Postcards: Stockholm, Sweden

This post has been in the works for awhile now! With all the excitement of summer and my non-stop travels, I don’t want to leave out one of the incredible cities I visited this past spring: Stockholm, Sweden.

Stockholm is made up of tiny islands, connected by bridges you can walk or drive, as well as a great metro system that’s easy to use. If you have time for an extended stay, I would recommend looking into island hopping, where you can take a ferry from one island to the next within the Stockholm archipelago.

On a tighter schedule, such as mine (I was there just for the weekend), I would recommend staying in the city and cramming in as many of the highlights as you can.

Gamla Stan is the name for Stockholm’s Old Town. The streets are cobbled, the buildings are painted bright colors with chocolate brown trim, and quaint cafes abound. Near the Gamla Stan metro stop is a bridge with a lovely view of the city.

Wandering through Gamla Stan, try to find Marten Trotzig’s alley. Supposedly, this is one of the smallest alleyways in Europe, and you can touch the walls on each side. Commence claustrophobia! (Just kidding. It’s actually really cool).

As you walk around, you can also see the Royal Palace. The inside is a bit underwhelming, but its architecture and the surrounding square a worth taking a few minutes to check out.

On the edge of Gamla Stan is a trail, easily accessible from the street, which allows for a beautiful panoramic view of the city and water. Opportunity for an iphone pano! I’d recommend going near sunset, when the sky’s colors are intense and complement the colorful Swedish houses.

In a total change of pace from Gamla Stan is the New Town of Stockholm. Here, you can enjoy designer and budget shopping, tons of Starbucks bursting with people, and a crazy high amount of H&M’s. Seriously, think one store on every corner for at least 3 blocks.

My favorite visit in Stockholm, however, is the Skavsta Museum. In my opinion, this is essentially Swedish Disneyland. It’s awesome. You can see reindeer, peacocks are walking around like it’s no big deal, there are barns of awesome Swedish gifts and crafts, and if you don’t mind acting like a child, you can pet bunnies. In addition to this, you can see seals, moose, a small working farm, and visit houses set up to emulate an old town in Sweden, complete with shoemaker, apothecary, baker, and glassblower. Each house has workers who remain in character despite your best efforts to get them to talk like it’s the 21st century. And, icing on the cake, if you have minor upper body strength and a lot of determination, you can take fun pics on the huge, painted traditional Swedish horse figurines.