From Malmö, I take a plane to Stockholm. From the airport, I take the Arlanda Express, and I am finally in Sweden’s capital. I leave my stuff in the hostel and walk to the Södermalm district.
Last, But Not Least, The Capital Of Sweden: Stockholm
Once again, I walk a lot (no wonder my feet hurt): I climb a little hill and get a great view of Gamla Stan island with a colourful sunset. I visit the island a bit, there is a hill with typical red houses here and there. Another nice view! While going back to the hostel, I walk in the old town of Gamla Stan. Even though it is clearly a tourist trap, I find it very beautiful. Plus, there are a lot of souvenir shops, it reminds me a bit of Venice.
2nd Day In Stockholm: Walking Tours
On the next day, I planned a free walking tour. To reach the meeting point, I take the Drottninggatan street… It’s so close to the hostel. There are flowers, peace and love messages, on the floor and on statues. I have a lot of feelings: sadness, anger… The world is unfair, these people were just going for a walk. I fail to understand the meaning of all this.
The walking tour is nice, but not excessively interesting. Plus, I do not meet anyone. After that, I go to the observatory hill. I am again disappointed: the view is not amazing, weird guys are whistling at people and the weather is grey. Positive point: the library: it is really beautiful!
I was also disappointed by the Skyview, which was supposed to be nice, but it’s in the middle of an industrial area, so the view is really not that impressive.
Later, I do another free walking tour in the old town and this one is quite interesting. The stories of my guide, Kevin, are fascinating (Stockholm bloodbath, for example, that inspired one of Game of Thrones most famous scenes). I absolutely love the tiniest statue! 🥰 It brings you luck if you rub its head or leave something of yours (like money). According to the stories, the statue can also help you get pregnant. To me, it looks like it’s sulking. And with the tiny scarf, it was just too adorable! (See cover of this article.)
It is a walking tour day, because after that, I join a ghost tour. The guide is extraordinary, dressed for the role. At some point, he speaks of the plague and starts coughing (fake) blood. I love this tour! However, after all these stories, I get lost trying to go back to my hostel, it’s dark and cold. I end up in unknown places, but the moon gives me the opportunity to take cool pictures. After a while, I find my way back.
Last Day in Sweden: Museums
On my last day, I go to the open air Skansen Museum. It’s freaking cold and I can’t believe it’s April. I feel like it’s going to snow. It’s cool to see the typical houses of specific regions all gathered here. There’s even a bakery. I see some animals I had never seen before. They seem to have quite a lot of space, but it still looks like a zoo, and I can’t help but feel like some animals look sad.
Then, I go to the Vasa Museum, which is really good. There’s an ancient ship that spent 300 years under the water and that won’t be eternal. They maintain it, but one day, there will be too much damage. So it feels like a privilege to be here and look at it. They reconstructed the faces of people who lived hundreds of years ago using their skeletons! They look so realistic, reproduced out of wax.
Just so you know, close to these places, there’s an Abba Museum. I haven’t been there, but it might be nice to visit it if you like Abba.
Of course, on my last evening, I eat Swedish meatballs before collapsing in my bed. So tired. On the next day, I wake up at 3am to take a flight to London and then another one to France.
Some advice if you want to visit Stockholm
- Again, DON’T GO IN APRIL! It’s freezing cold.
- Spend more than two days in Stockholm.
- Visit the Vasa Museum!
- Do the Old Town Walking Tour.
- Eat meatballs, they’re different from the ones in Ikea.
- Visit Gamla Stan.
To see more photos of Sweden, you can visit the gallery Sweden.
