Visiting Stockholm was a spur of the moment decision or something we all like to call, a last minute trip. We found some cheap tickets with WizzAir from Budapest to explore the city for the weekend and we thought to ourselves...why not?
We were pretty fortunate to have good weather and cherry trees were in full bloom, so exploring the city was a great pleasure.
WHEN TO VISIT
Being so up north the best time to visit Stockholm is during the spring or summer days. Winters are literally dark and of course cold.
GETTING AROUND
We found it pretty easy to explore the city by foot, especially if you book a hotel in the central area. However Stockholm is a very bike friendly city and you can find a bike to rent at every corner. Or an electric scooter.
They also have a good metro system in place, but at 4.5 euros per ticket I would reconsider the bike option.
THINGS TO DO IN STOCKHOLM
EXPLORE THE OLD TOWN
STORTORGET SQUARE
This little square is one of the oldest squares in Stockholm and it is most famous for the picturesque buildings below.
VASA MUSEUM
We don’t usually visit a lot of museums as we mostly like the outdoors, but this one felt like a must as it contains a real ship relic dated from 1628 and preserved for more than 80% up to this day.
VISIT THE ARTSY METRO STATIONS
These have rapidly become famous landmarks in Stockholm and even though the metro ticket is expensive, buying one or two is a must so that you can visit the cool metro stations. Central station, Solna and Stadion are by far the best ones and of course the most popular.
RENT A BIKE or AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER
As mentioned earlier the city is a really bike friendly one and this allows you to explore it at a faster and more fun pace. There are a few apps that you can install, like Voi for scooters and for bikes there are Digi Bike or City Bikes. They all require a credit card and they charge you by the minute. The process is pretty simple and straight forward as you can pick them up and drop them literally anywhere.
ENJOY THE CITY FROM ABOVE
SKANSEN OPEN AIR MUSEUM
I am going to put this on the list although it’s not necessarily something that I would recommend. It’s basically a park but it has a small street where you can see how the houses, libraries and different shops used to look like years ago. Let’s say that this particular street is interesting to see, however that’s pretty much it.
There is also a small zoo inside but do not expect to see a large variety of animals. I would only recommend this place if you are visiting with kids, they seemed to have a lot of fun.
ENJOY A SWEDISH FIKA
Sweden is one of the world's largest coffee drinkers, therefore they have a large variety of coffee shops where you can enjoy a good fika (Swedish word for coffee).
We are not very big coffee enthusiasts but we do enjoy the occasional frappe or latte macchiato, and we really liked the ones and the atmosphere at the Espresso House.
I would not rank Stockholm as one of the best cities we have ever visited, but it was a lovely city to visit during a weekend getaway, especially on nice weather!
Warm hugs,
O
