How to Spend Three Days in Stockholm

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My husband’s work led him to Stockholm for three months giving me the perfect excuse to finally visit Sweden. Apart from the tourists, summer is actually Stockholm’s quiet season because all of the locals head out of the city en masse to their country homes. Stockholm is a great city to explore, with so much to see and do that I could have easily spent more than three days here.

Day 1

We arrived in Stockholm’s modern airport, Arlanda, early in the morning and whizzed through the very quiet customs. From there we hopped on the speedy Arlanda Express train that only takes 20 minutes into the city centre. As my husband was going to be staying in Stockholm for a while, we had rented a centre city studio apartment.

After dropping off our bags, we headed out to explore. We started our sightseeing in Stockholm’s very picturesque Old Town, Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan is one of the largest and best preserved medieval city centres in Europe and is where Stockholm was founded back in 1252. This area is a wonderful place to spend at least half a day, wandering the cobblestone streets and enjoying the shops, restaurants, cafés and bars. Västerlånggatan and Österlånggatan are the district’s main streets, the city wall that once surrounded the city ran inside these streets along what is now Prästgatan.

There are several beautiful churches in Gamla Stan including Storkyrkan (Great Church), containing the oldest known image of Stockholm and the Tyska kyrkan (German Church) dating back to the Middle Ages and featuring stained glass and a baroque style interior. The highlight is Riddarholmen and the Riddarholmen Church which is the royal burial church, and was built as a Franciscan monastery for the Grey Brother monks in the thirteenth century.

After an exhausting morning of sightseeing, we stopped to rest our feet and enjoy some ice cream in Stortorget, the oldest square in Stockholm which sits in the middle of Gamla Stan. It’s the perfect place for a spot of people watching.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Swedish Royal Palace. We were there just in time to watch the entertaining Royal Guards Ceremony which starts at 12:15pm on weekdays and 1:15pm on Sundays. It runs for about 40 minutes and takes place in the palace outer courtyard. The guards were very impressive in their royal blue uniforms.

We were very lucky to be visiting during the 40^th anniversary of King Carl XVI Gustaf’s accession to the throne. Whilst we were in the beautiful castle enjoying the baroque style grandeur, we couldn’t believe our luck when the royal family appeared outside the window we were looking out of. As part of the celebrations, they had arrived to address the large crowd that had gathered outside the castle. We were quite literally standing behind them as they stood on stage addressing the crowds below them. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of them as the security with us in the castle wouldn’t let us take photos. But that was ok because instead of getting distracted with trying to take a good shot, we just enjoyed the moment. That evening we enjoyed the free music concert held in the palace grounds as part of the celebrations.

Day 2

In the morning, we visited the Vasa Museum, a maritime museum. The star of the show is the spectacular 17^th century warship. It is the only ship of this age that has been fully salvaged. Interestingly, the 64 gun ship sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. I must admit that I am not usually into maritime history, but I can honestly say that I found this a truly fascinating museum and definitely worth a visit. The other exhibits were also interesting and included archaeological findings of both the ship and Sweden in the 1600’s.

In the afternoon, we headed out to Skansen, the open air museum on the island Djurgården. Basically, it’s a cross between a zoo and a recreation of Swedish life throughout the ages. Nearly all of the buildings at Skansen originally came from all over Sweden. There’s even a reconstruction of a 19^th century Swedish village. In the main building’s there were staff dressed in period clothing who explained to us what life was like for the Swedish people of that era.

The zoo showcases Scandinavian animals including bears, wolves, horses, reindeer, moose, lynx and seals. As it was near the end of summer, there were lots of very active and adorable baby animals.

In need of a break, we stopped to enjoy fika, the Swedish tradition of having coffee (or hot chocolate for me) and some delicious Swedish baked treats. Stockholm has many great cafés and bakeries to get a much needed sugar boost. Cakes are usually served with a delicious side of vanilla sauce, similar to a light creamy custard, which they ladle out of a bowl.

Following our much needed fika and an afternoon rest, we went shopping in the modern, trendy shopping district of Norrmalm. Alongside the usual chain stores and high-end stores common in Europe, there are also lots of trendy Swedish labels which will allow you to buy something unique that you won’t find anyone else wearing back home.

Day 3

In our final day, we spent the morning on the shores of Brunnsviken, a 3.5km long lake surrounded by beautiful parks that are part of Nationalstadsparken, the National City Park. The locals were swimming in the lake, but it was way too cold for me. For those rich in time, you can easily spend an entire day here as the park stretches both sides of the lake and you can also hire a boat. However, in the afternoon we decided to head out on an island cruise.

Stockholm is surrounded by thousands of islands known as the Stockholm Archipelago. Although some of them are uninhabited, many of them have holiday homes, and the larger islands also have pretty villages. When choosing your Archipelago cruise, try not to choose the shortest ones, as you don’t really leave Stockholm. Instead, try and put aside at least half a day (a full day if you can) and choose one that lands on an island, giving you a chance to explore. Visiting in the summer months provides long light hours, giving you more time to enjoy these beautiful islands.

Practical Tips for Visiting Stockholm

Language: Swedish. Although most people we came across spoke some English, do try your hand at a few Swedish words:
- Yes = Ja (yah)
- No = Nej (nay)
- Please = Snälla (snell-la)
- Thank you = Tack (tock)
- Hello = Hej (hay)
Currency: Swedish Krona
Tipping: Not required, but people usually round up.
Electricity: The electrical current is 220 volts, 50 Hz. Wall outlets generally take the European two round prong plugs. However, you are better off purchasing a [amazon_textlink asin=’B073PQ9N1Z’ text=’worldwide adaptor with USB ports’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’howbeautifullifeis-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d7bcee73-c7e9-11e7-aad7-53330b631d54′] that can be used in Sweden as well other countries. At least then you can potentially get some further use out of it on future vacations. If you’re taking a number of electronics with you, then I would recommend purchasing a couple of these adaptors.
Public transport: Stockholm has excellent public transport including bus, metro and train.
Navigating: Use Google’s free Offline Maps. Google Offline Maps allows you to access free maps for navigating that can be used offline i.e. you don’t need WIFI, data, or roaming to be able to use them. Follow this detailed guide on how to use Googles Offline Maps. Using your phone as a GPS will drain your battery quickly, so use a [amazon_textlink asin=’B071KSBGNS’ text=’portable external battery charger’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’howbeautifullifeis-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a604176d-c7ea-11e7-b658-afce30e8cfa4′] which you can use to charge your phone and any other USB chargeable devices. If you prefer a paper map, then [amazon_textlink asin=’178657456X’ text=’Lonely Planet’s Stockholm Pocket Travel Guide’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’howbeautifullifeis-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d2a002fa-cc93-11e7-99e7-5fc4eaf8ba1f’] comes with a helpful pull out map. At least it’s reliable and won’t run out of battery or malfunction like the electronic options!
Money saving tips: Stockholm is a very expensive city, save money by packing your own snacks. If you are planning on staying in Stockholm for more than a few days, consider renting an apartment instead of a hotel room so that you have use of a kitchen to prepare your own food. In addition, if you are planning on seeing a lot of sights that charge entry, then consider purchasing the Stockholm card.
Alcohol: Sweden has state run liquor stores called Systembolaget. These are the only retail stores allowed to sell alcohol and they have very limited opening times. They usually close around 6pm weekdays and around 2pm on Saturdays. They are always closed on Sundays and holidays. The alcohol sold in these stores have an alcohol limit of 3.5%.
If you are lost or need help, don’t wait for someone to offer assistance. In Sweden, you need to ask for help. It’s not that Swedish people don’t care, it’s just that they really respect people’s privacy. Once you ask, they are more than willing to provide assistance.