24 Hours in Stockholm

This weekend we decided to take our “24-hours in…” challenge with the family to beautiful Stockholm, a city that we had wanted to visit for several years. We took a very early flight with Swiss from Geneva.

We arrived at Arlanda Airport and used the “Arlanda Express” to travel to the city center. The ride for the entire family costs 300 NOK (approximately 30 Euro) from Thursday to Sunday and takes about 20 minutes. Other options are bus, Taxi and car rental. But we found that this was the cheapest and fastest option.

We arrived at the central station at 10.30am. The weather was cloudy and cold. But autumn in Stockholm is beautiful.

We headed directly to the city hall, the building of the Municipal Council of Stockholm. It is also the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet. To visit the city hall you have to take a guided tour that costs 100NOK (approximately 10 Euro) per person. Children do not pay, as in many other places in the city.

After our visit to the city hall we walked to Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. This is one of the most famous areas, with narrow cobbled streets. It has lots of shops, cafes restaurants and pubs. The Royal Palace and Nobel museum are also located there.

Our stop for lunch in Gamla Stan was at a small restaurant named Slingerbulten. This cozy restaurant serves traditional Swedish food at a decent price for Swedish standards.

Our next stop was a boat trip with Redsightseeing one of the “hop-on hop-off” companies. We find boat trips as a good option to entertain the kids when they are tired. And while there are other boat options in Stockholm, this was one of the cheapest and more flexible alternatives. We paid 360 NOK (approximately 36 Euro) for the whole family. Children don’t pay.

We stopped at the Vasa museum, where the main attraction is a Viking ship (the Vasa ship), sank in 1628 on its first trip. We don’t, think it is a “must see museum” but it is a good option for kids or if you are a fan of ships or Viking history.

After our visit to the museum we took a taxi (taxis are really expensive in Stockholm) back to Gamla Stan to enjoy the ambiance at dusk. We made a break for coffee at Cafe Nova.

And then we went to the hotel. We decided to stay at the Elite Palace Hotel. It is a bit far from city center but for a family of four it was a good option price wise. Hotels in downtown for a family are expensive and this was a good hotel at a reasonable price.

The following morning we had time for the buffet Scandinavian breakfast at the hotel and then for a walk around the modern part of the city before going to the airport.