm is tourist-friendly with a broad range of public transport including trams, buses, metros, trains and ferries. This bustling city surely has got the look and a bit of everything for everyone from elegant boutiques, fine craft stores, cozy cafes and restaurants to impressive sets of museums including the famous ABBA Museum.’
Swedes, like Norwegians and Finns, are more reserved and introverted, so don’t expect them to start a conversation or be the first to lend out a helping hand. However, I find Swedes polite and helpful when I needed help. You jut have to ask for it. Swedes’ perfect English is a major plus because if you understand English, you will feel at ease traveling in a foreign country.
Plan your day wisely if you travel to Stockholm not in the summer when the days are much shorter. Allocate your budget for the trip and be aware that Stockholm is ridiculously expensive. What you spend for a weekend trip here can last you at least a week in Eastern Europe.
There are many things to do and see in Stockholm, and you will find different travel tips from other travel websites and travel blogs. Below my list, and I hope you find it useful while planning your trip to Stockholm.boo
You might think that staying on a boat in Stockholm is expensive, but everything is expensive here including budget hotels and even hostels located further away from the city center. In fact, staying on a boat in Stockholm is relatively cheap compared to other types of accommodations. I found good deals for two hotel/hostel boats at Rygerfjord and the Red Boat. These boats are docked next to each other at Sodermalarstrand within walking distance to Slussen metro station and about 10 minutes walking distance to the Old Town.
Rygerfjord / @wikmedia
The main entrance of The Red Boat
You trade small cabin rooms for an unbeatable experience living on a boat. Both Rygerfjord and the Red Boat have a cozy reception/restaurant/lounge area where you have a great view of the City Hall and the Old Town across Lake Malaren.
The reception and restaurant at the Red Boat / @theredboat.com
The lounge at Rygerfjord / @hotels.com
For the first two nights, I stayed on Rygerfjord with my boyfriend. We got a free upgrade to the Captain room which is more spacious than a typical cabin. It has a private shower/toilet, a sitting area, and a sleeping quarter. On the last night, I stayed alone in Stockholm and moved to the Red Boat because a single room cost much less compared to Rygerfjord and everywhere else in Stockholm. During the day I attended a startup event hosted near the Central Station and had to leave Rygerfjord around 6 a.m. and wouldn’t return until 11 p.m. Staying at the Red Boat saved me money and time switching accommodation. All I had to do was taking my suitcase out of one boat and walked to the next boat.
Checking out of the Red Boat. I’m standing at the bow and looking at Rygerfjord, the boat I stayed the nights before.
Gamla Stan is across the river
Money saving tips: Check with the Red Boat for the discount “staying 2 nights, get the 3rd night free.”
The Arlanda Express Train travels from the Arlanda Airport to the Central Station, taking only 20 minutes. The train is top-class, new, clean and huge. When we first got on the train, we thought that we might have entered the first-class wagon and looked around for signs that indicate otherwise.
There is a fast WiFi connection on the train. We wish that the train ride would last longer because this train provides a perfect environment for digital and business travelers to catch up some light work.
Taking the @Arlanda_Express from @Arlanda airport. It's like a first class. #Stockholm w/ @adam_sporka
— TravelJo (@traveljocom) November 19, 2016
The ticket for this train is pricey. It costs 280 SEK (~ 28 EUR) for a single ticket, way over the limit for a budget traveler. However, you can get the same ticket for almost half price.
Money saving tips: If you travel from Thursday to Sunday with at least another person, you get a steep discount of almost 50%. 2 single tickets cost only 300 SEK (~ 30 EUR), 3 single tickets – 400 SEK (~40 EUR), and so on.
The Arlanda Express / @wikipedia
If you come from Europe or a frequent traveler in Europe who has walked over hundreds of cobblestone streets, navigated through narrow alleys, see dozens of impressive churches, grand palaces, imposing century-old buildings, and fairytale-like scenery, you will still get starstruck by the Old Town, Gamla Stan.
I saw the Old Town only in the late evening and at night because during the day I visited other parts of Stockholm to see other sights. It might be busier here during the summer, but in the winter the Old Town seemed vacant even on a Saturday. On Sunday night, it was dead. Most shops were closed except for a few restaurants and bars. I didn’t feel much of a tourist vibe here in Gamla Stan. It was dark and quiet. Perhaps, not many travelers and tourists travel to Stockholm in this time of the year. Or maybe, Swedes don’t talk much even in their own city.
The Old Town / @getstencil.com
Do you know that underneath Stockholm’s storybook buildings and lovely water views lies the world’s longest underground art gallery, stretching over 100 km in length? This underground museum boasts a variety of impressive artworks ranging from murals, pixel arts, sculptures, mosaics, paintings, engravings, mini exhibitions, and art installations. The cave-like walls and ceilings are stunning.
Stockholm #tunnelbana is awesome, including the Maxwell's equations plaque at Tekniska Högskolan station 🙂 @traveljocom #nerd pic.twitter.com/nTEhioZG2R
— Adam Sporka (@adam_sporka) November 20, 2016
When you get tired from walking and sightseeing all day, take a ride on the subway and explore the art and culture of Stockholm.
Out of 100 metro stations, more than 90 have something for you to see. Who has time to see all 90 stations, so I visited the following:
Stockholm’s underground art at Kungstradgarden station
Stockholm’s underground art at Solna centrum station
Here is another first for you. Skansen is the world’s first and largest ethnographic open-air museum. Sweden’s history and life of the past come to live here through the many folk buildings, farmsteads, and the tools, arts and crafts displayed inside.
Besides historical buildings and farmsteads, there are shops, cafes, and restaurants that can stop to have sweets, coffee, drink and food to fill your stomach after spending hours outside in the cold weather.
The gas station
An old farmstead
An old house
Skansen also houses a zoo, so it’s like having a ticket for two different activities. You have probably been to dozens of zoos in your life, so visiting a zoo might not sound appealing at all. Skip the zoo if you want to save time to visit other places, but don’t do it before checking out the rare reindeer and the funny looking Swedish horses.
Swedish reindeer
Swedish traditional breed horse
Two other Scandinavian capitals, Oslo and Helsinki, have the same open-air museum that preserves historical folk buildings and showcases lives of Norway and Finland in the past which you can guess was pretty similar to that in Sweden. My favorite is the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo. Perhaps because I visited in the summer, so there were more programs to take part. Many houses and shops were opened, and you can step inside to interact with people dressed in folk costumes who show tasks corresponding to the nature of the houses. In the winter, Skansen seems a bit dead.
Sweden is a small country with less than 10 million of people whose English is not their native language; yet it has given the world many world famous music bands like Ace of Base, A-ha, Roxette, Europe and ABBA.
The ABBA Museum is located on Djurgarden, the same island where other museums such as Skansen, Vasa Museum, Astrid Lindgren’ Junibacken and Nordic Museum are situated. Plan at least two hours, maybe three or four hours if you’re a diehard ABBA fan who wants to read the band’s biography, listen to their songs, sing, and dance to the music. The museum’s creators aimed to make ABBA museum attractive to families, the general public, and ABBA fans.
Don’t forget that the ABBA Museum dedicates separate halls for the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and Eurovision featuring Eurovision winners. There is a lot of stuff to see and music to hear.
Despite the hefty admission of 250 SEK (25 EUR), it was worth to be there. If I return to Stockholm, I’ll visit this place again.
Thank you Sweden for the music.
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The costumes ABBA members wore when they performed Waterloo at the Eurovision song contest / @wikimedia
While I’m not a fan of heavy meat-based dishes, I came here with one particular meal in mind, the Swedish meatballs. Once you’ve been Sweden and spend an arm and a leg for food, you’ll be thankful to your local IKEA store which serves these meatballs for a fraction of the price.
A heavy meat-and-potato diet is probably typical for countries with more cold days like Sweden. This dish consists of meatballs made from beef, mashed potato, gravy, lingonberry, and pickles. The sour pickles and the sweet berries lessen the heaviness of this meal. A full traditional Swedish meatball meal is perfect after a long day of walking and sightseeing.
I had my meatballs at Cafe Muggen on Gotgatan street near Slussen metro station. Greta Garbo, a famous Swedish-born American actress, was born and grew up in this neighborhood.
If you’re staying at the Rygerfjord or the Red Boat, Cafe Muggen is a good place to have lunch, dinner or coffee.
Swedish meatballs at Muggen Cafe
3 types of bread served with the meatballs: white, brown and crispy.
Vapiano restaurant is located right outside the Gamla Stan metro station. You can’t miss it when you enter or exit the station.
Vapiano is a self-serving pizza and pasta bar. Some call it a fast-food restaurant, but it doesn’t look and feel like it with its elaborate interior decor and fantastic atmosphere. You grab a card when you enter the restaurant and go to corresponding stations to order your food and soft drinks. There is another separate bar for alcohol and coffee. The pasta is handmade and neatly packaged in paper bags, ready to be prepared. The staff cook the pasta and risotto right in front of you. Bread comes for free with your meal, but you need to ask for it. At every table, there is a pot of basil plant that you can pick the leaves and eat them with your pasta.
Pizza at Vapiano / @vapiano.com
Pasta at Vapiano / @vapiano.com
This place might not be that appealing for people who look for a fine dining experience. I totally love the food, the concept, the process. When I checked later, I learned that this Italian restaurant was found and operated by Germans. No wonder why they turn the entire restaurant operation into such simple processes.
The affordable prices alone should make this place a winner.
I spent my entire three days in Stockholm completely cashless, using just my credit card or buying tickets online and showing the codes when I get on the train and the bus. Between my boyfriend and I, we had only credit cards and euros. At one point, we almost ruined the cashless experiment when I got hungry and wanted to buy a hot dog on the street before getting into Skansen. We were ready to pay with our euros if the hotdog seller didn’t try to rip us off with an inflated conversion rate.
Just managed to travel completely #cashless in #Stockholm. Cc @adam_sporka
— TravelJo (@traveljocom) November 22, 2016
Our cards were accepted at every venue that we visited. One of the leading figures in Swedens’ cashless society movement is Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA. Burglars entered his son’s apartment twice. The burglary got him to think about the association between cash and crime. Bjorn believes that if we remove cash, there is no reason for thieves to steal because they can’t turn stolen items into cash.
Bjorn might be on something because Sweden is one its way to be the world’s first cashless society.
Björn Ulvaeus, a leading figure in the cashless society movement. / @wikimedia
Alternative to cash, Swedes pay with credit or debit cards. Now that the world is moving towards mobile apps; Swedes, being tech-savvy, are quick to adopt a new way of conducting personal transactions via the Swish mobile app. Interestingly enough, the Swish app isn’t another app or a startup found by some millennial entrepreneurs. Instead, it is co-owned by six Swedish banks who collaborates on the project.
The Swish mobile app
It’s another WOW for me! Since when banks, often known to be conservative and slow to adopt change, lead an innovation to support a rather radical change?
It can happen only in Sweden.
That leads me to the next point about Sweden, Stockholm, and the Swedes. The Silicon Valley has prided itself as the mecca for startups and technologies. Entrepreneurs look to Silicon Valley for inspiration. If you’re active in the startup scene, you see a recurring mention of Silicon Valley and the unicorns, companies valued over 1 billion dollars. Major cities in Europe like London, Berlin, Amsterdam want to position itself as the European Silicon Valley or a top tech hub in Europe.
I know Stockholm is high on the list of top tech hubs in Europe, but it took me by surprise to know that this Scandinavian capital ranks second only below the US’ Silicon Valley in the number of billion-dollar-companies it has created per capita. Notable mention includes Skype, Spotify, Kings (the producer of Candy Crush Saga).
Startups and technology were the main reason I visited Stockholm. A startup that I’m involved attended an event organized by EIT Digital, a European-based organization that functions as both an accelerator and a startup event organizer. EIT Digital organized a Digital Challenge competition for startups that were part of the Digital Infrastructure categories (security, IoT and cloud platforms). The event happened on the same day as Swedens’ Internet Day.
Who knows in this room will walk out anEuropean unicorn. Let’s see.
IIS event combined with EIT Digital Challenge
Stockholm is a very expensive city. No matter how good you are at stretching the money, you will spend quite a lot of money here unless you walk everywhere and live on just from Abba’s music.
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I'm a motivation explorer, personality type hacker, behavioral investigator and storyteller. I help startup founders, entrepreneurs, and corporate managers to understand themselves, the people they manage and how to get the best of their people. Specialty is in psychological personality types and brain-based methods. When I don't do the above, I hop around planet Earth with TravelJo.com to learn the Art and Science of people from everywhere and to give you all the free travel and tips and advice in many cool destinations.
My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
2 thoughts on “Top 10 Things to Experience on Your Visit in Stockholm”
Clovis ChamplinPosted on 6:46 pm - Feb 2, 2024
Your articles consistently impress me.
adam_sporkaPosted on 4:58 pm - Nov 27, 2016
Yeah, the subway in Stockholm is really magnificent!