Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and one of the busiest Nordic cities. Stockholm is divided in small islands, that are connected with bridges. You can visit them on foot, by metro or tram. It is a big capital, but the most important things to see in the center are quite easy to reach. It is the most expensive town I have ever visited, but it was worth going.
Although the original plan was to go first to Göteborg from Denmark, it was too expensive and time consuming, so we decided to head straight to Stockholm. I still regret not visiting Göteborg, especially after some locals told us that it is one of the most beautiful cities in Sweden. But I do not regret going to Stockholm.
When we did this trip, we were really lucky to have a nice weather and the sun was shining, although it was still April.
So my friends and I began our trip from Aarhus, Denmark. We took the bus and headed to Copenhagen really early in the morning. It was a fun trip, where we played card games and during these hours we learned the game called Kent, which we wouldn't stop playing for the rest of Erasmus.
From Copenhagen we took the train to Malmö, but we stayed in the train station because we didn't have enough time to walk around. It was worth the trip from Copenhagen to Malmö, because we crossed Øresundsbron. Then we took one more train straight to Stockholm.
Although we began our trip early in the morning we ended up arriving at night (around 9, I think). We headed straight to the hostel to drop our stuff and do the check in and headed to a bar nearby to have a snack. I have to say that we dropped dead that night!
Our hostel was really nice and close to the center. It was in the area of Kungsholmen. It was really easy to head out from there. The metro wasn't really close, but wasn't that far either, but of course we could easily walk from there.
1st day
We began our walk from the City Hall, Stockholms stadshus, where we spent a lot of time posing and fooling around. It has a good view point, from where you can see Gamla Stan, the main island, where the old center is.
After that we started heading towards Gamla Stan, but first we walked around the small island at the left side of the map, around Riddarholmskyrkan. It is a small island, there isn't much to see. The streets are really quiet and it has a bridge connecting it with the old center.
Crossing Riddarholmsbron and heading towards the palace took us in front of Storkyrkan, the oldest church in the city. From there we headed to the Palace to watch the guards change. We didn't enter the palace, because the ticket was too expensive and we couldn't see everything, because the royal family was inside.
This is were we got separated, because I wanted to go see the Royal Armory museum, which was free, and was really small. It had carriages, old costumes and letters from Marie Antoinette's life. The rest of the gang walked mostly around Stortorget, where I joined them so we would go eat some snacks.
Next stop was Globen Stadium. It is a bit far, but the view was magnificent. Don't be afraid of the glass ball that lifts you up. It is a really breathtaking experience that you shouldn't miss.
Once more we had to split up, because my friends had unfinished projects, so they took the metro and went back. I on the other hand decided to walk all the way back, to see the city and give them time to concentrate.
So I headed to Södermalm, which is a known area for the shops and the food. I walked around the streets and the parks for a while. It is a quiet area, where you can enjoy a peaceful walk.
Finally, I arrived again at Gamla Stan. I had read somewhere about Stockholm's narrowest street (Mårten Trotzigs gränd 1), which I really wanted to see. It took me a while but I found it! I was also really lucky that I found it totally empty! Then I decided to get lost in Gamla Stan and enjoy the small alleys and the old buildings.
After some time had passed I headed back to the hostel, where everyone needed a break. We decided we should go out and eat burgers. I have never paid so much for a burger before... ok it was good, but too expensive.
2nd day
On our second day we wanted to go see Östermalm. I wanted to see Vasa Museum and they wanted to stroll the park.
Vasa museum is known for the huge ship that they dug out from the port. Inside the museum you can see the ship, you can learn about the procedure, and you can see all the treasures it was carrying.
The rest of the island, where Vasa museum is located, is a huge park with other museums and old buildings you can visit. Skansen is quite famous there, but we decided to just walk around.
After this walk, my friends wanted to go shopping, but I was more interested in the city, so once more I started walking. I found myself near the Historiska museet, and I decided that I wanted to know more about the swedish history. I don't remember even if it had an entrance, but it was a big museum, and it had exhibits from different eras.
My next stop was Strandvägen, where I walked beside the port. It is a wonderful spot to gather some sun and maybe enjoy your coffee, but there are a lot of tourists there, so it can get a bit noisy.
After all that, I found my friends again and went straight for lunch. We headed to Katarina-Sophia, where we had heard that it had very good restaurants. Everything was really packed, so we ended up in a turkish restaurant, which had a lot of greek food, which I really enjoyed!
But then it was a desperate time for some ICE CREAM! Alissa and I couldn't resist, so we headed back to Gamla Stan to enjoy a nice cold Ben & Jerry's. The rest of the night we were really tired, so we ended up eating chips in the hostel while playing Kent. Apparently we annoyed a really funny guy, who we shall never forget,who kept whispering to us "will you be quiet? just a little bit... little bit quiet".
3rd day
This was our final day in Stockholm, before heading back to Copenhagen for our projects (Check out our Destinations for more information about Copenhagen).
We decided we wanted to see Skeppsholmsbron and Skeppsholmen. It doesn't have anything really worth seeing. We just walked around, saw some modern art statues outside the museum and took pictures in front of the Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron.
The few hours we had left we spent at Norrmalm, buying sweets and shopping! But, soon it was the time for us to leave.
We had a lot of fun during this trip, and I will never forget the days I spent with the gang in Stockholm.
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