Sunny and warm Stockholm was not this weekend. Nevertheless, despite the gloom of the unsettled weather the beauty of this charming and now culturally rich city still shone through.

Photos are here.

The Experience

We were literally in Stockholm for less than 48 hours so we thought we were going to be pushed trying to fit all the attractions and sites into our schedule. The great thing about Stockholm is that it is extremely walkable (besides the airport bus to and from our hotel we didn’t take public transport all weekend) so all the things we wanted to see we were able to get to fairly easy. Yep, great for the step count that’s for sure! Also, cutting out a lot of museums (of which Stockholm has a ton of good quality ones) gave us plenty of time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere that is Stockholm.

The highlights of our visit were as follows:

• Kungsträdgården. The meeting place for a lot of Stockholmers this area got quite busy later in the day. It was also an area we found ourselves walking through constantly and the site of our last meal. The end is the Kungliga Operan.
• Changing of the Guards at the Royal Palace. Don’t disbelieve the guide books when they tell you this is a big deal. Starting at noon the first ten minutes was a little confusing as one of the guards read something about the things going on at the museum. Although bits were translated into English I’m not sure we got the entire message. After this the changing of the guards finally proceeded with marching and a marching band. Get there early because you might as well try and get a front row view.
• Gamla Stan. Yes THE tourist trap but nevertheless a beautiful old medieval city. Beautiful cobbled streets and a couple of great squares where you can sit outside to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Old Town. Notable also for some great little ice-cream shops (even on a cold day!).



• Vasamuseet. Home to the royal warship Vasa this is one of Stockholm’s most popular museums. The Vasa is the world’s only surviving 17th-century ship. After 1.3km on its maiden voyage the Vasa, one of the mightiest warships in the world, capsized before firing even one shot in battle. As the museum is built around a nearly completely reconstructed Vasa you can walk around the entire warship and watch footage of its demise knowing the museum is less than a nautical mile from where it capsized.
• Skansen. Unfortunately poor planning and entering the park at the wrong entrance meant we missed the opening hours of the fabled open-air museum that Skansen is actually known for. However, we were able to enjoy the lush foliage as we walked all the away around the park itself.



• Stadshuset. Taking a tour of Stockholm’s City Hall is well recommended. The tour guides are extremely friendly and even quite funny at times and although I think you can walk around and see some of the rooms yourself it is worth doing the tour to find out the bits of trivia – such as how in the Golden Room (a hall of mosaics built from over 18 million tiles of gold) that most tiles go missing during the annual Nobel Prize festivities! Oh and if you can afford it the City Hall has a restaurant from which you can choose the Noble Prize meal that was served for any year of your choice (you will need very deep pockets.)
• My eating reindeer!

Stockholm is a very pretty city and the people are generally very friendly and helpful. I would probably recommend visiting it in the middle of winter (so you an experience of the magic that winter brings) or summer as you will then hopefully avoid the dreadful UK-like weather (that is, rain, rain, rain) that affects it at all other times.