Throwback: A Short Trip to Stockholm
Last December my mum, brother and I went on a short weekend break to Stockholm. When I say short, I really mean it! It was more of a whistle stop tour of the city than an actual city break, but we still got to see and experience enough to make it a worthwhile trip.
We landed at Stockholm Skavsta airport, which in reality is no where near Stockholm. I found really cheap flights, so we opted for this airport and hired a car for the hour and a half journey into the city. In hindsight, as we had such a short trip, it would have been better to have flown to a nearer airport to make the most of our time. You live and you learn. Making our descent into the airport gave us a beautiful view of the coast line and the drive into the city was also very picturesque, so it wasn't all bad news.
We stayed in a lovely hostel on the small island of Skeppsholmen, which was directly opposite Galma Stan, the old town island. The hostel was perfect for a one night stay - we had a private room and the price was very reasonable considering how extortionate Stockholm is. The location was great, we had an amazing view over the water to the old town and were only a short walk away from the nearest tube station and the old town itself.
As we visited in December it was freezing. Actually freezing. And the sun started setting at around 2:30pm, which was bizarre. By the time we had driven from the airport, unpacked and headed out to explore the sun was already starting to set. We walked into the old town and stumbled across a lovely Christmas market selling crafts and food. After wandering around for a while we headed to a bar to warm up (by this point I couldn't feel my feet) and have a drink. This is where we got our first taste of how expensive Stockholm is. 2 glasses of wine, a pint of beer and 2 small pastries came to a grand total of £50. Yep. Absolutely shocking.
That evening we headed back into the old town in search of dinner. Literally every restaurant we went into was either jam packed or didn't serve a single vegetarian dish. Cheers Sweden, minus points for the veggie options. We ended up eating at a lovely Italian restaurant on one of the main streets in the old town. It wasn't exactly the traditional Swedish meal we'd had in mind, but the food was still delicious. We followed the meal with a few drinks in a cute little bar and then had a very chilly walk back to the hostel.
The next morning we decided to go for a wander in the opposite direction of the old town and ended up stumbling across the Swedish History Museum. The museum was fascinating - we all hired audio guides (much easier than reading everything, my attention span is too short for that) which took us through the different ages of Swedish history as we wandered around the museum. If you're interested in history (like me) then I'd really recommend a visit if your in Stockholm.
After a few hours of history-buffing we headed back to the hostel for a quick bite to eat in the cafe before setting off to the airport. My visit to Stockholm was short, but sweet. It's such a beautiful city, full of history and culture and I'd love to go back for a longer stay. Maybe in summer though, as it was a but too cold for my liking!
Have you visited Stockholm? What was your favourite thing to do?
We stayed in a lovely hostel on the small island of Skeppsholmen, which was directly opposite Galma Stan, the old town island. The hostel was perfect for a one night stay - we had a private room and the price was very reasonable considering how extortionate Stockholm is. The location was great, we had an amazing view over the water to the old town and were only a short walk away from the nearest tube station and the old town itself.
As we visited in December it was freezing. Actually freezing. And the sun started setting at around 2:30pm, which was bizarre. By the time we had driven from the airport, unpacked and headed out to explore the sun was already starting to set. We walked into the old town and stumbled across a lovely Christmas market selling crafts and food. After wandering around for a while we headed to a bar to warm up (by this point I couldn't feel my feet) and have a drink. This is where we got our first taste of how expensive Stockholm is. 2 glasses of wine, a pint of beer and 2 small pastries came to a grand total of £50. Yep. Absolutely shocking.
That evening we headed back into the old town in search of dinner. Literally every restaurant we went into was either jam packed or didn't serve a single vegetarian dish. Cheers Sweden, minus points for the veggie options. We ended up eating at a lovely Italian restaurant on one of the main streets in the old town. It wasn't exactly the traditional Swedish meal we'd had in mind, but the food was still delicious. We followed the meal with a few drinks in a cute little bar and then had a very chilly walk back to the hostel.
The next morning we decided to go for a wander in the opposite direction of the old town and ended up stumbling across the Swedish History Museum. The museum was fascinating - we all hired audio guides (much easier than reading everything, my attention span is too short for that) which took us through the different ages of Swedish history as we wandered around the museum. If you're interested in history (like me) then I'd really recommend a visit if your in Stockholm.
After a few hours of history-buffing we headed back to the hostel for a quick bite to eat in the cafe before setting off to the airport. My visit to Stockholm was short, but sweet. It's such a beautiful city, full of history and culture and I'd love to go back for a longer stay. Maybe in summer though, as it was a but too cold for my liking!
Have you visited Stockholm? What was your favourite thing to do?
nice
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