3 Days In Stockholm

July 26, 2016

|

Lindsay Liles

Many people know Stockholm as the “Venice of the North,” due to the fact it’s made up of fourteen islands and connected by 57 bridges. Before visiting, I didn’t know much more about it than it was the land where gorgeous people and delicious meatballs come from. After visiting Stockholm, I can honestly say it’s all of these things and more. With a blend of the 13th century Old Town and modern day architecture you won’t find in many places, Stockholm is romantic, breathtaking, and fabulous! I won’t pretend to know everything about Stockholm but here is a guide to spending 3 days in what is now one of my favorite places in the world.

THREE DAYS IN STOCKHOLM: DAY 1

From the moment we arrived to Stockholm Central Station via the train from Oslo, we were overwhelmed with excitement to explore and couldn’t wait to drop off our luggage. While there is the T-Centralen Metro station you can connect easily to via an underground walkway, we opted to take a cab to our hotel because we were tired of dragging our luggage around. After a very pricey ride, we learned the hard way that taxis are not regulated in Sweden and you need to be very careful about which cab you take. Throughout our time in Sweden we found 150000 Cab and the yellow cabs to be the most reasonably priced but even these were at least $20 USD a ride. I would stick with public transportation if you can.

The Berns Hotel 

For our first two nights in Stockholm we opted to stay at the Berns Hotel, which is a historic hotel right in the center of Stockholm. While the rooms aren’t huge, they are trendy and comfortable. The hotel is also home to a fantastic bar, nightclub, and restaurant that has attracted guests such as Rihanna, Bill Gates, and even the Dali Lama! After checking in to our hotel and getting dressed well enough to fit in with the beautiful people of Stockholm we decided to spend our first day exploring Gamla Stan.

Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan, the Old Town, is one of the largest and most well preserved medieval cities in Europe. It was also where Stockholm was founded in 1252. When walking on the cobblestone streets through the colorful buildings of Gamla Stan, you feel like you’re stepping back in time. The main square in Gamla Stan is called the Stortorget, which is the oldest square in Stockholm. There are many people hanging out in the square, dining, or having a fika. (By the way, having a “fika” means having a coffee. The Swedes love coffee and often pair it with sandwiches or pastries.)

Stortorget

Gamla Stan is full of boutiques, tourist shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants. Västerlånggatan and Österlånggatan are the district’s main streets and you can spend a large part of your day strolling around. There are many churches in Gamla Stan including the Stockholm Cathedral and Riddarholm Church, which is where Swedish monarchs were buried. (Riddarholmen Church is located on Riddarholmen Island, which is adjacent to Gamla Stan.) There are also attractions such as the Nobel Museum and the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend visiting it. I could just picture myself living here…

The Royal Palace 

The Stockholm Cathedral

As we were walking the streets of Gamla Stan my husband discovered a Viking Bar called, “Aifur Krog & Bar.” He’s a huge “Game of Thrones” fan and insisted we stop in for some Mead. If you’ve never had mead it’s an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water. It’s pretty disgusting in my opinion and I don’t think I’ll ever drink it again but this bar is definitely worth stopping by. Don’t worry, they have regular wine and beer too!

Aifur Krog & Bar

To get my husband back for making me drink mead, and call him Jon Snow for an hour, I decided we should go on a ghost tour. So, we head over to Stockholm Ghost Walk and purchased tickets for the 90-minute walking tour for about $20USD. They offer tours in a variety of languages and it was a great time! Not only did we hear about the ghosts in the city, but also learned about the city’s history and finally found the most narrow street in Stockholm- Mårten Trotzigs Gränd! A word of warning the end of this tour is really freaky! They take you into a bone room…

Mårten Trotzigs Gränd

After our ghost tour we decided to head over to the famous restaurant, Gondolen, for dinner and drinks! Gondolen is run by celebrity chef, Erik Lallerstedt, and has a menu that is a nice blend of Swedish and international cuisine. Gondolen is located in Sodermalm and about a 15-minute walk from Gamla Stan. It is in an area considered the “hipster part” of Stockholm. Once you get to Gondolen head up to the 11th floor and be prepared for the view to take your breath away! The food is wonderful and it’s a great place to enjoy a glass of Rosé!

View from the ground of Gondolen 

Taking in the start of a Sunset at 10pm at Gondolen 

After dinner we head out to watch the Euro Cup and get some much needed rest for Day 2 in Stockholm!

THREE DAYS IN STOCKHOLM: DAY 2

On our second day in Stockholm we woke up with the plan to tour some of the most famous attractions in the city. To start the day we decided to head over to the island of Djurgården to explore the famous Vasa Museum. You can get to the Vasa Museum via taxi, ferry, metro, or tram. If you are in the city center simply take tram 7 to Waldemarsudde.

The Island of Djurgården 

From the second we set foot on Djurgården I was completely blown away. Everything is so green and beautiful its like living in Pandora. I literally just wanted to frolic around and sing “The Sound of Music,” but my husband stopped me, and reminded me, we needed to go see the great and mighty warship THE VASA!

 The Vasa Museum 

Upon walking into the Vasa Museum we were shocked by not only the size of this massive ship, but at how well it is preserved. In fact, it is the world’s only 17th century preserved ship. The museum offers free guided tours which I highly recommend taking because you learn things like, the Vasa was built between 1626-1628 and was sort of like the Titanic in that it sank on it’s maiden voyage. Basically, the King cared about looks more than functionality, (typical man), and made the shipbuilders create a really cool looking ship that couldn’t actually sail. So, the Vasa sank within minutes of its first voyage. Overall, the warship’s story is quite unique and worth checking out. Tickets are about $15USD and can be purchased at the door.

After leaving the Vasa Museum we decided we had heard enough about death and were ready to celebrate life so we decided to “Take a Chance” and dance our way over to the Abba Museum, which also happens to include the Swedish Music Hall of Fame.

 The Abba Museum 

The Swedish Music Hall of Fame 

Tickets for the Abba Museum are “money, money, money” at about $23/each. (See what I did there?) I didn’t flinch at the price because I’m a neurotic Abba fan that enjoys loudly singing their music in the shower and attempting to wear jumpsuits that can only be called “Abba Inspired.” I do think even if you’re not a fan of Abba this museum is worth every penny because IT’S INTERACTIVE. Yep, you read that right, in this museum you get to a part of Abba music videos and even go on stage with this legendary band. If you are shy in front of groups, there’s a bar when you walk in to the museum so grab a cocktail to calm your nerves and get ready to sing “Mamma Mia!” One tip, they shoot these videos with wide angle lenses so wearing a flowy dress like I did isn’t recommended unless you want to look extra curvy. I knew I should have packed a sparkly jumpsuit!

My Husband and I performing in an Abba Music Video

After the Abba Museum my husband and I strolled around Djurgården. There is much to see in Djurgården, including 22 museums, one of which is the world’s first open-air museum called the Skansen, and Grona Lund, which is an amusement park. Skansen and Grona Lund both seem like a great place for families. You could easily spend over a week in Djurgården and my husband and I will be back!

Grona Lund  

After a day of exploring we were ready to relax and grab a cocktail so we made our way to the world famous Grand Hotel!

 The Grand Hotel Lobby

The Grand Hotel is a 5 star hotel that was built in 1874 and sits right on Stockholm’s waterfront. It is home to Mathias Dahlgren’s Michelin star restaurant and the well known Cadier Bar so it is no surprise it is frequented by celebrities, royalty, and high profile guests. This hotel oozes elegance. Everything is covered in gold- even the bathrooms!

 The Grand Hotel Bathroom 

We were able to get a table with a spectacular view of the waterfront, which was the perfect place to end our afternoon. If you like champagne I highly recommend trying a Ruby Royal- delicious! After a few cocktails we went back to our room to relax and get ready for dinner at Riche!

Restaurang Riche

I was really excited for dinner at Riche because Riche is a Stockholm institution I have read about for years! Riche was founded in 1893 after the Cafe Riche in Paris but it has seen many changes over the years and now is a hip bistro. There is a restaurant, bar, and nightclub in the space so guests can come enjoy dinner, drinks, and dancing! I highly recommend the Swedish meatballs and French Onion Soup. They also have some wonderful French Rosé!

 The Bar at Riche 

Riche was the coolest place in the 1980’s in Sweden but is still a place to see and be seen that is full of beautiful people! I literally sat at the bar and pointed people out to my husband going “hot, hot, really hot, stunning, beautiful, hot.” Being in this bar is like living in an episode of “Gossip Girl.” I personally love the quirky decor and wine glass chandeliers. (Hmm, how can I get one of these in my kitchen?) Needless to say it wasn’t hard to pass time dancing the night away at Riche and then bar hopping around Östermalm.

THREE DAYS IN STOCKHOLM: DAY 3

After a wild second night in Stockholm we took full advantage of sleeping in before we switched hotels to the Nobis Hotel right down the street in Norrmalmstorg Square. Why the switch you ask? No reason other than we like to experience different hotels in the cities we visit and we both really like SPG. (And no, they aren’t paying me to say that! But if you want to SPG hit me up ;))

The Nobis Hotel

The Nobis Hotel has a trendy lobby, nice bar, a delicious Italian restaurant called Cainas Bakficka, great service and very comfortable rooms! After getting settled in we decided we wanted to go explore Stockholm’s City Hall, which is known locally as the Stadshuset. From our hotel we could easily walk to City Hall but if you need to take the metro you would get off at the Radhuset station. Something to note, I highly recommend taking the Metro in Stockholm as it is known as the longest art gallery in the world at 110 kilometers long. Below are some of my favorite parts of the Metro- Instagram Gold!

Rådhuset Metro Station

2/3

Stockholm City Hall is on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen Island and is most famous for being the place where the Nobel Banquet in held on December 10th every year. You can only visit City Hall on a guided tour, but English tours leave frequently, and only costs about $12USD per person. Check out their website for exact times as the these change throughout the year.

Stockholm City Hall 

The tour of City Hall is about 45 minutes long. On the tour you hear a brief history of the building and are allowed to walk through Rådssalen, where the municipal council meets. They also take you through the Blue Hall where the Nobel Banquet is held and the Golden Hall where dancing takes place after the Nobel Banquet.

A gorgeous ceiling in City Hall!

4/4

Overall, City Hall is quite breathtaking and now I have a new mission in life- to win a Nobel Prize! Can you imagine how fabulous that party would be?

After our tour of City Hall we decided we wanted to have a nice lunch on the water because it was a picture perfect day in Stockholm. We decided to head to Mälarpaviljongen which is a well known cafe on a floating pontoon that offers spectacular views across the waters of Riddarfjärden.

Mälarpaviljongen

Mälarpaviljongen did not disappoint. The food was wonderful, the rosé flowed freely, the views were everything you could hope for, and the crowd was fantastic. Since this restaurant is on the water many locals pull their boats up and jump off. It adds to the fun, party atmosphere. If this place were in Los Angeles I would be there every weekend! Tip- The bathroom is down stairs from the bar. Look for the portholes. I got really lost.

I think we would have stayed the entire evening at Mälarpaviljongen but the France/Germany Euro Cup game was coming on soon and their was one thing left I had to see before the day was over- the gilded crown on Skeppsholmsbron Bridge!

The Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron Bridge 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with crowns, princesses, and the color pink so this bridge was a must-see for me! Skeppsholmsbron is located in central Stockholm and connects Blasieholmen to Skeppsholen if you want to find it yourself! Trust me, it’s worth the photo opp. And, the famous Lydmar Hotel bar is right next door. So, why not take a princess photo, grab a glass of vino and enjoy this view?

After my princess shoot we headed to Restaurang Grodan for dinner and to watch the Euro Cup! (Allez Les Blues!!!) The steak I had was quite wonderful and it is a great place to watch a match. While this concluded our three days in Stockholm we know we’ll be back. It is impossible not to fall in love with this city!

PS- If you need to get to the Arlanda Airport take the Arlanda Express Train! It only takes 20 minutes and there is free Wi-Fi on the train. It’s very affordable too! We hope you enjoy your trip to Stockholm as much as we did!

XOXO,

Lindsay & Christopher