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Stockholm Travel
City Tourist Guide, Sweden

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Stockholm Travel Guide, climate:
Best: May, June, early July, Sept.
OK: late July-August [the main Swedish holiday so a very crowded time and possible rain in August].
Worst: Nov-April [very cold with short, dark days but good for skaters and skiers; Stockholm looks spectacular under a pure white coat].

Festivals Guide:
Please check festival dates, some are not confirmed.
April 30: Walpurgis Night, celebrating the winter's end, fires and fireworks.
Midsummer, June 21: the country's biggest event with lots of dancing, fireworks, boozing.
Late May-August, Summer Music Festival at the Drottningholm Court Theatre.
18 August: Midnight Race, 10 kms [6 miles] starting in Stockholm's fashionable Södermalm district.
September: Stockholm Yoga Festival, Liljeholmshallen.

For some precise dates or more information see: European Festivals or Arts Festivals.

Museums & Galleries:
Two great tourist attractions on Stockholm's Djurgarden island park are Skansen, a vast open-air museum [the oldest in Europe] of Swedish life over the centuries, with historic buildings, working farms, a zoo and aquarium.
Also the Vasa Museum, a fascinating exhibition of the sunken 17th century warship - the Swedish version of Titanic.
Nordiska Museet also offers an interesting look at Swedish cultures through the ages.

Arts/Culture/Night life:
Stockholm is Scandinavia's
most active city for cultural events. There's no shortage of entertainment from theatre to live music and more at clubs and cafes.
Get 'Stockholm This Week' for what's-on-when listings.

Accommodation Guide:
Sweden has a good youth hostel and campsite network and there are plenty of budget travel hotels, but booking ahead is essential in summer particularly at two of the best hostels, Al Chapman [ship cabins] and Langholmen [former prison cells!].
If tourists wish to stay in regular hotels, summertime is actually cheaper than the rest of the year due to lack of business guests.

Short Trips Guide:
Ferries around Stockholm are one of the pleasures of travel in Sweden, either short trips upriver out into the Archipelago. Try to get a boat pass.
***Take a ferry out to a few of Stockholm's 24,000 nearby islands known as The Archipelago; varied sights, fine buildings, castles, amusements and beaches.
**Visit Vaxholm, an idyllic little town with a castle, 1 hour from the city.
*Sandhamn [Sandon], popular among summer sailors, one and a half hours from Vaxholm.
***Mariefred, a peaceful town with wooden houses and narrow lanes, famous for its spectacular 16th century Gripsholm Castle. 1 hour by boat, 75km/47m by road from the city.
**Sigtuna, this small, tranquil town dating from AD 970 is the oldest town in Sweden. 46km/29m from the city.
**Uppsala, a quiet, ancient university town with the largest cathedral in Scandinavia and a few good museums. Forty minutes from the capital by train.

Swedish Money:
Local currency is the krona/kronor and easy to acquire from ATMs which are commonplace, do not charge for the service and get a fair exchange rate.
Tips are included in service charges though a 5-10% gift is not uncommon for good service.

Shopping:
No need to go to Ikea for souvenirs. In Norrmalm [the centre of Stockholm's new town] there are modern department stores, interior design showrooms and boutiques, by Swedish designers as well as big fashion names.
For local crafts - Swedish materials such as soft furnishing fabrics [e.g. table cloths] and antiques - try small shops in Gamla Stan.

Why Travel to Stockholm?
This is Scandinavia's most handsome, sophisticated and liveliest city, and also incidentally, the cleanest city in Europe.
Because of its unique location on fourteen islands surrounded by water and with parks and gardens all around, Stockholm has super-fresh air and a delightfully pure atmosphere.
This 700 year-old 'Northern Venice' offers wide, calm streets lined with stunning buildings both modern and medieval, more than 70 museums, and a good selection of pricey cafes and restaurants.
Everything in the city is within easy walking distance, most people speak perfect English and the summer's midnight sun makes Stockholm city a great destination for short tourist breaks.

Downsides:
- Stockholm can be chilly even in summer time and wet in August.
- The traffic system is a nightmare if you travel around by car, signs are in Swedish, roads are a tangled web and parking restrictions may be invisible.
e.g. you must not park within 10m of a pedestrian crossing, tho' there are no warning signs to that effect.

Stockholm tourist attractions:
***Gamla Stan [the old town] is a charming maze-like triplet of islands, with pastel-coloured Renaissance buildings and narrow medieval alleys - one of Sweden's few tourist choke points.
Gamla Stan's prime attractions are:
***Stortorget, the main plaza with 17-18th century houses.
**Storkyrkan [The Great Church], a glorious 14th century cathedral where the Swedish kings and queens are married and crowned [check out organ recitals].
**Kungliga Slottet [the Royal Palace], the world's largest royal residence, which is still in use. Not so imposing from the outside but it has a marvellously elaborate interior. The Royal Treasury, apartments and Changing of the Guard are highlights.

Other than Gamla Stan:
Djurgarden island offers great green space and a couple of stunning museums.***Vasa Museum and **Skansen are not be missed [see left, Museums & Galleries section].
***Millesgarden, on Lidingo island, an awesome outdoor sculpture garden.
***Drottningholm, a magnificent 17th century royal residence in a superb lakeside location. Travel there by ferry in 50 minutes.

Activities Guide:
- Walking and picnics in Stockholm's many parks. One of the best is Haga Park.
- Kayaking, canoeing or varied boating around the many islands. The water is clean enough to swim or fish too.
- Cycling is a delightful way to travel around the tranquil streets and parks, rentals are easy to find. Try to get a cycle map from the tourist office.

Cuisine Guide:
Stockholm dining is not particularly subtle generally but good and filling, such as potatoes with meat or seafood.
There is no shortage of modern waterfront cafes or charming bistros, but forget about eating cheaply in Sweden with the exception of good-value set menus for lunch, and Chinese food or pizzas for dinner.
Traditional food is wild berries, reindeer, elk and most famously, meatballs.
A wide range of reasonably priced beers is available, but wines are imported and pricey.
Two lively areas for eating and drinking for both locals and tourists are Sodermalm and Kungsholmen island.

Electricity information:
230v, 2 round pin plugs, such as in Norway, Finland, Germany, Netherlands [or twin flat pin Schuko plugs].

Other North Europe travel city guides:

Copenhagen Travel Guide | Oslo Travel Guide

Reykjavik Travel Guide | Helsinki Guide

St Petersburg Guide | Berlin Guide

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