Ahhh Sweden, how many Swedish icons there are in popular culture and around the world? For a country of less than 9million inhabitants, the Swedes have been embraced by the world through cars, alcohol, pop music, clothing and flat pack furniture. The household Swedish names we’ve all come to know and love include ABBA, Absolut, Volvo, Saab, IKEA and H&M.
Stockholm is the epicentre of Swedish business and as such, one is instantaneously transported to Swedish heaven upon arrival at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The short bus ride into the city passes the green rolling hills of the Swedish countryside and during the summer, you can see why the Swedes sport around such beautiful tans. In the city area, Stockholm is built along the east coast of Sweden and also takes up a number of islands including the one that holds the royal palace. Connected by a series of bridges, Stockholm’s old town area is the picture perfect cobbled stone lined street one imagines in fairytales.
The palace itself covers about a quarter of the old town island and is a rather non-descript stone building. Inside however, its arts and relics from kings and queens gone by combine to form a rather dazzling collection of jewels and treasures from one of the world’s oldest monarchies. Similar to many other Scandinavian and European cities, Stockholm is a bike friendly city that is easy to navigate and provides safe bike lanes for cyclists to roam about. If biking is not particularly high on the agenda, then the city’s public transport system is clean, efficient and frequent albeit a little on the expensive side.
Some notable sites in Stockholm for tourists include Skansen, which is one of the world’s largest open air museums, providing an intriguing look at early Swedish life and also contains an animal park that somewhat resembles a zoo. Children and adults will be both amused and interested, and traditional Swedish food is served in the cafes and patisseries. The Skansen is also located across from the Tivoli amusement park and a short stroll from the yacht permanently tied to the harbour that acts as a youth hostel. The Vaasa museum is also located along the water from and has an original wooden ship that sunk during its maiden voyage as it was leaving Stockholm harbour over 400 years ago. Art lovers will also enjoy the Moderna Museet.
Useful Hint:
Staying further away from the city is a significantly cheaper option than living in the heart of the city. Being away from all the tourist attractions and living closer to the locals also means that eating out and general necessities are also cheaper and easier to find. If budget is a concern, accommodation, which allows for self-catering is a brilliant idea to combat the high prices of the Swedish economy, as DIY dinners are reasonable value even in a country such as Sweden.
Getting Here:
- Arlanda is the main airport serving Stockholm and is the home of SAS airlines (Scandinavian air service) and its partner Star Alliance members. One World alliance members are less prominent but none the less still fly here. Flights leave here to all parts of Europe and the world.
- Skavsta airport is a regional airport labelled by RyanAir and other low cost airlines as an airport for Stockholm. Coach most conveniently reaches it and currently there are 2 bus companies at war on the route and offering deals and specials on tickets to and from the airport.
- Trains from around the country and neighbouring Finland and Denmark all terminate at Stockholm central station.
- Cruise ships and ferries dock close to the city centre at the terminal on Stockholm harbour.
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