Stockholm Surprises! Three great days exploring.
- Ilene
- Sep 30, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 8
We had Stockholm on our list to visit for two reasons, (1) David had never been to Sweden and wanted to check if off the list and catch up with my country count and (2) though I had been to Sweden during my college year abroad, I never made it to Stockholm. So four nights and three whole days later, we both really came to like this city. It has the Scandinavian architecture / design that we both love, an old European city center with great history, cobble stone streets, cute shops, cafes, restaurants and lots of different neighborhoods with unique vibes. In fact, I wish we had more time to just explore.
What we did come to love about the Swedish culture adds to the Scandinavian idea of hygge, Fika. Fika is the idea of socializing over a cup of coffee with friends and enjoying something sweet to eat on the side. You can Fika anytime of day, which the Swedes believe makes it better than English tea time! And, by the way, the Swedes say they are only behind the Finnish in the number of coffee cups consumed, though the Norwegians think they drink a lot of coffee!
Three days of sightseeing and a little exploring along the way - comes with the territory of looking for gluten free and vegan places to eat, here’s a summary and some photos.
Oh, we started using a new app for travel planning and we’re really enjoying it. Wanderlog - check it out.
Day 1 - rain was in the forecast for the whole day whereas the next two days were going to be much nicer weather. So we swapped some of our plans around to spend more time indoors.
Vasa Museum showcases the Vasa 17th century warship. It’s a crazy story about her maiden voyage which ended 15 minutes in as she sank to the bottom of the Stockholm harbor - not kidding! The museum has a short film (17 min) that covers the story and more interestingly how in the 1960s she was finally pulled out of the mud and restored to her full glory with 98% of the pieces being original! I'd recommend a tour here, the museum offers a free tour or you can do a private one like this.
ABBA museum - couldn’t fathom waiting in line in the rain, or spending the money for this one, so we walked by and got on the tram to hit out next step for lunch.
Östermalms Food Hall - fun place with lots of merchants selling fresh fish, meats, produce, cheese as well as restaurants. I had a nice big salad and David a vegan wrap.
Still raining... so we did a self-tour of the Stockholm metro art. Yes! You read that correctly… many of the metro (Tunnelbana, or T-bana) stations have art installations, what a fun way to spend a couple of dry hours, staying warm, riding the trains during non-peak commute hours.
Sauna time! David has this fun plan to go to a spa in every country and so far we’re on a roll. Massages in South Africa and Tanzania, Hamman in Turkey, Sauna/ fjord in Norway and the Central Badet in Sweden. We’ll see if we can keep this up or not, but I am loving the effects. The Central Badet is 120 years old offers lots of options: 5 types of saunas, 4 spa pools - hot tubs, circulation pools, cold plunge pools, swimming pools (beautiful old original indoor pool hall) and spa treatments as you might expect. My skin never felt so hydrated soft and my muscles relaxed.
We finished the day with dinner at Eatnam, a chain of Vietnamese casual dining spots in Stockholm. Gluten free and vegan options of course!
Day 2
Stockholm City Hall was a stunning building and a great 40 minute tour. This is where Nobel prize winners are honored (all except the peace prize which is awarded in Oslo). Worth every penny for the visit and tour.
Lunch at a small vegetarian restaurants in the old city (Gamla Stan) where we were staying, Restaurant Hermitage
Free walking tour of Gamla Stan followed by a nap back at the hotel; we are really enjoying these free walking tours (and of course leaving a nice tip for the guide)
We ended the day with cocktails at Röda Huset, ranked 31 of the world’s top 50 bars. The cocktails were very creative and one even won the award for Stockholm’s #2. We enjoyed some snacks as well, the honey butter spiced popcorn was de-licious!
Dinner was at Barrels, a casual spot back in Gamla Stan where we enjoyed burgers and fries (vegan & gluten free of course) and beer (at least David did).
Day 3
We had seen the main sites in Stockholm (minus some museums, as I’ve noted before not really our cup of tea) so we ventured out of the city.
I should mention that we bought the 72 hour transit pass which allowed us unlimited use of the T-bana, buses, trams and worked out really well, especially with the rain on our first day and a couple of rain showers here/there. And it allowed us to get out of the city center.
Drottningholm Palace - we took the T-bana and transferred to a bus, but there are some touristy ferries that take you from the city center through the waterways that surround Stockholm. After our last open Norweigan Sea ferry, we needed a break from boats. The gardens are really pretty and we enjoyed wandering and taking photos. We had also bought tickets ahead of time online that included a guided tour. The tour was good and shared some of the history as you toured key rooms inside the palace. You could easily explore on your own with audio or just reading the signs offered throughout as well. What I really wanted was the “scoop” on the Swedish royal family, so eventually I asked for more deets. 😁 And I discovered all the princes are married… so, going to have to stick with mine.
For lunch we found ourselves at a shopping mall, MOOD, that had some casual food spots. We were headed to Holy Greens as the bowls looked great and gluten free / vegan options, but saw a ramen place next door called Din-Din and they offered a gluten free noodle with their ramen, so that sealed the deal.
The evening included a walk to the Katerina Elevator at sunset for some views, a stroll through Sodermalm (island next to Gamla Stan) on our way to dinner.
We had planned to visit the Fotografiska Museum but weren’t much in the mood.
Hermans - I had read about the vegan buffet on many a blog, but WOW, it did not disappoint. First off, 100% vegan, plant based and second, almost everything was gluten free. Food was great, staff was helpful and we also ordered dessert (not included in the buffet), a raw snickers cake - YUMMY!😋
So that was Stockholm… great history, charm, people, food and architecture. Wish we had a bit more time to wander and explore and there was so much we didn’t do. Three days was good, but four or five would have allowed for more exploration time..
P.S. send us texts, emails, photos (thank you cousin Felicia and friends Lynn & Karen for the updates) - we’ll be sharing our life on the road, please share your life with us as well - we miss you!
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