Yes yes, I’m back and another travel experience richer. An experience I can’t wait to share with all of you as it was just so, so amazing.
I’ve always been really intrigued by Scandinavia, so I was really excited when boarding my plane to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden last Friday. Everyone I talked to about my trip that had already visited “The Venice of the North” kept saying how beautiful the city was and how I would definitely enjoy it. And god, I did! Add the fact that they had predicted five mediocre to bad weather days, while we got five sunshine filled days, and you get one perfect citytrip.
Stockholm is spread over 14 different islands which are all connected with one another. That alone gives the city a sort of unique atmosphere. It’s a very diverse city with something for everyone. There are loads of different musea, beautiful parks, shopping streets and a lot of amazing architecture. I think it’s impossible for someone to get bored there.
As usual, I’ll start with some general information and tips about my trip before heading into more detail in my other posts about what I did each day of my vacation.
Flight
To get to Stockholm, we flew with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and it was another great flight. The staff was friendly and everything went as it should. There isn’t really anything else to remark.
What I really liked about this airline company though, is that I was able to choose my seat while checking-in online (22 hours in advance) without having to pay an extra fee. A+!
So yes, I would fly with SAS again whenever possible.
Hostel
As you might know by now, I’m always looking for cheap accomodation while travelling, so I usually end up with a hostel. For this trip I stayed at Hostel Dalagatan and it’s the best hostel I’ve stayed in so far. It is located in the center of Stockholm and fairly close to everything. There are two bus stops which are only about a two-minute walk, and the subway is only five minutes away.
It may not be the chiquest hostel, but it offers all one could possibly need and even more. It’s a clean place, with really friendly and helpful staff. But the best part about this hostel is the guest kitchen. It offers free coffee, tea and hot chocolate. This way we coud just run to the store – which is conveniently across the street – to buy some bread and nutella, et voila; breakfast! Easy way to save some money!
The rooms are small and don’t have any windows, but that was advertised that way on the website so you know that in advance. For me the no-window thing was actually and advantage as I tend to sleep bad in clear rooms. And god, did I sleep good. Those beds were heaven!
The price for four nights for two people was 2250 SEK, which is about 240 EUR. It was definitely worth that price.
Transport to and from airport
We arrived at Arlanda Airport which is about 40 kilometers from the city center of Stockholm. This is the biggest airport of Sweden, so most of flights arrive there.
There are many ways to get from Arlanda Airport to the center, but we chose the quickest way; the Arlanda Express. Once every fifteen minutes a train leaves and in about twenty minutes they take you from the airport to the central station of Stockholm. You pay in advance and your credit card is your ticket, so this way you don’t lose time queuing for a ticket.
The train is the most eco-friendly way to travel to the center and has information screens and free wifi. Perfect way to get to the city center, but of course, it’s a bit more pricey than taking a bus or the “normal” public transport.
The price for both ways is 300 SEK, which is about 33 EUR.
Stockholm Card
You simply can’t go on a citytrip without visiting a few of the sights and attractions the city has to offer. Stockholm has a lot of those, so the entrance fees can increase quickly. For each attraction you can easily pay about 10 euros, and most are even way more. In advance, we added up the entrance fees of every sight or attraction we definitely wanted to do and found out that for us the Stockholm Card would be a bit cheaper. It wasn’t a big difference, but we felt like it would be a whole lot easier to just have one card instead of having to pay for a ticket at every attraction seperately.
With the Stockholm card you get free entrance to more than 75 musea, you get to use the public transport for free and there are many tours you can go on. It might be a big amount to pay at once, but you definitely get value for what you spend.
We also ended up doing a lot more because the entrance was included in our card anyway, so that was just amazing. I think that in the end, we saved about sixty to seventy euros by buying this card.
The price for five days is 1150 SEK, which is about 125 EUR. For a three day card, it’s 895 SEK (= 95 EUR)
!!! Update 2017: A colleague of mine informed me that the Stockholm card is no longer available. So far there is no alternative either.
Currency
As you might have already noticed, Sweden has its own currency: Swedish Krona. So take in account that you’ll either have to get Kronas from your local bank or that you’ll have to exchange money once you’re in Sweden.
Everything in Sweden is quite expensive. For dinner you need to reserve around 200 SEK for a normal meal, but of course fast food etc is a little cheaper. Soevenirs are also really expensive, so bring enough money if you plan on buying something.
At the moment, you get about 9,5 SEK for 1 EUR.
So, that’s all for the general part, I think. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll be happy to help you. Next post, I’ll tell you more about my first day in Sweden’s capital..
Until then,
With love, Ellen
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