Ok, being one of the few Swedes on Ciao I guess I have to contribute with my inside info on my dear capitol. I was born and raised in a suburb to Stockholm but now I live in Gothenburg. This is my to-do’s and not to-do’s on Stockholm.
So, we do not have ice bears walking down the street. We don’t dance around in folk-costumes, tap-dancing with clogs. We’re not all blond and blue-eyed. In fact, Stockholm has grown up into any western world city at all. We have big shopping streets, Mc Donald’s in every corner, museums and suburb after suburb. So, there’s much to see - as in any capitol - but what's of importance? Well, you may not miss our VASA-ship with its own museum at DJURGÅRDEN. VASA were our royal pride in the 17th century that sank on its very virgin trip with hundreds of men and supplies. It was picked up from the bottom of the ocean in the 20th century and restored and given its own museum. And the ship is still in astonishing shape. Come here to admire the ship itself or walk around the several floors with artefacts
from the ship but also with many other medieval items.
Not far from the Vasa-museum lies our amusement park “GRONA LUND”. This is a “maybe”. Entrance feels too expensive compared to what's actually being offered inside. Grona Lund is squeezed into too little space and cannot offer any “real” rollercoasters, and let face it, it’s not an amusement park if it doesn’t have a rollercoaster. Instead, visit SKANSEN on the other side of the road of Grona Lund. You can easily spend a whole day at Skansen as it spreads over a wide area and offers wild animals, animals you may pet (rabbits, sheep etcetera), stunning nature areas and authentic 20th century buildings such as a glasswork to name one. At fridays in the summertime the whole of Skansen fills up with thousands of people as “Allsång from Skansen” is being broadcasted live on TV with famous artists singing their own songs as well as Swedish folksongs. So, avoid Skansen at a friday. :-)
You can do some serious shopping in Stockholm. Don’t expect to save any money though, Sweden is an expensive country and with our currently strong currency tourist-ing here becomes expensive. If you don’t live in the actual city of Stockholm just catch the tube and go to “Centralen”. All tube-lines pass here so you cannot miss it. Make sure to follow signs towards “Sergels torg” or you will end up at our domestic train-station (nothing wrong with that, but it isn’t where you were going). You will come up from the underground and be standing next to the place that Swedes thinks of Stockholm the most, “SERGELS TORG”. Sergels torg isn’t really anything special at all, just a big open square infamous for its drug dealers prowling around. Turn left for the main shopping street with H&M, Åhlens, Debenhams and several clothing stores. Or turn right and start walking towards our “old town”.
On your way to our old town you will walk “thru” a big building, lying on a small island between the modern city and the old town. This is our Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. As you walk over the next bridge you have officially entered the OLD TOWN. On your left you have our Swedish Palace, just as with Buckingham Palace, a hoisted flag on the roof tells if our king is “home”. During summer there are guided tours in the palace daily and I recommend you to catch one. The old town has several nice little cafés, original stores and a cosy atmosphere. Several of the cafés have services in small rooms underground offering a very special 19th century feeling with stone walls and rustic wooden benches.
We have several parks around the city. We like to come here on our lunch breaks, meeting up with friends and eating an ice cream. I recommend you to do the same, get an ice cream and sit down in one of the many parks to relax. We also have several museums offering specialities of all kinds. I personally like our museum of Modern Art, but all museums offers unique items. So if you have the time, ask at your hotel reception on directions to a museum of your taste. Just remember that unlike many other countries no museums are free in Sweden. Entrance is around 50-150 SEK. All museums are closed on Mondays.
Finally, you may not miss out on going to BIRKA. Birka was the Swedish capitol from Viking times (800 AD) up till medieval times. Apart from offering a stunning bit of Swedish history I recommend you to catch one of the boats going there to get out from the pumping city and relax in some pure nature.
You can come to Sweden all year ‘round. But remember, in the winter we sometimes end up with minus 25 degrees. So, the best time would be April to September.
Last of all, the best tips I’ve learned from my trips. Get a good book on the place you’re going to and do your homework. Only YOU know what you’re interested in. Not even the best guide can cover 100% of important sites at a place, but a book can, and if you’ve done your homework you know what to ask for and where to go. In the end, only one person can make your vacation a top-hit. And that’s you. Have a nice trip!
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Advantages: great views, excellent breakfast, clean friendly top class hotel, great location Disadvantages: Can be a little busy, if that's really that bad!
May 23rd, 2004
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