I won't lie: this was an impulsive trip. Mike and I were both starting new jobs and both had a little time off before our start dates, so what do you do with so much free time? Book a city break of course! After Copenhagen, we knew we wanted to explore more Scandic cities and, lucky for us, we found direct flights from Liverpool to Stockholm on the dates we wanted to go. No brainer. After researching all the sites we wanted to see, I knew we'd love the place, but I didn't expect to fall so in love that I never wanted to leave. I could move to Sweden, right? Swedish can't be THAT hard to learn, right? This is doable, yes? Here's a little breakdown of what we got up to on each day and some recommendations in case you're planning a visit: DAY oNE Our flight out on the first day was stupidly early, and anyone who knows me even a little bit will understand that I am not a morning person. In the slightest. But 3am wake up calls don't count when you're going on holiday so my excitement pushed me through. Once again, we didn't bother with transfers on the promise that the transport links were excellent. We managed to catch an Express train to the city centre for £25 each. A little pricey but slightly cheaper than a taxi, and it only took 20 minutes to get to the central station. From there, the hotel was a 5 minute walk so it worked out great for us. We arrived at our hotel, Scandic Klara, way earlier than check in but were surprised when the receptionist informed us our room was ready so we could drop off our things and freshen up. Definitely recommend for a central location (we were literally right in the centre of the main shopping area) and the buffet breakfast was top notch. They even had an 'organic section' for home grown produce, fresh smoothies and energy shots. Bougie. We decided to opt for a trusty Hop-On Hop-Off tour to get our bearings, as per usual. This turned out to be the best decision as it absolutely lashed it down but thankfully, that was the only rain we were going to see for the rest of the trip. I love these tours for getting an idea on where things are, what activities we might want to group together and maybe even discover some places we hadn't originally thought to go to. Planning only goes so far, and I'm crap with directions so actually going around the city really helps map out our next few days. The rain didn't last long, and we found an amazing burger bar near the old town called Omnipollo. We sat outside to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the sun and ordered a burger and beer each with a side of fries and salad between us. The staff were so friendly and the buns had been freshly baked that day in their own bakery down the street. Honestly, it was probably the best burger I've ever had. Exhausted, we wandered back to the hotel, making a quick stop at Gamla Stan, the Old Town's main square, to take some pictures. The route back took us past the Palace and museums so we took our time taking everything in before retiring for the night. Day Two Day 2 we decided to dedicate to the museum quarter. First point of call was Skansen, the world's first Open Air Museum. We paid £20 each for entry, which I definitely think was worth it. You could easily spend the entire day here, discovering traditional Swedish buildings, wildlife and aquamarine life. It's pretty steep and hard on the ol' legs, but we did find a tram that takes you up to the top if you don't fancy the hike (we found this on the way out of course and had climbed the whole damn thing already by this point). The views from the top of the hill are incredible and it was honestly such a unique experience. For lunch, we bought Swedish flatbreads from a stall in Skansen, costing us about £20 with bottles of water. Next up was the Vasa Museum. This wasn't originally on our list of things to do, but everywhere we went, this place was recommended. For £13 each, we were granted entry to view the world's only 17th Century ship. I genuinely thought it would be overrated but boy, was I wrong. The main attraction is of course the ship, and you can travel up and down several levels to get different viewpoints. There was also videos and exhibits telling the story of how the ship capsized whilst still in the bay but wasn't recovered for 400 years. The museum contains the remains and stories of some of the bodies and items also found in the shipwreck. This is DEFINITELY worth a visit if you're going to Stockholm. There are plenty of other museums to visit in the area, including the ABBA museum that didn't really take our fancy but would be great for any music lovers. We'd spent hours at both Skansen and Vasa at this point so we made a pit stop at one of the boat bars in the bay. Two IPAs cost us £14 at the Strandbryggan Boat Club, but you're definitely paying for the incredible view and novelty of being on a boat. Everyone was dressed like millionaires and wore expensive watches so I felt a little out of place in my Primark smock dress, but it was definitely worth going. For dinner, we decided to give Jensen Bofhus a try. Aside from the fact that the name made me giggle, there was one on every corner so we thought we'd give a Swedish chain a try. We paid £45 for bbq ribs, an unlimited salad bowl, nachos to share and two massive cokes. It wasn't anything to write home about but it was nice enough. Day Three BOAT DAY! After two days of heavy walking, we decided to take it a little easier on the third day and booked a 2 hour Archipelago Tour. We had a little time in the morning to do some shopping. I was absolutely made up to find a Uniqlo and managed to snag one of the viral bags and a couple of the tops with a built in bra. Happy days. After dropping the shopping back at the room, we stopped at Phil's for a couple of salads and 2 cokes for about £24 and went on our way to the harbour for the boat tour. As I've previously mentioned, I'm a bit of a history geek, so I absolutely love anything with a guided tour. The boat took us around a bunch of islands, explaining the history of each before stopping at Vaxholm, an island originally made up of only wooden buildings, before sailing back to Stockholm. The boat was pretty crowded but we managed to secure seats on the top deck for the best view. After disembarking, we wondered around the Palace and Old Town again before stopping for pizza and pasta at Ugolforte. Dinner cost around £42 with drinks and fresh bread. Although food and drink is expensive in Stockholm, it was probably around the same price as a nice meal in England so we couldn't really complain. Day Four On our last day, we took another Hop-On Hop-Off bus up to Monteliusvagen. The Viewpoint provides incredible views of Lake Malaren and there is a stretch of really pretty buildings with cobbled streets. I enjoyed a coconut icecream whilst taking in the views. On the way back down, we stopped to take in Hevig Eleornora, a yellow 18th century church that looked so pretty in the sun. There wasn't much else going on up on the hill so we wondered back down towards the Old Town, stopping for lunch at Miss Behave next to the water. For £45, Mike had a quesadilla with loaded fries and a coke and I ordered nachos with pickled cucumbers and a fanta. Pricey, but SO worth it. Best nachos. Ever. After lunch, we strolled up to the Palace as there seemed to be some kind of event on. We had just missed a free concert outside the palace, so instead we went inside to see the palace courtyard and chapel. This was free of charge but there was a fee to view the rest of the palace, which we didn't bother to do. Still full from our late lunch, we ended our final day with a few drinks on another boat bar, soaking up the rays and already starting to feel the holiday blues. If you're debating a trip to Stockholm, GO. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it's worth it. I'd love to come again in the winter and see the lake frozen to ice but we absolutely loved coming in the summer. The weather stayed at a pretty comfortable 25 degrees most of the time, but with plenty of suncream and bottles of water, we managed to walk about 60km over the 4 days.
Was Stockholm my favourite city break so far? Does it manage to steal the podium from Copenhagen? Honestly, it absolutely does. There's so much to see and do and plenty of options for food and drinks. With plenty of unique experiences and bundles of culture and history, I'd be adding Stockholm to your Bucket List IMMEDIATELY. Where to next?
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