3 Nights in Stockholm: the Adventure Continues

HOTEL HASSELBACKEN: The tram stop was just a block from the hotel. The lobby was large and the restaurant even bigger. We checked in and the staff was very pleasant. The room was nice, with windows that opened at the top. There was no A/C but they did have an air circulating system, and we were fine during the day. We asked for a fan at night and that was enough to cool it down when sleeping. The room had an electric kettle, tea and coffee supplies and cubbies for the clothing (I think dressers have gone by the wayside—we didn’t stay at a single hotel that had a dresser). Coffee was also available in the restaurant any hour of the day. And my daughter loved the fact that there were trails and paths all over the island, and she could go out for a morning run all the way around the island next to the water.

FERRIES: Speaking of ferries, did I mention how much I love them? They were really fun to ride and we used the #82 ferry a lot; possibly 7-8 times a day. It goes back and forth between Allmänna gränd on the island (near Gröna Lund—about a 5 min walk for us) and Slussen (near Sodormalm). There's a third stop it makes occasionally, but I think you have to request that. There was usually a line of people waiting but it goes quickly and there’s always room. You scan your SL ticket before you go through, and then just head on board and have a seat or stand outside if you want. We rarely had to wait more than five minutes for a ferry. Seriously, the ferries were one of my favorite things about Stockholm.

NORDIC MUSEUM: We stopped here by accident while out walking on our first evening. We had just passed a beautiful park with colorful funky sculptures, when we saw the museum. By this time we were getting tired, so we didn't want to tour the museum, but we did check the gift shop and it was really a nice one. I do like to shop, as most of you know, but especially in quality museum gift shops. I think they're my favorite places to look for items. We made a mental note to ourselves to come back, but it just didn’t happen. I saw a few things from the entryway when we went in the first evening, and it looked fascinating. Hopefully next time, but I do think it is worth a visit. It was a lovely building as well.

NATIONAL MUSEUM: We stopped here on our first day, as it is open late on Thursdays and admission is free. We really enjoyed it. I loved Carl Larsson who was a wonderful Swedish painter and very popular during the Arts and Crafts movement, so seeing his murals in the hallway was a treat. Unfortunately, I was very dehydrated as I wasn’t used to the heat, and also a bit tired after our flight and check-in, so I sat out part of the visit with a fruit drink in the cafe. But my daughter loved all of the pieces, and I would love to go back there In the future. It really is worth a visit, I think. The photos she took of the art were just beautiful. And the cafe was very nice as well. 😊 By the way, this was our first trip by ferry from the island, and that's when we decided we would take the ferry from then on.

HASSELBACKEN RESTAURANT: Skyeggirl mentioned the restaurant in her trip report, but I have to put in another plug for it. We ate here our first night and had a really delicious meal with excellent service. I ordered traditional Swedish meatballs with creamy mashed potatoes and lingonberries (whole lingonberries; not the pureed sauce you get at IKEA), my daughter ordered a salmon dish that she loved, and we had a starter of 3 miniature Hasselback potatoes that were delicious. Everything was very good, and it was a wonderful atmosphere as well. We both had some wine with dinner, and it was a great ending to our first night in Stockholm.

DAY TWO

SKANSEN: This was our morning for Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum. Founded in 1891, it’s home to more than 150 historic homes, farmsteads, and workshops relocated from across Sweden, all showcasing five centuries of Swedish history, culture, and tradition. There’s even a zoo with native Scandinavian wildlife. And it was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from our hotel.
We watched glassblowers, potters, and weavers at work.

There were various animals around, including a moose and more seals. There were yurts, log cabins, and every kind of dwelling imaginable, each one telling the story of the people who lived there. It was really a fun and very enriching experience. We spent probably three to four hours there. I like open-air museums, but my daughter has never been to one. She wound up loving it, though. I was getting tired (it can be exhausting with both the physical and visual aspect of it), So I stopped to rest in a cafe, but she went out and explored further.

STORTOGET: This is a lovely area of Gamla Stan that is lined with quaint 17th-century merchants’ houses that have stood for hundreds of years, that were so beautiful and colorful. We wandered around for a bit, but were really looking to visit the cathedral, which we found as we turned a corner.

STORKYRKAN (STOCKHOLM CATHEDRAL): I'd really been wanting to see this as I just love cathedrals, and Storkyrkan was really magnificent. I especially liked the statue of St. George and the Dragon that is over 500 years old. It is a giant, life-sized statue made entirely of wood. I read up on it and while it seems religious, it was actually very political. Sweden had just won a massive battle against Denmark, and this statute was created to celebrate the victory. St. George was the king and the dragon symbolized the Danes.

ROYAL PALACE: We decided not to tour the inside, as it was a bit pricy and the building was nice but not all that impressive. However, we did walk into the courtyard, past the guards, and looked around. That said, I don’t know that it would be worth a stop unless you were nearby, as we were.

SÖDERMALM: We really enjoyed walking through here. We spent a lot of time just meandering through the streets and stopping at various shops, including Kicks, a Swedish version of Sephora that had an enormous amount of cosmetics and skin care cream. We did a little shopping there, especially for my granddaughter, who is just getting into all that, and finally stopped for dinner outside at a neighborhood restaurant called Falcon. I had fish and chips and my daughter had a burger, and of course, beer for each of us. Later we took the ferry back to the island, and it was such a lovely ride in the evening.

DAY THREE

VASA MUSEUM: Today was our day to visit the Vasa Museum—a huge museum dedicated to the Vasa ship. This massive Swedish warship sank on its maiden voyage in Stockholm on August 10, 1628. A gust of wind heeled the ship over, water poured in through the gunports, and it sank just 1,300 meters from shore, in full view of a horrified crowd on the docks. It was a quick walk from the hotel there, where we bought our (not cheap) tickets and found out there was a guided tour starting in about 20 minutes. We killed some time watching part of a movie about the ship. We didn’t get to see the whole thing, however, as we had to leave for our English-language tour.

About 20 minutes and 2 flights of stairs into the tour, I lost interest. Don’t get me wrong—the ship itself is incredible, and I loved that something this size survived relatively intact after centuries at the bottom of the ocean. I just couldn’t work up much enthusiasm for the tour itself, and I’m honestly not sure why. My daughter was very much into it, though, so I went off and checked out a few things on my own (there were some separate items on display showing carved masks and artwork). Eventually I made my way to the gift shop where I entertained myself looking at pricey items I had no intention of buying but liked the looks of.

VETE-KATTEN: After the museum, we decided it was time for a fika, which is a Swedish cultural ritual that usually means to share coffee and food. So we took the ferry over to Gamla Stan, then made our way to Vetekatten, a wonderful cafe famous for its pastries, and recommended by Sandancisco. I went with the princess cake, quite possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever eaten. There were layers of berries and cream in a sponge cake, covered with pistachio-green marzipan, and every bit as delicious as it looked. My daughter went the healthier route with a salad but we both opted for cappuccinos.

OUR LAST NIGHT: After the fika, we were both ready for a mid-afternoon rest, so we took the ferry back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. We were soon ready to head out again but couldn't decide what to do. Finally, my daughter took charge, and about 15 minutes later, we were on the ferry to Gamla Stan, then walking through Stortorget. From there, we wandered through quaint little streets, popping into shops that were still open in the evening, admiring beautiful things we had absolutely no intention of buying and just having fun. We found a few places with wonderfully funky art, and just soaked up the loveliness of Stockholm on a summer evening.

Eventually hunger and thirst (wine was calling our name) caught up with us, so we grabbed an outdoor table at a little spot called Pastis. We split an order of mussels and a goat cheese salad, and of course, some wine. The mussels were incredible and ranked up there with the best I’ve ever eaten. We practically inhaled them. The salad was wonderful, also. We sat there laughing and talking, and enjoying the ambience of a perfect summer evening in a beautiful city.

Eventually we took the ferry back to Djurgården Island and took a walk before heading back to the hotel. There was a lovely neighborhood by the water called Djurgårdsstaden that I had been wanting to visit so we walked over there. The area was so lovely and quiet and with many wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a beautiful place for an evening stroll.

LEAVING STOCKHOLM: We were leaving for Oslo by train. The next morning, we packed up, checked out, and took tram 7 to Stockholm Central Station. The train tickets, which I’d bought months earlier, were in Apple Wallet, and when I pulled mine up that morning, I noticed they’d been updated with the track number, so we headed towards Track 11. It was Sunday and the streets were quiet, but once at the station, it seemed like half of Stockholm wanted to leave town because the platform was packed.

The earlier train finally pulled out, though, taking a good chunk of the crowd with it, so there was room to breathe. Our train arrived not long after, and we climbed aboard. We’d opted for first class, since it wasn’t much more expensive, made our way to our seats, hoisted our luggage into the racks overhead, and settled in for the roughly six-hour ride to Oslo. I booked seats with a table, so we could both work on our laptops.

The last first-class train car I’d been in was in Berlin a few years earlier, where an attendant was located in first class, bringing coffee and whatever else we wanted. It was lovely. This train was not like that. The only staff member we saw was the conductor driving the train. Free water, coffee, and tea were available for first class, but only if you made your way to the next car, and by the time I got there the coffee was already gone (although it was replenished later). We’d considered grabbing food at the station and now wished we had, since the food we bought on board was pretty forgettable.

I found out from Badger later that if the coffee and tea run out, you can always go to the bistro car and get a free cup if you show your first-class ticket. Good info for the future!

THOUGHTS ON STOCKHOLM: I really loved Stockholm, and definitely plan to come back. There were so many things that I did not get to see. I wanted to go to Uppsala, and wanted to see Drottningholm Palace and take a ferry through the Archipelago and much more. And most of all, I would love to travel through the rest of the country, as we only got to a very small portion of it.

Thank you. We will be in Stockholm for three nights the end of November so our days will be short and cold but I’ve made a notes from your report.
Good to know about the coffee as we will also be in first class on the train to Oslo.

Renee, enjoy your trip there! I really like Stockholm a lot, and I really want to go back at some point.

Love how you organized your report. And your pictures on the blog are amazing!
Like you, I also ended up at the Nordic Museum by accident and enjoyed it. But I entered it thinking it was the Vasa, and I had limited time.

I also only got just a taste of it with 2 days, and I can’t wait to go back and explore the country.