Sunny Stockholm is a Scandi delight
With 18 hours of daylight, there's plenty of time to enjoy all that this stylish city has to offer
I think in another life I was a Viking. Or Agnetha from ABBA. Or an IKEA Malm chest of drawers. Oh whatever, this is a review of a long weekend in Stockholm – my new favourite city. Granted I’m a fairweather Scandi-fan; in May it’s light at 04.30 and dark at 22.30 and we lucked out with days of unbroken, glorious warm sunshine. This might be a different review if we went in January with four grey daylight hours and heavy snow.
We flew with BA from Heathrow – it’s just over a two-hour flight and if you’re chasing Exec Club status or just fancy a bit of luxury, BA has really got its act together on Club Europe food and service again post-Covid. We were nicely spoilt and if you are flexible on dates it doesn’t break the bank.
We booked the Hotel Nobis – a smart boutique hotel in the centre of the designer shops district (of no interest to me as I’m a High St girl and if I have a spare grand I don’t buy a handbag I book a trip – clearly) but the location was second to none, walkable to absolutely everywhere you want to go. We didn’t need to use the (excellent) public transport or cabs once. I simply cannot fault the hotel. Smiley service throughout, a buzzy bar and two restaurants, two excellent saunas, a gym and sleek, well equipped, Scandi-cool rooms. Rooms aren’t big but they’ll do fine. Breakfast was fabulous with everything you could want (Swedish homemade seeded crispbreads are a revelation) and lots of fresh fruit and veg, gorgeous breads, homemade jams, hot food, smoothies, and decent coffee prepared to order. I wrote in advance and asked for room upgrades and we got them no questions asked.
Friday
We arrived early evening, had a walk around, dinner at Sturehof – a Stockholm institution apparently. Cool but not intimidating, food that makes you swoon, lovely lovely service and a free round of champagne after a delay when they accidentally gave our table away to another party. Well ok then. Live band from 10pm.
Saturday
On our first morning we did a 2.5 hour walking tour (Freetours.com) of the main sites and the old town (Gamla Stan). These freebie tours can vary in standard. This one was top notch. Our guide, Oscar ( from Mexico) was funny, knowledgeable and informative and we learnt loads. The history is fascinating, I love the Swedish approach to life – healthy, outdoorsy, education is free in fact they pay you to go to Uni and you’re properly looked after when you’re old. And 90 days compulsory parental leave don’t you know. But let’s not get carried away. You probably don’t venture out of your front door between November and April. We learnt a lot about the three Scandinavian countries, their alliances and their rivalry. My favourite fascinating fact is this – those IKEA furniture names we laugh at are mostly names of Swedish bodies of water, apart from the loo brushes, doormats and floor mats – which are all named after Danish towns .
After the tour we wandered around Gamla Stan some more before heading to Ostermalms Salluhall (my spell check keeps trying to change that to Solihull ) to gape at the beautiful food and tuck in to the best open sandwiches. Cured salmon and a cheeky glass of fizz to wash it down. There’s a Michelin star restaurant in the food hall called Lisa Elmquist. Good luck getting a table.
The rest of the afternoon was spent walking through the various districts, sitting in the city park and enjoying the sun. And back to the hotel for a cheeky sauna.
We had dinner at Verandan at the Grand Hotel. Lovely location and does the best smorgasbord in town. Six types of herring and the best halibut I’ve ever tasted. Almost a sexual experience. It’s pricey at £54pp without drinks and they recommend you go back to replenish four to six times to make it worthwhile. I recommend you go back eight times and drink tap water.
Sunday
We visited the tiny but excellent Jewish Museum in the old town. Lots to learn, certainly not the grimmest history in Europe but don’t be fooled. It’s a short walk between ‘neutral’ and hedging your bets.
Stockholm is a watery heaven and sits on and close to no fewer than 30,000 islands.You’re never more than seconds away from water or a bridge. We took a 2.5 hour boat tour of the Archipelago (£33pp), braving the outside deck (you can sit inside – much warmer but not as atmospheric or brassic ). The commentary was amusing and interesting. Summer houses are a big thing in Sweden and they point out all the stars’ homes. Bjorn Borg – I’ve seen better. ABBA’s – pad – oh yesssy!
Back for a quick change then off to the Ice Bar for a pre-dinner drink. You book in advance and £18 gets you entry, a cocktail, cloak and gloves and 45 minutes. You don’t need longer. Pull your cloak down before you sit on an ice bench or you get a wet bottom. But it’s quite good for piles I’m told. Moving on…
Dinner at Emil’s Gastrobar – posh pub grub and a nice change from fish as was starting to develop gills. Booked via The Fork and got 50% off food and in this city where nought is cheap that’s not to be sniffed at. They also do a good deal on two glasses of wine, one of cava and one cocktail – meant for one person – they know how to drink in Sweden – but we spilt it between the four of us as we’re North London lightweights.
Monday
Breakfast, checkout and off to the Museum District a lovely 25 minute waterside walk away. Clever that all the main museums are situated together. There’s also a Tivoli funfair. We did the Vasa and ABBA museums. Vasa museum displays the world’s only beautifully preserved 17th century ship. It’s enormous and quite awe-inspiring. The museum is extremely well done and you can do a free 25 minute tour in English – I have the attention span of a flee so I prefer this to endless wandering plugged in to an audio guide. The ABBA museum entry fee is double that of the Vasa (thanking them for the music not enough then) but fun to do especially if you secretly miss the 1970s.
The museums are opposite a magnificent park that you can walk or hire a cycle to go around. We had lunch in one of the park cafes which was easily city restaurant standard. Why can’t we do good park cafes here? Granted we do have some lovely ones now but the majority I had to patronise when our babies were small were skanky.
Stockholm was a delight, its people are stunningly stylish and beautiful – and tall – I felt like a Weeble the whole weekend. The welcome was as warm as the weather, prices are high and our purses are empty but you only need three days and I will be shopping at our newly opened local B&M for the next three months to balance things up.
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