Stockholm for a week

I would recommend seeing the Vasa ship. Walk through the Gamla Stan area. Stockholm's city hall-home of the Nobel Prize banquet. Skansen open air museum. Take a royal canal boat tour. I also enjoyed taking a day cruise to the archipeloago islands. Fun side trip would be to go to Uppsala.

Ellen,
You did not specify when you are going in August. Stockholm hosts a cultural festival each year with performances at different locations on stages that have been put up around the city. This year's festival dates are Aug 11 -16. www.kulturfestivalen.stockholm.se is the web site if you are going to be there then. In addition to the recommendations already made, which I agree with, we enjoyed the Royal Armory and Royal Treasury at the Royal Palace, Drottningholm Palace and grounds, and an interesting Photography Museum on the island of Sodermalm.

Vasa Museum - I think this is one of the best museums in Europe. Make sure to watch the film about how the raised the ship and take one of the Tours

Stadshuset (City Hall) - The guides always do excellent tours and you will get to see where the Nobel Prize dinner is held and learn about the city government

Skansen - If you are there at the beginning of August, visit on a Tuesday. On Tuesday evenings in summer, they hold Allsång på Skansen (singalong at Skansen - a show featuring many popular Swedish singers that is broadcast live) and during the day most of the exhibits are open and you can probably catch some of the dress rehearsal in the afternoon. If you are there later in August, go on a weekend.

The Abba Museum is a bit expensive but if you like Abba it is really fun.

Walk up to Fjällgatan on Södermalm for the great view.

I love visiting Östermalms Saluhallen. It is a beautiful, old-fashioned food hall with many traditional Swedish specialties.
http://www.ostermalmshallen.se/en/

When the weather is nice, my favorite place to eat is Rosendalsträdsgårdskafe
http://www.rosendalstradgard.se/section.php?id=0000000052
This is a wonderful little cafe set in the middle of a garden in an apple orchard. They have great organic salads, sandwiches, and wonderful breads and baked goods.

For day trips, I recommend a visit to Gripsholm Slott. You can travel by train switching in Läggesta to an old fashioned steam train. Alternatively, you can travel by boat from Stockholm. The castle is really interesting and the town of Mariefred is nice.
http://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/visittheroyalpalaces/gripsholmcastle.4.396160511584257f218000856.html

I recommend getting the 5 day Stockholm Card if you are there for a week as It is easy to get your money's worth. There are many good museums but the Nordiska and Fotografiska are among my favorites.

Trevlig Resa!

The Rick Steves Snapshot Stockholm book will not only have suggestions on what to see, but also great money-saving tips for this potentially expensive place. Do take advantage of the M-F lunch discounts whenever you can; although the meal is on the small side, the same restaurant will be 3-4 times more expensive at dinner or on weekends.

I agree that the Vasa is special, and I enjoyed Drottningholm even though I'm not a "palace person." I also liked the National Museum. Stockholm is just a very nice place to hang out in, as well.

I was struck by how many of the people who had Stockholm Cards were Swedes, who knew how expensive their capital was and knew a good deal when they saw it. So I'll agree you should look into it.

Ellen, I just returned from Sweden. I stayed on Sodermalm. I loved the walk "up the mountain" as the locals described it, which is to a cliff view walk along the water over towards Gamla Stan, etc. This was my route down to Slussen and Gamla Stan often. It is like any other city, plenty to do, but prettier than most (and I'm a city person). I did a lot of walking, photography, and people watching. I had no reason to use the subway and took Tram 7 from Skansen and the ferry to Skansen as my only public transportation. I found the Stockholm card would have been a waste of money for me as this is a very walkable city, and at this time of year do you want to visit 3+ museums a day? Swedes are outside this time of year soaking up the sun! I do wish I'd had time to take an archipelago tour. This is not an expensive city as RS's guidebook indicates. I found it very reasonable, but I'm from Boston. I spent 25% less money than expected in my 17 days, and I spent freely for me. I enjoyed Skansen because I'm a history buff and the museum is an outside museum. There is also the Nordic Museum and the Photography museum, but a guide book will list most museums and it depends on your interests…I meant to get to these but I didn't. The Stadtmuseum is permanently closed. Gröna Lund looks interesting if you are traveling with young people. They don't like to use cash in Sweden so just use a chip card if you have it...No amount is too small. Sweden is a wonderful country and Swedes are wonderful as well. Have a great time, Wray

Millesgården was a treat for us especially given the beautiful setting. The Stockholm Card was quite valuable/cost effective and the T-bana system allowed easy transport.

With a 5 day Stockholm card you do not need to visit 3 museums a day to recoupe your money. The card is valid on the tram, bus, tunnelbana, and pendeltåg. The 5 day card is 1150 SEK (just 230 SEK a day). It is actually valid for 120 hours, so you can stretch it to 6 days if you time things right. A one zone ticket is 36 SEK. For example, Vasa Muuseet is 130 SEK and with a round trip ticket, you are already up to 202 SEK. Stockholm is very walkable, but the bus and tunnelbana are great and very convenient. With the Stockholm card, you can just hop on when you like. It might not be a value for eceryone, but I think the average tourist can save some money with it.

I would say read some travel books; i.e., RS, lonely planet and go online to the city sights, decide what you might want to to see based on your interests and then do the math regarding the Stockholm card. I did the math before and after and it wouldn't have made sense for me…but then I love to walk, take photographs, study architecture, observe people, and get a feel for living in a place, and look at non-touristy neighborhoods as well. I go to museums, but don't cram museums, and as I had not one bad weather day in Stockholm, I stayed outside with the rest of Stockholm, and walked 5-6 of the islands. This card would have tied me up into a schedule, instead of passing my days changing plans like I did. I was traveling solo and met a lot of Swedes, even in Stockholm, who passed time with me. If you are traveling with other people, as 'we' indicates, maybe you do intend to go basically to tourist sights, so go for it. And, I will say, you might not really care about the money, but rather like the convenience of the card and I won't argue that. I have just never found city cards to be beneficial the way I (and when with my DH) travel, so just do your homework. While it might pay off for one day, will it pay off for 5 days? Think of waiting for the rainy day before you buy one, perhaps. Here's a wish for good weather and a fun visit to Stockholm. Wray

Vasa museum is a must, nice modern art museums on the same Island, and of course Rembrandt masterpiece is in the National museum up from the Vasa. Nightlife is also fun, enjoy.

One recommendation would be a trip out to Vaxholm in the archipelago. Ferry service is frequent and the journey through the archipelago is wonderful. Some of the boats offer a sit down lunch or dinner as part of the cruise. August is a great time to be there....enjoy!

Consider taking an overnight cruise to either Helsinki or Talin. You leave at dinner time and arrive the next morning. You have the whole day to spend in the city, then get on the ship at dinner time and arrive back in Stickholm the next morning. The cost is reasonable and covers two nights of lodging. You get to sail through the beautiful Swedish archipelago and spend the day in another interesting city.

We were there for one week - loved Stockholm and saw the sites that others have already mentioned. We also loved the Stockholm history museum - it's definitely worth a visit. (took the boat trip through the archipelago on a beautiful sunny day. The steam boat to Drottingham was a very nice trip but Drottingham was a bit of a disappointment to us.)

Thank you so much for all your great suggestions!!!! Hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer
Ellen