From old Swedish Stokker = log or pole, + Holm = island or islet. Possibly because logs and poles were used to mark important places, or because logs were used to redirect shipping routes into the archipelago for defense and toll purposes.
It may also be connected to an old Germanic word Stock meaning fortification.
Why It's Worth a Visit -
Stockholm's a beautiful archipelago that strikes a perfect balance between its rich history & modern life. Affordable, compared to the rest of Scandinavia, it's a City of Museums, dedicated to everything Swedish from Vikings to Alcohol to ABBA.
T-Centralen
@ a glance essentials:
Language:
Swedish
Most Locals can speak English, particularly the younger generation and in cities.
Country's Visitation Limit:
90 Days
Water safety
Safe to Drink
Emergency #
112
.
How to Say - Hello:
Hallå, Hallå or Hej, Hej (Hey) (often x2)
Thank You:
Tack
Hot Tip:
Always double check the opening hours of shops and attractions, many places open their doors late (10-11am,) close early (5-6pm) and most museums take Mondays off.
Stockholm is the capitol of Sweden and its most populous city (as well as the largest urban center of the Nordic countries.) The archipelago is comprised of more than 24,000 islands, with aproximetly 14 making up the main city including: Gamla Stan, Södermalm, Östermalm, Kungsholmen, and Hornstull...
First built around 1000 CE by Vikings, Stockholm's location appears in Norse sagas and the earliest written mention of the name Stockholm is from 1252, when it's Bergslagen iron mines made it an important trade city.
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
MY FAVORITE SPOTS TO...
................Fika, the daily coffee break with pastry, (cinnamon or cardamon bun) is a Swedish tradition so strong it survived a prohibition. The name is a derivative of Kaffe (the word for coffee.) When coffee was banned the daily break was so ingrained it went underground and was referred to by a new code word, Fika, a sort of reversal of Kaffe.
FUN FACT:
Stockholm may be my favorite Scandinavian destination, it beautiful, clean, walkable and cozy despite being a major urban center and the people are some of the friendliest I’ve met on my travels.
Must Try Local Cuisine:
Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Jam ▪️ Pickled Herring ▪️ Västerbottenpaj (Cheese Pie)
Rårakor (Swedish hash-brown) ▪️ Pea Soup & Pancakes (Thursday tradition in schools, & the military)
Knäckebröd — (original Swedish crispbread) ▪️ Lutfisk (gelatinous fish pickled in lye)
Glögg (mulled wine & spirits) ▪️ Smörgåstårta (salmon/ seafood sandwich the size of a cake)
SEE
DO TRY
&
VISIT
What to Where to Why . . .
Surprising Finds:
📍 The Lappis Scream - Lappis is student housing and if you're near by on a Tuesday you’ll hear a communal chorus
of screams at 10 p.m. It’s a weekly stress release tradition for students to let out the frustrations of college life
📍 Hotel at the corner of Norrmalmstorgsgatan & HamngatanBirthplace once the 📌 of a Kreditbanken office, the
site of a the 1973 robbery that spawned a psychological phenomenon Stockholm Syndrome 📸 (when the hostages
started sympathizing with their captors)
📍 Gamla Stan - one of the best preserved medieval city centers in the world with winding, cobblestone streets, hides
history like the Källargränd Urinoar 📸 - 130-year-old public urinal, oldest of Stockholm (perhaps all of Sweden,)
the Viking Uppland Runic Inscription 53 📸 & Mårten Trotzigs Gränd 📸 - an old alley barely over two feet wide
My Favorite Spots:
📍 Tunnelbana- Stockholms Subway 📸 - world’s longest art exhibition—110 km with 150 artists installations,
sculptures, mosaics and paintings (in over 90% of the city’s stations.)
Kungsträdgården station is one of the most famous with a colorful abstract garden - it’s also Stockholm's deepest
subway station and an contains its own, a unique self-sufficient ecosystem.
📍 Snösätra is an abandoned industrial neighborhood that has become one of Europe's largest graffiti exhibitions.
📍 Royal Djurgården & Rosendal Palace, on Djurgården Island - world’s first national urban park (15th c. ) On the
grounds are several museums like Nordiska Museet (Nordic Museum) 📸, Rosendal Palace & Skansen 📸, worlds
oldest living open-air museum/ zoo opened in 1891 with historic buildings from all Sweden in one park.
📍 Monteliusvägen - Mile-long walking paths along the shore of Lake Mälaren, great sunset views.
... to Wander & Explore:
... to Visit:
Drottningham Palace
📍 Museums: There are so many it's difficult to pick the best but a few standouts are:
Swedish History Msm, Museum of Spirits 📸, Millesgården 📸 - sculpture garden &
Toy Museum 📸, a rare collection, over 40,000 toys from the 17th c. to today, in an
underground, former torpedo workshop .
📍 Cathedrals like; Storkyrkan 📸, & Riddarholmskyrkan (Riddarholmen Church) 📸
📍 Drottningholm Island 📸 - Palace, Gardens, Chinese Pavilion & Court Theater 📸
Private residence of the royal family, modeled after Versailles, (only open weekends)
The art noveau Royal Theater is Europe’s finest 18th c. stage still in use with the
original stage mechanisms for effects.
Gamla Stan Streets
📍 Bergianska Trädgården (Bergius Botanic Garden) 📸 & Victoriahuset (Victoria House) - a
surviving Victorian greenhouse in an 18th c. garden designed to house giant water lilies.
📍 Skogskyrkogarden 📸 - Historic woodland cemetery with Greta Garbo's grave
📍 Hagaparken 📸 - Haga Ocean Butterfly House & Shark Aquarium
📍 Giants’s Kettle/ Jättegrytan i Skarpnäck - largest, best-preserved kettle in Sweden (south
of Stockholm in Skarpnäck Gårdsväg)
... when feeling Bookish:
📍 Stockholm Public Library (National Library of Sweden) with the Codex Gigas (The Devil's Bible) - an
illuminated manuscript inexplicably decorated with a portrait of Satan.
... when feeling Adverturous:
📍 Royal Canal Tour or Boat Trip under Bridges 📸 - there are many canal tours showcasing different areas of the city.
📍 Go on a Solar Scavenger Hunt - world's largest scale model of the planetary system spread all over the area. The sun's
represented by the Globe Arena, the largest spherical building in Stockholm. The planets, appropriately scaled, are
in the suburbs. Jupiter is the Stockholm Airport, Saturn's in Uppsala, Pluto in Delsbo...
📍 Store Bageriet - coffee & bakery in Ostermalm 📍 Stampen - live jazz bar (in Gamla Stan)
📍 Caffellini - cafe on Gamla Stan 📍 Bar Afterglow - cocktails or Bar Kaja - beers & snacks
📍 D’Abramo, Taste Italy - cafe in Ostermalm (in Ostermalm)
📍 Gondolen or Bar Lilla Compagne - for roof top cocktails
(in Ostermalm)
... to have a Cuppa or Nightcap:
For Classic Swedish comfort food, called Husmanskost, try...
📍 Bakfickan (by the Operakällaren)
📍 Kvarnen or Made In Sweden Bar & Kök (in Södermalm)
📍 Fika & Wine (in Gamla Stan)
Or for something even more traditional...
📍 Aifur - serving food tied to Viking history & legend in a subterranean restaurant
(Book in advance unless you are ok with their Bar Mead bar, thats right, mead)
... when I'm Peckish:
📍 Glasstrappsbaren - ice cream stand by the wharf (in Ostermalm)
📍 Swaddled Gelateria - Gelato shop (in Södermalm)
📍 Leonarddos Kafferosteri - pastries & baked goods (in Södermalm)
📍 Cafe Petissan - pastries & coffee (in Djurgarsslatten)
... for something Sweet:
Most Known For:
Monteliusvägen View
♦️ The Vasa 📸 - 1628 sunken war ship, world’s best preserved 17th-c. ship
🔸 Royal Palace & Treasury (Kungliga Slotten) 📸 - 600-room Baroque residence (1697-1760)
♦️ Medieval Museum beneath the Royal Palace - excavated monuments & sections of city wall
allow you can see what the city was like 400 years ago w/ a medieval graveyard & a warship
🔸 Nobel Prize Museum & Bistro - serving legendary Nobel laureates dessert & signatures
of past prizewinners hidden under the chairs
♦️ Karlberg Castle & Pompes Grav (Swedish king's beloved dog's grave)
🔸 Skokloster Castle - Baroque castle, built 1654 - 1676, on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren
........................The Kymlingestenen/ Kymlinge Stone is a Bronze Age sacrificial stone dating from 1700-500 BC, used to honor elves, fairies & woodland spirits. The “elf mill” contains dozens of small hand ground pits, meant to be miniature millstones for elves, fairies etc. which would be greased with unsalted fat at sunrise or sunset and a sacrifice left, like a small stone, coins or rare metals to bring good luck. The stone now travels around the country for viewing.
Cool Local
🌀 Midsommar - 📸 the longest day of the year (Midsummer Eve is always a Friday between June 19th & 25th)
People often begin the day picking flowers to make wreaths for headpieces and the maypole.
Some popular places to celebrate in the city are...
🌀 Smaka På Stockholm (Taste of Stockholm), the country’s largest food festival.
🌀 Kulturfestival celebrating the performing arts; Music festivals like Summerburst &
Sonar music.
🌀 Nobel Prize Ceremony, award and dinner every December.
Close Enough to Visit:
🪧 Island of Vaxholm 📸 & Vaxholm Fortress, and near by Badholmen a small island of you can rent short term
🪧 Sigtuna, Sweden's one-time capital - preserved medieval buildings (dating to the 10th c.) on Sweden's oldest street &
Sigtuna Rådhus 📸 - a tiny town hall, possibly smallest in Europe, and a mini 'library' in an old phone booth.
🪧 Uppsala - quaint university town 📸 with the a multitude of historical sites like...
-Domkyrka, Uppsala Cathedral, 📸 from the 13th century is the largest church in Scandinavia and surrounded by a collection of rune-stones or
🪧 Decorated Farm Houses of Hälsingland
🪧 Visby on the island of Gotland - full of Sweden’s Viking and medieval history.
Going to visit
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