Part one of my Scandinavian series starts in Stockholm, Sweden.
To be honest, Sweden was never really a top destination for me, it was more to complete the journey around the Scandinavia countries. But since spending the last 4 days in the capital, I’ve definitely changed my mind and I’m so glad that I came to visit.
The city is beautiful and full of surprises. With the help of my exchange friend who lives in Stockholm, we were able to see some top sights and experience life as a local.
Here’s what we got up to over our 4 days in Stockholm!
Day 1 // Visiting Stockholm like a local
Staying overnight in the suburbs of Stockholm + first Fika!!
My trip started off with an overnight stay at a friend (Carmen’s) house in the suburbs of Stockholm (about an hour away from the city centre).
We got picked up by her brother and off we went zooming past orange tinted leaves which made it so easy to literally see that autumn had arrived.
I would definitely recommend visiting Scandinavia during autumn (October) if you don’t mind the falling temperatures because it is off season with less tourists and more opportunities to meet locals.
When we arrived to my friends’ house it was so beautiful on the inside I had to take photos hahaha it looked like a display home! With a wide open living room, spacious kitchen, windows that stretched from the floor to ceiling letting in all the natural light, a wooden staircase that curled to the first floor and a sauna (which may be used as storage).
We sat and chatted for a while about all things that came to mind over delicious tea and chocolate. I later came to realise that this is what I had heard so much about before – fika.
To me fika is a feeling of warmth and cosy-ness and friendship and happiness. You would usually have a cinnamon roll with a warm drink as you take some time out of your day to spend with friends. And I loved that feeling. I’m definitely taking it home to Australia with me hehe
Lunch at IKEA for Swedish meatballs 😌
We then realised we hadn’t had lunch yet and we were starving. And what better way to start of our Scandinavian adventures by having meatballs at IKEA!
It was like a canteen, you grab a tray and put your desired meal on it and you pay at the counter.
It was roughly 49 Swedish krona which equates to 4.9€ (tip: just move the decimal point back one place or divide by 10)!
Don’t forget to add lignon berries which is a great addition to the brown sauce on the meatballs, the mash and the peas. We also grabbed a cinnamon roll for dessert.
Gamla stan (old town)
After lunch, we met back up with my Aussie friend who came along for the Scandinavian journey.
Carmen took us to Gamla Stan (the old town in Stockholm) where we visited the famous red and orange houses that have a traditional Swedish flair to it. Underneath the houses was a small cafe that sold delicious food (more about this later).
We then walked around the cobbled streets and peeked into the many shops lining the walkway bustling with tourists. Every street looked like it could fit into the world of Harry Potter!
Monteliusvägen look out
This was definitely one of the highlights for me in Stockholm – heading to look outs above the city for sunset.
Without Carmen, I’m not sure we would have found these places, so I am super grateful that she was able to show us around 😌
Definitely check out Monteliusvägen for a closer view of the city. The walk continues further up and there are a few benches you can sit on and enjoy the view from. The other place that blew me away is further up and away from the city (keep reading on to find where it is!)
Day 2 // Perfect sunsets in Stockholm
Stockholm national library
Today we met up with another Aussie friend who came to visit.
Our first stop was for some brekky at Cafe Pascal which served a lot of delicious croissants with ham and cheese. It was also right next to Stockholm library which was our first stop of the day.
The library definitely gives you that feeling of being in Belle’s library from Beauty and the Beast! It would have been so nice to pick a book from the many shelves and settle down for a good read on a rainy cold day.
Fika lunch at Chokladkoppen (Princess cake)
Next on the agenda was lunch and we visited Chokladkoppen (the cafe under the red and yellow houses in Gamla Stan I mentioned previously). And here we met up with another Aussie friend and had a surprisingly delicious lunch. It was definitely on the pricier side (3 dishes for $50aud between 4 people).
But I do recommend the lasagne and potato jacket! And we had princess cake which is a sweet sponge cake wjth cream and fondant (the pink cake below) as it was recommended by Carmen. It is a popular Swedish dessert and it was amazing!
More Fika with cinnamon rolls
After requesting we do a Fika the whole time we were there, we finally found a small hidden cafe to grab some cinnamon rolls! (Before we went to maccas for some cheap burgers hahaha 1€ come on)
We ended up going back to maccas to fill up because it became one of the cheaper meals we could willingly afford.
Skinnarviksberget for sunset
And here is the gem of Stockholm (in my honest opinion)!
If you are visiting Stockholm you cannot miss Skinnarviksberget for sunset.
There are a few rocks you need to climb, but when you get to the top the view is stunning.
We sat and watched the sky catch alight with the golden rays of the falling sun. Before turning into a blush purple and then blue to signify the end of another day.
Stockholm pub crawl (crying at expensive drinks 😭)
We also went on a pub crawl for 200 krona each (roughly 20€). We got 3 free shots from 3 bars plus entry into a club.
There were also a few challenges we had to do as females / males. It was an interesting night and I made new friends! I would recommend if you don’t mind splurging a bit on drinks (because even wine cost 6€ and mixed drinks were 11€).
I also really enjoyed the club we went to! Maybe it’s a Swedish thing, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the music and just dancing the night away. It wasn’t as sleazy as some of the clubs in other cities haha
Cost: 200kr
Day 3 // Sunken ships, paddle boating and meatballs
Visit to Vasa Museum
Today we went to the Vasa museum to check out a shipwrecked boat that unfortunately sunk in the 1700s after only making it 1km off the shore of Stockholm.
Only after 333 years did they have the technology to bring the ship up again to find it almost perfectly preserved.
We spent about 2 hours here exploring the exhibitions and learning more about life on the would have been boat and the role of women at this time.
Entrance cost: 110kr for students
Spontaneous paddle boating
After soaking up some history we went for a paddle boat around the harbour! It was a really chill way to see the city from the water and was a perfect 4 person activity.
Cost: 100kr for 1 hour
Gondolen for sunset
Here was another vantage point for sunset with a view in the city (rather than above it like on the previous two days).
The view here was also obstructed by some fences, but it is cool to see the city light up from here. Otherwise if you have limited time in Stockholm, I would just recommend the other two lookouts!
Cost: free
“Meatballs for the people” for dinner!
Finally on our last night we had to have Swedish meatballs!
And while it looked super touristy with a healthy sized line, they were delicious. The turnaround time is also quite quick because it is easy to prepare.
You get your choice of meatball ranging from reindeer, venison, pork and beef and boar. We tried everything except the reindeer (which we would come to try later in Norway).
Cost: 190kr for 6 meatballs, mash, lignon berries
Sorting out enrolment for uni next year *angry*
I have no words to describe how frustrating it is to be on the other side of the world having to sort out uni enrolment on slow wifi. It seemed like all the classes ran out so fast. But while I didn’t get my top picks, I’m glad I have all my subjects sorted and I will be graduating (given I pass)!!
Day 4 // Nordic animals
Visit to Skansen (open air museum)
On our last day, we decided to visit Skansen which is an open air museum complete with Nordic animals such as brown bears, otters, reindeer, moose and bisons!
Entrance cost: 90kr for students
Next stop: Norway!!
