slickvik

I have 7 days between Norway and Sweden. I have a lot of Hilton points so seems the better itinerary is 4 days Stockholm, 1 day Oslo, 1 day Norway Nutshell, 1 day Bergen. If I arrive to Stockholm around 2 PM the first day, are there enough activities to keep me busy for 3.5 days? From what I'm reading Stockholm seems to be a 3 day city.

UKtravelbear

I often see those 'XXX is a AAA day destination' articles and usually end up thinking "what a load of nonsense" and wondering if they had even been there!

Stay as long as you like as long as you are finding things of interest to you. Stockholm has many fine museums and attractions.

I would investigate what there is to do in Stockholm that interests you and then determine your length of stay based on that.

stut

Hello slickvik,

Just moving this over to the Nordic Countries forum, to give it that full flavour of salt liquorice and surströmming...

stut
Moderator
Europe Forum

sydunipete

It really depends upon what you're interested in. The Hilton Slussen is well located with a short walk to Gamla Stan (the old city and the tourist hub) and just a little further is the main downtown area. Head the other way to Sodermalm for the trendiest spots and a wide range of restaurants and bars.

Two of my favourite eating places are also very close to the Hilton. Bla Dorren (the blue door) has a great mid week lunch and good prices. Mid week lunches are a Swedish thing and for good value you are well advised to eat out at lunch time rather than dinner. Walking from the Hilton, immediately past the entrance to the Medborgarplatsen metro station, on the left is a korv kiosk with a small amount of outdoor seating. Their tunnbrodsrulle is the best and Anthony Bourdain ate there. They are even better the day after a night of too much snaps and beer in the nearby pubs.

Of course there is the Royal Palace, the Nobel Museum, the ABBA Museum, the Vasa Museum and many more small museums depending upon your interests. A Stockholm harbour cruise will give you a great overview and is well worthwhile. On a sunny day walk along Strandvagen. You can grab an (expensive) drink there and enjoy the water in front of you and the grand architecture behind you. There are some good food halls if you want to sample the local (and not so local) food. Soderhallarna and Hotorgshallen are ideal.

From Centralen there is a free bus to the main IKEA store. Not very touristy, but very Swedish. Visit a Systembolaget - the state owned liquor stores for an insight into how the government attempts to control the consumption of alcohol.

Further afield Norrtalje is about a 90 minute bus trip away and is a small coastal town. Worthy of a walk. Also pretty, but probably not doable in your timeframe is the booze boat to Mariehamn, Aland (Finland) - again it's a very Swedish thing to do. (Search for Viking Lines.)

Grab an SL card and load it up to open up the excellent public transport system.

I hope something here sparks your interest. (Excuse the lack of Swedish characters - I'm typing this on an English keyboard.)

miklcct

When will be your visit? I will be visiting Stockholm as well for 4 days, from Apr 29 to May 3, and finding activities to fill in the gaps between my orienteering competitions. In particular, I would like to have a beach holiday before it gets too hot (I planned a beach holiday to a real beach destination but it was summertime and the weather was too damn hot) but Stockholm is not really a beach destination, so I may not spent all the time visiting beaches, but just one or two best beaches inside the city. I would also be interested in visiting museums, but unlike the countries I have visited (e.g. Russia and Lithuania) there is no particular period of black history of Sweden which interest me.

trooper

Go to the Vasa! If that isn't time travel I don't know what is.

RedChili

Beaches in Stockholm in the end of April? Well, if you're really lucky, the temperature could be around 18 with sunshine. If you're unlucky, you could end up with temperatures around zero and snow. Or it could be around 10 degrees and rain.

sydunipete

Last year at that time there was still ice on the ground in places. I remember one large build up of ice that was still on the ground near the large IKEA store until nearly June.

But if you want an interesting day out, even if the water is too cold, take the bus and boat to Landsort.

MissJ

That is a pretty cool and unique experience. I really enjoyed it.

My last trip to Stockholm was about 4 days and I could have easily stayed much longer. I am looking forward to being back there in a few months. It's a really great city.

I loved Skansen. Only tourist thing I wouldn't do is ride that one insane looking flippy zipper roller coaster at the amusement park nearby. OMG no.

Im a new user

If you are doing this, also consider disembarking in Mariehamn - it's a nice city. Many people just stay on the boat and immediately return to Sweden. If you take Viking Line's Kapellskär-Mariehamn ferry during high season, then you get about six hours in Mariehamn. During low season, you may have to spend a night at a hotel. Just remember to book the transfer bus to/from Kapellskär as the regular buses don't run often. The transfer bus runs from nearby cities such as Stockholm, Uppsala and Norrtälje.

TheMadBrewer

If local beers are of interest, there are some good places but as with many things in Sweden, prepare for sticker shock

www.BeerGuideSTHML.com (which is a site I do with some local friends)

Im a new user

There is a typo in the URL. You have to swap the M and the L.

miklcct

Snow at the end of April?! I'm NOT expecting to do ice-swimming!!!!! I just want to swim in some water cooler than what I can find in my home country!

RedChili

The water will be ice free by that time, so there's no ice swimming involved. But the weather usually fluctuates in the spring, and sometimes you can end up with air temperatures around 0 and a few snowflakes. The water temperature doesn't fluctuate as much as the air. The air temperature can fluctuate between 0-18, but my guess is that the water will be between 5-10. It will most likely be cooler than in your home country. During an average summer, most people only go swimming between, say, 1 July - 15 August. Before or after those dates, it's too cold. There are other places in Sweden which are better for swimming, such as the island of Öland.

miklcct

Isn't cold water and ice swimming a normal part of Nordic people?