Over labor day weekend, I traveled with my husband, Roman, to Stockholm, Sweden. We took a nonstop flight aboard SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, which overall was a comfortable flight. On-time and perhaps a little hot onboard but at least we got to sit together alone.

I had been to Stockholm before about nine years ago, but I went in the middle of winter. This time going in May was a better choice and more comfortable to tour the city. Stockholm is an accessible city to walk around in and can be explored in about 2 to 3 days easily. For me, the charm of Stockholm is the ease of access and the beautiful Scandinavian architecture.

Arlanda Express

If you saw my post from yesterday, you’ll know I loved the Arlanda Express. The Arlanda Express is an express train that gets you from Stockholm Arlanda airport to the city center in 20 minutes. It’s perfect for tourists and although expensive, undoubtedly worth it. Read my review here.

Day 1

I’ll go through the two days that we were there. From the Stockholm Central Station, we walked through the maze of the train station, which it is, to the Radisson Waterfront Blu Hotel. For us, it was the perfect location because it’s right next to the train station that connected us to the airport.

Our Hotel

Being that it was 8:00 am the Radisson did not have to give us a room that early but they did and we were grateful. We showered changed some clothes and relaxed before our tour that was to leave at 10:00 am. The room wasn’t overly fancy or anything and probably more expensive for what you get, but we did love the ease of access. It’s centered in Stockholm to everything we wanted to do.

Stockholm Food Tour

I have to say that I was apprehensive about doing this Food Tour, but I’m glad Roman wanted to do it, and we did it. It was $200 for 4 hours of walking through Stockholm, and that sounds expensive, it is, but also worth it. I think the biggest thing I forget when I travel is that you need information about what you’re experiencing and tours provide that. We were with a group of English speakers, experiencing Swedish food with a thoughtful tour guide, and that made it fun.

Our first stop was the Saluhall located in the wealthiest part of Stockholm, Östermalm. Initially, the market built in this beautiful brick building, but as this was under construction, we went across the street to a temporary structure. Saulhall had excellent fresh food from things like fish, cheese, vegetables, fruits to more Scandinavian food like elk and reindeer. We tried those along with drinking some beer to wash the taste.

From there we walked the street and went to Norrmalm, crossing the Kungsträdgården or Kings Garden, just north of Gamla stan. Here they have Hotorgshallen Market, a 50’s looking building stocked with floors of fresh food. Here we got to sit down to a traditional Scandinavian soup filled with sauces and herring, a Scandinavian shrimp sandwich, and another seafood dish. Oh and some Australian wine because nothing is more Swedish! While leaving, we got to taste some licorice and if you’re not familiar with Scandinavian licorice is common. A lot of it was surprisingly pretty good even if I don’t love licorice.

Now it was time to head south into Gamla stan for our last leg of the journey. But before we had a little bit of chocolate which was near pure chocolate. They gave us one with ice cream and one in square form both equally good. We stopped by the Opera House and the skirted around the famous Royal Palace. By now the sun was out, so that was nice.

In Gamla stan we stopped at the city center and where Stockholm first began back in the 1200s. Around the corner, there is a famous restaurant that exclusively does a typical Swedish meal called Fika. Fika is about going somewhere cozy to have coffee and cakes and to chat with friends. Unfortunately, so many tourist and locals come to this place, and although the restaurant was supposed to have a spot for us, they didn’t. We had to have our Fika outside in the cold, so perhaps that was our only let down. Overall the tour was fun, and we enjoyed ourselves!

Dinner

We had some time before dinner, so we decided to hit up some local bars and sit down and chill. After walking for so long, it was time to be indoors with some local beer. Swedish beer is, and they tend to like lighter beers. It’s certainly easy to drink, but I’m not sure if it’s my favorite beer.

For our first night, we decided to eat at a traditional Swedish restaurant in Gamla stan called Slingerbulten. Roman and I both had Swedish meatball with lingonberries and of course Swedish beer. Pretty good and a rather quick meal although we got there early at night.

Icebar and Drinks

By this point, we had been out all day, and we were tired. But we had the Icebar lined up, and we said we were going to do it. So we had to wake up from our nap and go to the Icebar.

It’s certainly a unique experience and although perhaps cliche it’s still fun to do. We got into these parkas, went into the 25-degree bar, and got our free vodka drink. It’s an enjoyable experience, but it is cold, and we only lasted about 25 minutes.

We caught a second wind and stayed out at one last bar near our hotel called the High Bar. Although somewhat expensive, it was still enjoyable because we had commanding views of the Stockholm skyline. We had a pretty successful day, and I think we were both ready to sleep.

Day 2

So instead of walking in the rain since it was drizzling early in the morning, we decided to buy a metro pass and take it to Gamla stan. Easy enough and so we arrived at Gamla stan early in the morning, and nothing is open. I know it’s Europe, but no restaurants or shops were open. Not even tourists were around; we were the only ones wondering the streets! I have a good video of that I should upload later.

So the only thing open was a pastry/coffee shop that was serving hot drink and some breakfast sandwiches. At this point, that was good enough for us. It was pretty good and enjoyed my hot chocolate given how chilly it was.

City Hall

From there we took the metro back up to the central station to visit the City Hall. Now we didn’t realize that they only show the building by tours, so we were lumped in the first English group tour. It’s an impressive building made from brick, but it’s not that old, only dating from around 1920. The most famous room has to be the Golden Room that is, in fact, very gold all made from real gold. It is about 12 dollars to get in.

Medelhavsmuseet

Next, we went to the Medieval Museum in Norrmalm. I say this place is probably skippable if you don’t care about ancient history, but it was interesting enough for a walk around. It’s free, unlike other museums around!

Lunch

For lunch, I didn’t want to have Swedish food, so we settled on an American restaurant, called Barrels, that served burgers. Honestly, it was pretty amazing with crispy golden fries, Swedish beer, and a tasty burger. Mine was a “Spanish” burger that had Spanish meat along with the burger. Roman was adventurous and with two patties! Thanks, TripAdvisor for the suggestion.

Vasa Museum

We were debating whether to do this museum since it was far from the city center, but we did have a metro pass. We heard great reviews, and because the ABBA museum was close by, we decided to do both of these museums. It’s not too far if you take the number 7 trolley from the central train station.

Okay, the Vasa Museum is certainly worth the price. It was only about 15 dollars to get in. If you’re not familiar, the Vasa Museum houses a 17th-century ship that sank just after launch in Stockholm. It remained underneath the Baltic Sea off the coast of Stockholm for 333 years until it was finally brought up in the 50s. Today it has been restored and is mostly the original making it a unique ship.

So the museum is one large room with the ship in the center and five floors of information. Trust me; there is a lot to take in here. The fact that documents and eye sighting of the sinking survive, we know a lot about what happened to this ship. There is useful information on the crew and the people who died. The Vasa is the best intact ship from that period and gives you insight on what life on a boat as well as also gives you a clue on the Swedish lifestyle in the 1620s.

ABBA Museum

The ABBA Museum is right next door, and I’ll be honest it’s expensive for what you get. Don’t get me wrong it’s a lot of fun, but I don’t think it warrants a $25 ticket.

I love ABBA, and it was fun to go through different experiences to learn about their history. A lot of it I knew but some of it I didn’t as they tried for Eurovision twice. The museum goes through the past, starting from when they formed until when they broke up. Overall, something unique and different but maybe not worth the price.

Kungsträdgården

To take a break from standing, we then got some Swedish beer and some Prinsesstårta, a Swedish cake. Prinsesstårta is the cake we had for our wedding, and it is a good cake. Not too icy, sweet, or tart. With a nice beer, it was a nice break before dinner.

Dinner

For our last dinner, I booked at a Swedish restaurant called Tradition right near the Royal Palace. This time instead of Swedish meatballs, we both went with dumplings with lingonberries on top. On the side, they served some typical Swedish bread. Pretty tasty with some beer!

Pharmarium

To end our night and our time in Sweden, we went to a more upscale bar right at the center of Gamla stan. I’m glad we did because sure we could have had a beer, but these cocktails were amazing. I had a smokey drink that was topped with a marshmallow while Roman had a drink with a Sake base. To finish up, we both had this coffee liqueur drink that was a highlight. $70 for two drinks is not exactly cheap, but to me, it was worth it and memorable.

Review of Stockholm, Sweden

As we left the next morning on a direct train and had a sweet drink at the airport before our flight, I reflected on Stockholm. This city and country are fantastic and indeed should be visited if given a chance. Stockholm is a relaxing major city that is easy to manage and somehow very quiet for such a large city. We found ourselves enjoying most of our time, even if it was rainy and cold. Two days for us was perfect, and I look forward to exploring more of Sweden in the future.

More Info on Stockholm

Below are some guides I found on Amazon that may help further with your travels.