Best Hostels for Stockholm and good day trips outside of the city

Unless you are taking a ferry to Helsinki or one of the Baltic states, make sure to take an archepelago boat tour. It's stunning.

The Milles Garten is also a cool sculpture museum a short Metro and bus ride out of town. That fills about a half day.

There is also a royal palace complex nearby. I forget the name but it's a popular destination.

Tongue in cheek, but you could always visit the largest, and the flagship, Ikea store just south of the central part of Stockholm. Easy to get to on the T-Bana. There is also a bus from central Stockholm. By the way, there it is pronounced EE-KAY-UH.

Drottningholm Palace can be reached by boat or by a combination of t-bana and bus. It has nice gardens and a very interesting theatre from the 1700s. Mariefred is a very cute little town with Gripsholm Castle which is well worth a visit. Although you can get there by boat, I prefer the train route which includes a transfer to an old-fashioned steam train. You can also take a day trip to Uppsala, a university town which has a cathedral and Scandinavia's oldest university. It is about 45 minutes by train from Stockholm. If you like the outdoors and hiking, you might visit one of the islands in the archipelago. Finally, while not exactly a day trip, you could take the ferry to either Tallinn or Helsinki. Spend two nights on the ferry with a day in one of the cities.

As for hostels, af Chapman is right in the center but is often booked. You might also look at the hostel near Fridhemsplan.

Definitely a trip to an island in the archipeligo. There are many, many to choose from, some only about an hour ferry ride out, but others a 4-6 hour ferry ride. some with small communities, shops, restaurants, lodging, some with no facilities. History, nature, lots of options. for my next visit to Stockholm I am considering staying out in the archipeligo and then riding the ferry in to the city.