visiting Stockholm

Rick lists his top sightseeing recommendations for many major cities, including Stockholm, on this very website:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/sweden/stockholm << Click on At a Glance.

Rick generally does a good job of highlighting places that will appeal to a lot of visitors, but in this case I'm very puzzled by the omission of Gamla Stan (Stockholm's medieval district) when things like Sergels Torg are listed. I also enjoyed walking around newer parts of the city, looking for Art Nouveau buildings, of which there are rather a lot. You'll have to make you own choices, based on your interests. With only two or three days in the city, you will be able to see only a small percentage of the sights. I wouldn't leave the city with so few days there, myself. It is beautiful.

Before picking a hotel or even a hotel area, I like to have a good idea of where I'll be doing my sightseeing. You can go to Google Maps (maps.google.com), search for Stockholm, and then search for each sight you find potentially worthwhile. Click on "Save" for each one and you'll have a map showing the probable geographical extent of your Stockholm wanderings. That will suggest convenient areas to stay in.

Gamla Stan is quite touristy, especially Osterlanggatan and Vasterlanggatan, but it's a convenient area from the geographical point of view if you have the time and willingness to walk to some of the sights that aren't too far away. However, the city has excellent public-transit options, including a subway (the T-Bana), buses, trams and boats, so any location not too far outside the center that's close to a T-Bana station can be manageable. The only T-Bana station on Gamla Stan is along the SW coast of the island, not in the center, so that's not terribly helpful if you're staying in the northern part of Gamla Stan.

There are some not-terribly-expensive business hotels near the Central Station (T-Bana: T-Centralen), but the area isn't atmospheric and wouldn't be a top choice for me. A bit farther east would be better, I think.

Individual transit tickets are quite expensive, so it's worth considering whether you'd benefit from some sort of pass.

If you are up for it, you can bike pretty much anywhere you want to go. We walked or biked everywhere we went except to and from the train station.

The old part of town is Gamla stan, which is a very nice place to be but very touristy, especially in some areas. Västerlånggatan as mentioned is extremely touristy. Regarding restaurants and cafés there are a few gems in Gamla stan, but also a lot of tourist traps so don't just visit any restaurant there without doing a bit of research first (like checking Tripadvisor reviews).

Must sees depends very much on what you are interested in. The Vasa museum is great and well worth a visit, but if you don't care about history it might be a waste of time.

Getting around is pretty easy, there are bridges between the islands and a couple of ferry routes that complements the bridges. So you can walk around the city, and also bike if you want to. But the metro is a great way to get around, quick, easy and frequent. And I agree that as long as you are reasonably close to a metro station it's not too important where you are staying.

There are plenty of options for day trips. If you enjoy boat tours a trip to the archipelago might be nice, and Uppsala is also a popular option.

Hi, you can easily fill 3-4 days in Stockholm & I find Stockholm easy to navigate - walking, renting bikes, taking a trolly or the subway. If you do go to the Vasa museum, it's on the island of Djurgården. You can hop a trolley close to the central station that goes out onto Djurgården. I've spent several days exploring here, it’s very green with numerous parks & a nice respite from the crowds. Start with the Vasa museum, but personally, I love Skansen, (outdoor folkloric museum) maybe one or two tram stops past the Vasa museum. There's a nice lunch spot just inside the turnstile to the left in a small house. They had a wood-burning fire going in an oven that Swedes used from the 1800’s, we had hearty bowls of soup with bread & butter. And the best gift shop I've found for buying 'traditional' Swedish gifts, also just to left inside entrance.

One smaller museum I really enjoy - If you're interested in the 1890's lifestyle of the wealthy, visit Hallwylska Museum, within walking distance of the central station. This is a complete manor house, down to the linen & literally a room filled with tea services, be sure to rent the audio guide. It seems there are also English language tours, and a restaurant I've not visited. https://hallwylskamuseet.se/en.

Food - When I meet Swedish relatives, we go to Vettekatten, a Stockholm bakery / fika / lunch institution, about a 7-min walk from the central train station. Try to get there before or after the lunchtime rush. https://vetekatten.se/en/. And if you get tired of Scandinavian cuisine, the Middle Eastern Museum (Meddelhavsmuseet) has a great Lebanese lunch venue with vegetarian options & views overlooking the water. https://www.medelhavsmuseet.se/en/. A day-trip by train to Uppsala is very worthwhile, with a cathedral & castle on the hill & excellent places to eat down on the river.

We had several days in Stockholm and enjoyed a boat tour as well as getting out of the central area to explore. We stayed close to the Olsterham area which didn’t feel ‘touristy’ and we walked quite a few places. We enjoyed the Sodermalm neighbourhood and went to the Photography Museum. A highlight was the City Hall; it is beautiful and interesting-a tour brought much of it to life.

Vetekatten is not a bad place for a fika, but it's not quite up to the same standard as the cafés in Uppsala.