PORTFOLIO

In April 2022 we couldn’t decide where we wanted to go for a few days away. We searched SkyScanner for the cheapest flights, and after looking at the weather reports for everywhere that came up, we decided, the night before the flight, that we would go to Stockholm the following morning. The flights were £150 for two of us, there were cheaper flights to other locations but the weather was terrible at that time. We found a room at a Radisson Blu hotel with a perfect location for £332 for 3 nights for 2 people (on booking.com) and off we went.

As it was so last minute, and we had both never really thought about going to Stockholm before, we went with no plan and without really knowing what there was to do there. Although I wouldn’t recommend not knowing anything about where you are going to we have found that going without a plan works for us. We did some googling on the way there and came up with a small list of things to do but our main goal was to explore freely and enjoy walking about just the two of us. It then became one of our favourite trips we’d both ever been on.

In Arlanda Airport it was pretty easy to find a machine to buy our tickets for the Arlanda Express train which took us on a very nice train straight to Stockholm Central Station which was right outside our hotel. It cost 920 SEK which is about £67 for both of us for return tickets which Ash had a heart attack at but it was so easy and convenient for us that it did make sense to use it.

We probably could have found a cheaper hotel to stay in but this one was in a really good location, right next to the train station and within walking distance for us to get to most areas of the city we wanted to go to. It also started our Radisson rewards points, if you can build up points with hotel chains you can get room upgrades or even free night stays. We didn’t pay extra for breakfast because we aren’t huge breakfast eating people (unless it’s free) and I just wanted to have has much coffee and cinnamon buns as I possibly could. Our favourite was at Komet, which sold pastries, bread, croissants, granola and more, delicious.

We were so glad we checked the weather before we went as although we don’t mind rain, we ended up going to Stockholm at Cherry Blossom season, so we got to spend so much time sitting under the trees and people watching. Official Cherry Blossom Day is April 28th and we flew out on the 23rd of April so the best time to go is mid-late April and the best spot in Stockholm is Kungsträdgården. There are other places to go but this is a park area surrounded by shops and cafes. There’s two avenues lined by two rows of cherry blossoms and we went once in the afternoon when it was bustling with people and then early the next morning to enjoy it whilst it was quiet and peaceful. If you really want pictures with no one else in then I’d recommend going in the morning but honestly it’s just as beautiful with all the people there enjoying it as well.

To get around Stockholm I would highly recommended the metro system, not only is it fast and pretty easy to follow, the underground stations themselves are amazing. They are painted with fantastic patterns and colours and the cave-like structure is so cool. The lighting throughout and displays are really effective and it becomes slightly addictive wanting to see them all, however there are 90 that are decorated so you probably wont see them all. It’s a brilliant way of encouraging public transport use and makes a normal commute much more pleasant. You can go on guided tours of the subway stations where they will go into detail about the history and meaning of the artworks but for just the price of a ticket you can get to quite a few stations in the 75minute time limit. You can buy a 24 hour ticket but Stockholm is pretty walkable so might not need it.

If the weather is nice for your trip, it was sunny but chilly for us, a boat tour of the Archipelago’s is a great way to spend your time. The buildings and landscape you see are fascinating with a lot of untouched, or barely touched islands along the way. There are options to get off some of the ferry’s but we decided to just do the boat tour and the captain told us about the areas we were passing. I can imagine if it is a rainy day you do not want to be sat outside on a boat tour but if it is a sunny day it’s beautiful.

Near the docks where the boat tours start and end is the National Museum. It is an art and design museum that is free entrance and isn’t so extensive you’ll get bored. The interior design of the museum frames the artwork so well and the sculpture garden is so peaceful and hushed but in the best way. There is seating in the sculpture courtyard and if we had more time I probably would have sat there all day. It was renovated in 2018 and it’s definitely worth a visit if you enjoy art and design.

There are a lot of museums in Stockholm such as the ABBA museum and a Viking museum and if we had a longer holiday planned we would have definitely gone, but we had to compromise and the NationalMuseum was easier to get to.

Visiting the old town, Gamla Stan, is a must, there’s so many interesting buildings and the streets are lined with shops and restaurants meaning you could wander round all day if you wanted to. We happened to catch the changing of the guards as we arrived to look at the palace which as pretty good experience. It was quite a long process and if you’ve seen this elsewhere then it might seem a little boring but the setting is fantastic and it draws quite a big crowd.

Gamla stan is also where we found one of our favourite restaurants ever which is Gästabud. The reviews were very good apart from people talking about how long they waited to get in but as we stood outside debating whether to wait or not another customer emerged and told us it’s worth it, he’d been twice in three days. So we waited and then finally got in and it was so cozy and intimate despite the very small space and how busy it was. I had to choose the meatballs because we couldn’t go to Sweden and not get them and although the menu is small it all looked delicious. If we were staying longer we probably would have gone back here.

We managed a weekend with just hand luggage, I hate paying for checked luggage if I can help it. It was chilly so I had to add in some layers to wear but as it was sunny we didn’t have to take massive coats. It can be quite a lot of walking and although there are some old cobbled streets it is predominantly flat. The only time we went up hill was to watch the sunset at Skinnarviksberget. It’s a short walk and not too rocky but definitely isn’t flat. We sat here on a rock watching the sunset and although there were a few other people it wasn’t crowded and we could enjoy the view in peace.

We loved visiting Stockholm and would definitely return for another weekend away and it also made us want to explore more of Sweden. All of the pictures were taken by either Ash or myself and we booked our hotel through booking.com and flights through SkyScanner. We are currently travelling for a year around Asia so you can keep up to date through our instagrams (Pashe and Ash), our YouTube’s (Pashe and Ash) and my TikTok. We are so privileged to be able to go on these holidays and adventures and we are so grateful we are able to travel.