With a few Sweden residents on here I am reasonably confident of some helpful replies.
My wife unexpectedly received a long service travel voucher and as a result we are off to Stockholm with our daughter and her boyfriend the first week of January.
We know it will be very cold but aside from the Abba Museum which has already been marked as a must can you please provide some helpful tips and recommendations.
Stockholm
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A record store called Pet Sounds on Skånegatan. The Modern Museum. The Vasa Museum. A walk on an island called Djurgården (where The Vasa and ABBA museums are both located, along with some other museums). The Old Town.
That should keep you going for at least a day or two. It’s a beautiful city to visit!
First week of January…hmm, probably mostly indoor activities! 😉
But if you wrap up properly it’s a very nice city for walking, and you can go skating at the rink in Kungsträdgården and buy some warm glögg to drink afterwards, to get you warm again! (Skates are available for hiring)
If you enjoy going to museums I’d recommend Fotografiska for photographs, Nationalmuseum for old art (just reopened this weekend after being restored for a few years, very successfully from what I hear), Moderna Museet for modern art, lots of smaller museums are good but do stay away from Nordiska Museet and The Nobel Museum, whatever you do! Also not worth the expensive entrance fee: Skansen (at least not in January!) And stay away from anything claiming to have anything to do with vikings, I say. (BTW, most museums are free to visit, except for private museums, like the ABBA one…)
Gamla Stan (The Old Town) has lots of cheesy souvenir shops selling overpriced crap, but ignoring those and the tourist trap type restaurants, it has its charms (and a very nice bookstore for Sci Fi, fantasy, comics, horror etc).
The food courts are nice; Hötorgshallen for an International feel (and taste) and Östermalmshallen for an older, more traditionally Swedish feel. That one is still under renovation, however, and I don’t think they’ll be finished when you’re here. They’ve built a temporary building on the square next to the old building, to house the shops, but it’s not the same thing…
Otherwise I’d tell you to avoid most of the city centre as much as possible – they’re building everywhere, too much traffic, too crowded, too expensive. Lots of less crowded places just around the corner, just walk around and see where you end up (it’s not big enough to get completely lost in anyway!)
Djurgården has a lot of great sights, but perhaps not at that time of year (apart from museums), like the lake bird reserve or the gardens of Rosendal…
Millesgården at Lidingö is a museum/sculpture park/artist’s home that also probably is better viewed in warmer weather and more light!
Get the “Access Cards” for the metro and do a seightseeing tour of the metro stations, especially along the newer lines, like the Blue Line, which has lots of spectacular stations. But pretty much all stations have lots of artistic decorations and design. Some favourites are: Kungsträdgården, Solna Centrum, Tekniska Högskolan, Tensta, Östermalmstorg, Rådhuset, Hornstull, Gärdet, Danderyds Sjukhus – but you can find interesting things at any station really. The Access Card works on the metro, buses, tram, commuter train and even some ferries.
Hm, it’s difficult to recommend things to do for a tourist in the city you live in…I just go about my normal everyday life, and it’s very tricky to know which stuff people from other countries find fascinating!
I’ll think some more about it and see if I can get some better ideas (also perhaps get back to you nearer the time, as I’ll know better what will be going on then).
You don’t need to give any more tips @Locust, after StevieT goes ice skating he’ll probably be in hospital for the rest of his stay after breaking something. What’s the food like in hospital? 😹⛸😀
If downhill skiing is more of his thing, he can always go to Hammarbybacken… 😉
But perhaps the daughter & boyfriend would find it a bit romantic to skate under bright lights to music, in beautiful surroundings? Steve can stick to drinking the glögg, that’ll keep him happy (unless they aren’t allowed to sell the strong version in the park)! 🙂
Good tip @Locust, he owes me lunch when I next see him but I don’t want to be pushing him around in a wheelchair!
My mate has just been with his wife and loved it, I’ll ask him and report back. I saw him yesterday.
Wonderful city. Remember looking outside blue sky – check, people walking around in t-shirts check. Got outside it was minus 3 celsius😳
That preserved viking ship is pretty cool. Probably listed above.
In the meantime
@SteveT – it would help to know what kind of activities you enjoy doing on your holiday, and if you want to do things on a strict budget or like to treat yourself.
If you are a lover of books and architecture, you can visit the two large libraries: Stadsbiblioteket is the one all of the architecture students go to, but KB – Kungliga Biblioteket is also lovely, in an older style.
There’s a huge second hand bookshop at Olof Palmes Gata called Alfa Antikvariat, it’s in a never-ending basement and you can almost get lost in all of its rooms.
The chain of bookstores called Akademibokhandeln has a very nice flagship store at Mäster Samuelsgatan in the city centre, and also has a great café/restaurant in it with very reasonable prices for what you get. If you order one of their tasty grilled cheese sandwiches you get two gigantic “halves” (must be from a very big loaf) stuffed full of nice fillings, plus a salad on the side, so you can easily share that between two people. I’ve certainly never managed to finish my portion! They also have tons of yummy cakes, buns, pastries etc for your Swedish fika enjoyment.
You’ll probably find everything on the expensive side, but in the first week of January most all shops will probably still have ongoing post-Christmas sales going, which should help. No sales in restaurants however, but plenty of good ones in all price ranges available, so if you choose wisely that shouldn’t be a big problem. Just stay away from buying too many drinks – they can be a bit pricey… 🙁
Another vote for the Vasa Museum. It’s awesome. And probably mentioned above, take cards, cash is all but useless.
Thanks @Locust what I really enjoy is cafe culture, bookshops, people watching etc.
The ice skating sounds great.
I amninbthe minority but I love rollmops and seafood in general so any suggestions in that regards to that would be great
OK, fish is not my favourite, so I’m not an expert on seafood restaurants, I’m afraid. From what I can see online the most popular seafood restaurants are also quite-to-very expensive, like Wedholms Fisk at Nybrokajen; Wasahof/Musslan at Dalagatan; slightly less expensive are Melanders, at Dalagatan, but also in the big food courts/market halls that I mentioned earlier; and finally Stim at Narvavägen. I’ve only visited Wasahof out of those, that was decades ago and I didn’t eat fish, so it’s not my personal recommendations!
I’d recommend Tennstopet (also on Dalagatan…) for classic Swedish dishes, they have several fish courses as well, and most definitely some pickled herring for starters, if you’re interested! It’s a very old and popular restaurant, good quality food at a medium price.
For cafés you should visit (either/all of) the trio of classic cafés that are Vete-Katten (at Kungsgatan); Sturekatten (at Riddargatan) and Wienercaféet (at Biblioteksgatan). Lovely classic ambience, yummy treats and good coffee/tea/hot chocolate.