It’s all very well me telling you about family squabbles and people dressing up as Scooby Doo but I’m sure you are keen to know a little more about Stockholm and what it has to offer visitors? I had been given loads of great advice via Facebook, Twitter and my blog with regard to what I ought to see yet during our three full days in the city we only managed to see a smidgen of all the fantastic attractions. Other tourists will be horrified that we didn’t have time to visit any art galleries, national museums or royal palaces. We even missed out on one of the capital’s famous sights, Skansen, the world’s first open air museum. To be honest, we stayed clear of this, although I’m sure most families will adore the zoo and the recreation of a bygone Sweden. Rory, at 16, has had his fill of living history museums and, knowing my predilection for chatting to strangers, I think he would have had something to say if I’d started to make small talk with some beardy bloke sharpening his rusty tool on a whetstone.
So, where did we go, apart from the generalised strolling, air-breathing and bench-sitting?
Many of Stockholm’s attractions can be found on the island of Djurgarden (pronounced “Yoor-gorden”). The hop on-hop off boat we used stops here and so do a number of buses and trams. There is also the delightful old-fashioned tram, which stopped in the square outside our hotel. I loved this, though was disappointed that on the way there and back we weren’t lucky enough to catch the tram which had a cafe carriage attached: I’d rather fancied the idea of tootling along with some coffee and cake to boot.
Once on Djurgarden there is a huge choice of ways to happily spend a day. The things we didn’t do, but other families might enjoy, were Junibacken (a children’s storybook attraction, based mainly on the stories of Astrid Lindgren who wrote the Pippi Longstocking books), Grona Lund amusement park (it was raining and it wasn’t our thing anyway) and an aquarium. We didn’t have time for the Nordiska Museet (a museum about Sweden’s cultural history) or Liljevalchs (an art and design venue).
We spent a bit of time at the Fotografiska (photography museum) where, once we had worked out how to get in and stay in (see here), proved to be a popular place for locals owing to the fabulous top floor restaurant which had great views over the waterfront. While we were visiting they had a stunning collection of Olympic photographs, which whetted our appetite for the Games which were about to start in a few days’ time.
But the unexpected highlight of the day was the very new Spritmuseum ( Spirit Museum) which, according to its literature, is “a unique meeting point focused on the Swedish people’s bitter-sweet relationship to alcohol….you will be taken on an unforgettable journey from pain to pleasure, park bench to cocktail party, based on art, scenery, experience, smells and tastes”. Rory pronounced this his favourite museum ever. Whilst we all had the chance to sniff numerous vodka variations (no tastings unfortunately when we were there), the museum is the temporary home for ‘Face It!’, 70 pieces from the Absolut Art Collection: works by artists such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst all based on the Absolut Vodka bottle. Just brilliant. We also loved the ‘Finally Friday’ exhibition, consisting of three rooms – Home, the Pub and the World of Dreams and the ‘Sweden, Spirits of a Nation’ section where we lay down to experience levels of drunkenness – stone cold sober, tipsy, loaded, hammered, wrecked and gone. Truly the most bonkers and creative museum I think I’ve ever visited. And to think, we only went in because we had half-price entry with the hop on, hop off boat ticket. Sometimes it pays to be married to a Scotsman.
Glad you enjoyed the Vasa! It's definitely worth it, I think. I was all ready to write it off as being the Swedish Mary Rose but I think it's amazing and that's after three or four visits. Skansen is great but I think your made the right choice not to go – works better for families of little ones.
And now I MUST go to the Spritmuseum having read this. It sounds great. Did you take a drink on the terrace afterwards? The views from there are wonderful.
I feel better knowing we probably made the right choice about Skansen, particularly when there were swarms of people going in as we passed. We also spent some time just walking around Djurgarden; at one point searching for Rosendals Slott and constantly taking the wrong path.
It was raining during our morning at the Spritmuseum so didn't sit on the terrace. Shame, but we only had one drizzly day and even then it was warm.
This is just making Stockholm even more magnetic as a travel destination.
It wasn't as expensive as we'd thought…apart from alcohol, most things were the same as in the UK. I'd go again, so much to see.
Fantastic post which just makes me want to travel to Scandinavia shores all the more! I think the Scots and the Indians have a lot in common when it comes to penny-pinching!
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. With Dougie it's all about value: he doesn't mind splashing out if it's worth it but hates, for example, buying bottled water if we could have filled up from a tap!!
I like the idea of having afternoon tea on a tram whilst sightseeing. It is good to know that the museum have now got the balance right with the warship as obviously they didn't the first time in 1628.
Oh that's good!! You do make me laugh.
Apparently the boat was top heavy but they have also realised that the Swedish and Dutch shipbuilders worked with their own rulers, each with a slightly different measurement of a foot!I don't think it stood a chance.
I would have enjoyed everything you described – especially the Spritmuseum. MrL would have appreciated the discounted tickets, too. How exactly did they recreate the levels of drunkenness? I'm intrigued.
The drunk room was the one where you lay down on the special seats and watched a weird video on the ceiling. It showed what happens on a night out and the filming was such that you shared the experience with them. Mind you, it was so nice to lie down, I think I shut my eyes and drifted off!
Th Queenager has a thing about Sweden and we want to do about a 3 day visit next year. Most enticing.
I have to say
1) impressed with the slide show
and
2) thought the lads were urinating into something in one of the photos, and
3) then I remembered that a Sacred Heart lass would never have allowed that!! (Let alone a Conway!)
Shame slideshow doesn't seem to work on iPad. No idea why. IT's very easy to do with the Picasa albums on Blogger.
Urinating?! Haha! Goodness me, no I wouldn't have allowed that and they wouldn't have allowed me to take a photo of it! They were sniffing the different vodkas.
Sounds like a really fabulous place to visit…..and tea on a tram? great idea!
On one afternoon we sat outside the hotel where they served drinks and just watched the tram arriving and departing: so sweet with the bell ringing. The tea/coffee carriage looked lovely and there was a waitress who flitted between the carriages to serve people. So charming.
Brilliant! Love the pictures, the Spirit Museum sounds great! 🙂
I think when something is unexpected it is far more enjoyable. We just wandered in and took it at face value. The artwork was fantastic.
The Spirit Museum looks very very cool and groovy indeed and I would need to do my own tasting afterwards (and yes…whatever did happen to general strolling) Link to you on my blog today, thanks for shout out on BritMums! (PS what do you think about twitter, I have resisted doing it – is it fun?)
Twitter is good once you get the hang of it and once you've built up a decent number of people to follow and engage with. I tend to not be a huge user of Twitter but it's great for linking blogs and getting messages to people. I was able to tweet everybody who I'd mentioned in the BritMums round-up much quicker than emailing or putting message on their blog. It's worth dipping your toe in and then seeing what you want to do with it.
We loved the Vasa, I can smell it as I read your description – so distinctive – we even bought a candle in a tin to recreate the aroma back in Lincolnshire!! How did we miss the vodka ??!!
Of course, I forgot to mention the smell…very humid and earthy. I didn't know they sold candles to match. May have to have a sniff sometime! The vodka museum only opened in May this year.
My son would love the Spirit Museum! What luck that you ended up there. The ship looked cool too.
Sorry this is a bit late in the day but just back from hols so catching up. 🙂
I enjoyed reading your holiday posts in one go: quite a good way to do it. Mine seem to be going on forever, even though I tried to tell myself I didn't need a post for each day.
We’re heading up to Stockholm soon to visit the Grona Lund amusement park (my husband is a coaster fanatic), so I’m looking for tips about the city – this was great. Thanks! #citytripping
That Spirit Museum sounds brilliant and I love the idea of a tram with a cafe! You’re so right about the need to tailor your trip to suit the age and inclinations of your children. Sounds like you got it just right. citytripping
I do love a quirky museum. The trams were great but still sad I missed my cake!
What a coincidence – I was talking to a friend last night who reckoned the Bass museum was one of the best he had visited, with great information. I’d love to see it – and Stockholm -myself. #citytripping
I’m hoping Bass Museum means Vasa? I think you would be smitten by Stockholm, Cathy.
Argh! Stupid autocorrect – yes, the Vasa museum. I think you could be right…
The Spirit Museum sounds incredible! Sometimes it pays not to try and see everything – you can miss the ambiance if you’re rushing around. Still sounds as though you did lots, though. Your post makes me want to visit Stokholm even more!
We are much better now at chilling on city trips – happy times can be had whilst sitting on a bench! Have just been looking at the Spirit Museum’s website and it hasn’t changed too much since our visit – thankfully the Absolut exhibition is permanent.
What fun! I love that you listed all the things you didn’t get to do as well as the things you did! I especially liked the three museums you did visit and think I would have enjoyed each one of them. That big ship is something special!
There’s always so much we don’t see – even with three full days we tend to take it easy. I’m sure we do proportionately less sightseeing the more time we have!
The big ship was incredible and the atmosphere was so unusual: they keep it quite dark and damp so it is a little eerie.
Some great tips here Trish for my forthcoming trip. Vasa museum has been mentioned before so must be good and clearly lots of options for younger kids… My 4 year old might get excited about the open air living museum – either that scared by beardy men! Spirit museum sounds brill although a shame there’s not tastings! Thanks for linking to #citytripping
How brilliant that you can experience different levels of drunkness without the hangover! I’ve always wanted to go to Sweden and in fact looked this year as flights were so cheap! Definitely shall be making a note of your suggestions!
It was very weird – everything became progressively out of focus. Good place for a nap though!
We had a terrific time in Sweden, spent two weeks travelling and it was a real joy.
Fun to hear your take on Stockholm :), having been there many times, as I live in Norway.
We loved Stockholm – and Norway too as we had a great trip to Oslo!