Late Arrival In Stockholm

Mind the gap when boarding and alighting. That's the safety issue I can think of.

Bager,

Thanks for your response. Based upon your "mind the gap" response, are you implying that traveling from the airport to downtown Stockholm in the middle of the night should be perfectly safe?

As an example, while I would take public transportation from O'hare airport to downtown Chicago during the day, there is no chance that I would make that journey it in the middle of the night. We've never been to Stockholm so I am not aware of the level of crime present in and around the city.

Thanks,

Tom

Traveling on the Arlanda Express is safe at any time. Traveling on buses and the subway (tunnelbana) is also safe, although you may encounter the occasional drunk person (not a safety issue).

At what hotel are you staying?

We will be staying at the Sven Vintappares Gränd 3, Gamla Stan for three nights.

I'm thinking of coming a day early and may have to stay at the Frys Hotel for one night

My suggestion is to take the Arlanda Express to the Stockholm rail station. From there you could take the Metro one stop and walk about 5-7 minutes to your hotel or just take a taxi from the station to the hotel. The cab should take no more than 10 minutes...if that.

Stockholm is not Chicago. In fact no European city is as bad crime wise as any American city. You'll be fine.

Yes, it is perfectly safe to walk around the central station in the middle of the night. While crime of course exists, the risk of anything happening is negligible. If you arrive on a friday or saturday you'll probably encounter some drunk people on their way home. They can be be annoying, but are in general harmless.

From the central station to Sven Vintappares gränd is a nice walk, takes around 10-15 minutes. But depending on how much luggage you have and how tired you are, there are as mentioned other options. Taxi, metro or bus.

I'd expect the walk from Cental Station to take a bit longer than that. Google estimates 17 minutes, and I recall a bit of uncertainty as I made my way from the station to my hotel on a much easier-to-find street in Gamla Stan.

< Post edited to clarify that I was referring to the walk from Central Station; it would be quite a short walk from the Gamla Stan T-bana station. An electronic device could be useful in either case to be sure you don't get turned around. A lot of the folks you'll encounter on the street at that hour of the night will be fellow visitors, most of whom will never have heard of your hotel. >

At that time of night, I would think about checking into an airport hotel. I don't know Arlanda but I'd think, like most airports. there are hotels very close. You're going to be exhausted coming off the plane. Instead of adding a train ride, a taxi or metro or walk to your hotel and a late check-in, why not book something closer? You'll be able to fall into bed an hour earlier and the whole transfer will be much better in the morning. I understand the charms of getting to a hotel and then staying a few days but a short night is a short night. Be kind to yourself and take the easiest path.

Indeed, when I had an 11:50 pm arrival in August 2019, I spent the night at the Clarion Airport Arlanda hotel and then went into the city in the morning.

Also, a tip: I believe I got a small discount on the Arlanda Express by purchasing my tickets ahead of time.

I'd expect the walk from Cental Station to take a bit longer than
that. Google estimates 17 minutes, and I recall a bit of uncertainty
as I made my way from the station to my hotel on a much easier-to-find
street in Gamla Stan.

It depends a bit on how fast you are walking, but Google maps also shows a very strange route.

And it is a very easy place to find. Once you've crossed the bridge, continue straight ahead on Stora Nygatan, and Sven Vintappares gränd is on your left after about 150 m.

All,

Thanks for your comments. I am going to take CT's suggestion and stay the night at an airport hotel. That makes good sense to me.

Tom

Like Kim, I've also stayed at the Clarion. It's inside the terminal. Quiet.

I'm glad to hear that you're thinking of spending the night near the airport after your flight. I believe that you will be happy that you did. There's no perfect solution but getting out of the airport, into a room, taking a shower and going to bed soon afterwards sounds like an excellent way to knock down jetlag.