Scandinavia 5/12 Tour

That is a pretty easy trip to do by public transport. If that feels confusing for you or you have a lot of luggage, take a train to the central station and a taxi from there. The motorway between Arlanda and Stockholm can be pretty congested at times. (There are buses as well, but they can also get caught in traffic jams.)

Thanks for the response, Badger. This is our seventh Rick Steves' tour so we have gotten very familiar with public transportation on our own time and have learned to pack without too much luggage!😉
When we combined the cost of the train (or bus) for two plus the second leg by cab we thought if we could share a cab it might be not much more, paying for the convenience and possibly a little faster.
You rightfully point out the clogged expressway possibility which would slow us down by cab.
We get in at 16:30 so that may be peak traffic once we get our bags, etc.
Thanks again for the response. Do you live in/near Stockholm? We are excited about our trip.
Dave

Great that you considered the option of public transport, but it seems we define convenience in different ways. Landing 16.30 means you'll probably hit rush hour on your way to central Stockholm. Given the choice of sitting in a taxi on the E4 in rush hour or zoom past any queues at 200 km/h, I know what my choice would be. Once in Stockholm, there is a small taxi rank 20 metres from the train if you sit in the front (add 80 m if you're sitting in the rear of the train). (You can also take bus 54 from the central station to the hotel, but the Wellington is not in the best location so there is a bit of a walk from the nearest bus stop.)

And yes, I live near Stockholm.

You must be in sales...
Will let you know what our momentous decision was. "Our" means a spouse of 52 years' input.

Actually I'm not, but maybe I should be? :)

I'll let you know.
What time does "rush hour" end? By the time we go through getting our bags and customs/immigration it may be 1800.

Hard to say, I try to avoid driving to and around Stockholm if I can, but in general I think that evening rush hour is around 17-19 and traffic decreases after that.

On the other hand, if you are flying Norwegian you might not need to worry about it… :)

We are. What's the latest?

I have no idea, but financially I'd be surprised if they don't survive the summer at least. It was more of a comment on their punctuality, they are one of the least punctual airlines in Europe and delays of 3-4 hours on transatlantic flights are not uncommon.

Thanks, Badger.
I'll add that to my list of apprehensions.

I hope you enjoy your trip!

Thanks, Badger. You made it more interesting already.
Oh, by the way, my wife and I are taking the train. Thought you'd want to know that.

When I took this tour, I took the Arlanda Express to the Central station and then the Tunnelbana (underground train). It was a short walk from the station to the Wellington.
Have a great trip, I enjoyed my tour very much.
Stockholm is now my favorite city.

Thanks, Vandrabrud, for the suggestion. I feel we will enjoy Stockholm a lot also.
Sounds like you have a lot of travelling left to do!

Wise choice, book the ticket in advance to save some money.

Thanks Vandrabrud, it seems I mistook the location of the hotel. If it's close to Östermalmstorg the metro is a good way to get to the hotel from the central station.

Hi Badger and Vandrabund,
We easily purchased the train tickets for 2 and enjoyed the quick scenic ride in. The only negative wa about a five minute wait at the end to move up the final quarter mile or so. We highly recommend this route in especialy after the sales effort on Badger's part.
The final segment of the multi-pronged trip from Tampa, Florida airport to Stockholm via London's antiquated Gatwick after the train was the one stop metro. Sure beats walking or paying more for a cab!

Thanks for the report! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the trip and don't think that I fooled you into a stupid decision. But I'm a bit surprised that you called the route scenic, but then again, after a couple of years of daily commuting on the route I know what i looks like. And sometimes you might need to wait a while for the last few hundred metres, but 5 minutes sounds long, sorry to hear about that.

Is it impractical to think of walking from the station to the Wellington Hotel after getting off the Arlanda Express? It looked like just about a mile and a quarter - ?

It is 700 m from Ostermalstorg to Hotel Wellington. I would take the tunnelbana from Central Station.
I did not find that it was a long walk.

About 1.8 km, perfectly walkable if you want to. Or about 200 metres from Östermalmstorg metro station.