A row of sophisticated houses gleaming in the clear Northern lights, as it is reflected by the water below. Screaming seagulls follow the freighters on their passage through the skerries. A third of the whole city of Stockholm is built into or onto the water. Another third of the city is green – which other million-strong city can make such a claim? I visited the beautiful sites of Stockholm for a weekend and explored the Swedish city for you, to present my personal highlights from 48 hours in Stockholm.
Friday
7pm :When you land in Stockholm, take a good look out of the window. The Swedish capital covers several islands, and from a low altitude, you can even see the site of the castle of Drottingholm, a world heritage site, that is located slightly beyond the city limits.
7.30 pm: From the Arlanda Airport, you only have to take the lift to get to the Arlanda Express train station. Larger than life photographs of the Swedish countryside and recorded birdsongs greet you when you step on the platform. The highly modern Arlanda Express train offers free wireless LAN and speeds with up to 200km/h towards the city centre. My advice: book your tickets for the train in advance at the website of the Arlanda Express.
8 pm: From the main station, it is only a few meters to walk to my domicil for the weekend at the traditional Sheraton Stockholm. the luxurious hotel is surprisingly affordable at weekends and offer beautifully designed rooms with a view on the historic city centre of Stockholm. The design of the room includes several typical Swedish elements, from the bedside cabinets to the standard lamp establishes a foretaste of the city. Meanwhile, illuminated boats pass by below the window.
9 pm: Swedes tend to dine quite early and the often quite expensive dinner is curiously called “middag”. At this later hour, I found some nice and affordable alternatives at the vibrant district around the main station.
Saturday
10 am: From the hotel it is only a short walk to the pedestrian precinct Drottninggatan with its countless design stores. You can find a good selction at ” Designtorget” in the culture house at the divisive Sergels-Plaza with its concrete and glass buildings. My advice: If you are planning to visit many museums and want to go on a site-seeing trip, you can get free entry and free public transport tickets with the Stockholm Card.
11.30 am: Taking the red line of the underground, it takes only two stops to go to the Östermalmstorg. The historical market hall ” Östermalms Saluhall “with its clinker walls was built in 1888. Here, you can find Swedish delicacies like traditional fish soups or elk meat.
By the way, the small restaurant ” Nybroe”, directly located at the entry to the market hall, was well worth the visit. I had a hering dish for 12 Euro, but they also had salmon and scrambled eggs for15 Euro.
1 pm: Now, the time for my boat trip has finally arrived! I walk down to the harbour at the Strömkaje piers and climb onto the next excursion bark. I found one of the last seats at the very end of the boat and quickly, we lose sight of the elegant houses.
The trip takes about an hour, while the boat circles around the green isle of Djurgarden -once upon a time a royal hunting ground – before making a trip to the skerries of the Shaeren.
2.30 pm: Back on land, I stroll across the Strömbron bridge towards Gamla Stan, an island within the historical city centre. From here it takes only a short passage to the Royal Castle with its magnificent halls, priceless at treasures, and the famed Bernadotte Library.
4 pm: I stroll across the cobblestone pavement of the Källargränd towards the vibrant Stortorget. The medieval townhouses around the market place house numerous cafés and bars – but the prices are steep. The Nobel museum in the old stock exchange building is well worth a visit, though: A century of history of the nobel prizes are presented here with multimedia technology.
7 pm: Ever so slightly, I grow hungry, and so I indulge in a typical Scandnavian dinner in one of the restaurants in the historical city centre. The locales in the smaller streets like the Slingerbulten are less expensive than those directly at the market place.
Sunday
11 am: My personal highlight of this trip was to take the historical tram Djurgardslinjen 7N from Norrmalmstorg to Skansen. Some of the trolley cars have been redesigned into rolling cafés and offer coffee and Kanelbullar, a traditional pastry with cinnamon. It is a comfy and relaxing way to travel through the city streets.
12 am: I depart the tram directly at the mainentrance of the Skansen outdoor museum and take a walk through the beautiful green park. The open air museum shows artifacts of cultural history from five centuries, including old farming buildings and traditional crafts and artworks. You can even see a few Scandinavian animals such as elks, bears and wolverines.
4 pm: My final visit for this week-end leads me to the Vasa Museum, which houses the galleon of the same name, that sunk in the harbor of Stockholm in 1628 and remained on the seabed for 333 years. Nowadays, you can see the perfectly restored ship in all its glory.
5 pm: The weekend is almost over and for me, it is time to leave, I take the Arlanda Express back to the airport and take the last plane back to Germany.
Further Information:
Stockholm Visitors Board
Sergels Torg 3
10325 Stockholm
www.visitstockholm.com
Economic Advice:
For those who wants to visist many sites and museums in Stockholm, it is a good idea to buy a Stockholm card. While the card costs 73 Euro (675 SEK) for two days, it offers free entry in over eighty museums, as well as free access to the public transport as well as a few boat trips,bonus services and guided tours.
Sheraton Stockholm
Located near the city centre with a view onto the historical city island and with a huge breakfast buffet.
Tegelbacken 6
10123 Stockholm
www.sheratonstockholm.se
double bedrooms start at €119.
Useful guide for a short trip
The current Marco Polo guide for Stockholm contains a vast number of insider tips and clearly represented maps of the city. You can find it at shop.dumontreise.de for € 11,99
Note: This trip was supported by the Hotel Sheraton Stockholm and the Arlanda Express. The report does only represent our own specific opinion.
