Hey I've made that exact walk starting at the train station back in the summer of 2024. I don't think the lift was operating at the time, so we had to walk up the inclined Slussbrogatan street. Personally I found the Katarina-Sofia area a delight to explore. It's overlooking Gamla Stan. Katarina-Sofia is a kinda the hipster part of town. Honestly this was probably my favorite part of Stockholm, it felt very authentic and energetic, with a lot of interesting “concept” bars and shops.
While at Katarina-Sofia we ate lunch at Herman’s (my best meal in Stockholm), it’s an all-you-can-eat vegan buffet set in a terraced garden overlooking the old town from across the water, a real hidden gem with stunning views! Great homemade quality food like Lebanese humus or vegan Japanese curry, very a very affordable price. Most of the people there were locals, but a very multi-cultural crowd, with some youth backpacker types as well. Felt like we finally found the “real Stockholm”.
Later we explored the area on foot and eventually found ourselves at a very cool bar called Woodstockholm set in a lovely treelined square. I had an interesting drink, an “olive lemonade” called Le Tribute, extremely refreshing I ordered two, and they came in these cool glass bottles, interesting they also came from my hometown Barcelona lol!
