How to rock a 6 hour layover in Stockholm …

 2011, Sweden  1 Response »
Sep 302011
 

So you’re in Stockholm and you have a couple hours in between flights. To be worth getting out of the airport, I apply the following daytime rules

  • >=6 hours, in any large metropolitan city in Western Europe – since there is always great rail travel with no traffic
  • >= 8 hours, in any large metropolitan city in Asia – since the traffic is always a killer – and there is no way to actually beat traffic
  • >= 4 hours, in any small Caribbean island – since the airport will be tiny, the lines will be short and the traffic will be fairly non existent (Doesn’t apply to Jamaica, Trinidad or Puerto Rico)
    • I wouldn’t even bother with a layover in Trinidad, unless it is super early in the morning and you have a really late evening flight – the traffic and taxi situation destroys any possibility rocking a layover
  • >=7 hours, in any large metropolitan city in North America – the lineups at North American airports can be brutal, unless you have airline status

Once you’ve set the threshold, then you’re off on your epic layover in Stockholm … the easiest way to spend your layover time would be do the “Hop On, Hop Off Boat Sightseeing” tours. Unlike other cities where you can do this by bus, Stockholm offers the opportunity to do it by boat – which is completely more effective than using the roads as taxis are SUPER expensive!

The Hop-On Hop-Off boats are popular with cruise visitors because they offer convenient access to top attractions like:  Gamla Stan, The Royal Palace, Vasa Museum, the museums on Skeppsholmen and the open-air museum, Skansen.

How to buy tickets

The tickets are easy to buy. You can buy them online, at a ticket booth at Nybroplan or just go up to one of the jump off points and buy them in person at the boat itself. Single use tickets are available on the Hop-On Hop-off boats. The price of an adult ticket is 100 SEK, which is about US$15.88. Children between the ages of 6-11 go for half price ,and children 5 and under are free.

Don’t bother with the extra fees/add-ons, like  paying an extra 20 SEK, about US$3.18 per ticket, to get some additional perks: free admission to Gröna Lund, 50% discount to the Fotografiska, 30% discount to Aquaria and 10% discount to Skansenshop – it’s a waste of money, since you won’t be able to do this on a layover.

What to see?

Since you’re only rocking a layover, you will have to pick one of the list below – I would pick either The Royal Palace or Gamla Stan – both are great for photography and both can be weather independent.

  1. The Royal Palace
    Hop-On Hop-Off boat stop closest to the Swedish Royal Family’s official residence, The Royal Armory and Royal Coin Cabinet. Watch the changing of the guards or visit the Cathedral of Stockholm.
  2. Vasa Museum
    A pretty popular attraction, however I think warships are lame … so I didn’t do it. That being said, anything from 1627 has to be cool … right?
  3. Skeppsholmen
    If you like museums, then this would be the jump off for you. At this stop, there would be the Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities and the Museum of Architecture.
  4. Djurgården
    The boat stops by the Aquaria water museum, which is close to Gröna Lund, the amusement park. Walk across the street to Skansen, the open-air museum.
  5. Gamla Stan (The Old Town)
    The Hop-On Hop-Off boat dock serving Stockholm’s Old Town, Gamla Stan will deliver passengers to the historic cobblestone streets, cafes and shops.

Want an epic Saturday night in Stockholm? Look no further …

 2011, Sweden  No Responses »
Aug 222011
 

In every new city, I try to figure out the best way to spend my time in the most effective way possible. Here in Stockholm, I realized that finding a good night out wouldn’t be that difficult, but trying to make an epic night requires a bit of luck along with having circumstances and people go in the right way.

So to make this easier, here is a list of all the restaurants and bars that were visited

It’s incredibly easy to go bar hopping in Stockholm.

  • The city is extremely walkable
  • The weather is nice this time of the year
  • Crowds are moving with you, so you’re safe

It’s also incredibly expensive to go bar hopping, especially if you’re drinking hard liquor. So the night started at the hotel bar, where we tried Sav. Sav is this Swedish sparkling wine drink that is made in the same manner as Champagne, but of course tastes nothing like it. How could it? It’s made from Birch sap … yeah the the wood you use for your house.

This was the reaction in the bar after the first vodka/tonic, but not really the Sav.

After the first set of pre-drinking at the hotel, we were all obviously dressed up, so it was time for dinner. The vote was for Och Himlen Därtill.

Loosely translated, the name means “And Heaven as Well” and is a reference to their location at the top of a 104 meter high building with great 360 degree views of Stockholm. This is one of the taller buildings and there are no others in the vicinity to block the view.  The restaurant takes up the top two floors… the Sky Bar on the top floor and the dining room one floor down.

We had dinner in the Sky Bar and the view was spectacular on a clear night. As for the food, the menu concentrates mainly on Swedish cuisine using a lot of local produce like reindeer, buckthorn, bleak roe and truffles from Gotland. We ordered the Reindeer sashimi along with the Artic Char for dinner. It wasn’t the worst choice in the world.

Dinner was good, but the best part of dinner was the ringing of the fire alarm, since we all had to walk down 25 flights of stairs. Of course, why would all those stairs be nice, because dinner was free!! The restaurant basically accepted that they would lose money and everyone would walk out!!

So after our awesome view and free dinner, it was on to drinks at the Scandic Malmen hotel bar. The bar aims for the late 20′s market, with DJs in the bar areas and a modern design. It’s in a great area of town and was definitely a decent place to stop for a drink, even with all the non talking Swedes. One note of warning … there are these tiny bathrooms that are completely impractical.

After the Scandic Malmen, it’s on to some other random bars like Dabaser Medis, but we ended up at the Medusa Rock Bar. If you’re into old school hard rock, this is the bar for you. This place was definitely the best rock bar I’ve been to in years! Young crowd, crammed into a tiny cavelike cellar, churning out popular rock classics. Of course, in my suit in a cave didn’t make sense, but it didn’t matter!

Medusa serves many roles for its’ patrons: a nightclub, café, casino and restaurant, you can always expect there to be action here. As per music, the name pretty much says it all: expect rock, rock and more rock, plus an alternative crowd. There are completely random elements for North Americans like a stripper pole. Note all the smoke in the air :D

Did I also mention Casino earlier?? Yeah seriously. This is a thing in Sweden, that you can go to random bars and play roulette or black jack.

My Bengali dealer explained the whole rationale for Casinos or Casino games in bars. The rules go something like this :

  • 6 deck shoe
  • No hole card
  • Only Double Down on 9-11,
  • 1 Split only
  • Most shockingly – the dealer wins ties 17-19 in Sweden. Complete suckers game with house edge of nearly 9%

Of course, I played for the fun of it and promptly lost 270kr (45$ CDN), then went back to partying with the rockers!! Just EPIC! Once the bar closes at three, then you’re heading for more dancing and partying at Patricia.

Patricia is pretty much a ghetto boat party in Downtown Stockholm, but it’s a great place to bring up the sunrise! Then head back with your new friends to have breakfast at the hotel :D

There you have an EPIC Saturday night in Stockholm .. simple and easy – although your pocket book could really feel a pinch! Questions?!?

Copy Protected by Tech Tips's CopyProtect Wordpress Blogs.