Stockholm travel guide

This is our informal guide to the city, and can be a good starter for those of you who are new to Stockholm and Sweden.

Stockholm is a small city and in a few days you can cover a whole bunch of it. Nothing is more than 25 mins from something else if you stay within the “locks” i.e. the inner city which roughly covers the six neighborhoods : Södermalm, Gamla Stan, Vasastan, Kungsholmen, Norrmalm and Östermalm.

Basics

Stockholm is generally a very safe city, public transportation works very well and is all accessible via the SL app or just using your tap and go function on your card or Apple Pay.

Swedes are proud of their baking and fika is the moment to enjoy it. A fika is a Swedish coffee break, a chance to stop and chat with friends. The classic thing to get is a cinnamon bun though we are partial to the more unique cardamon bun

How-the-City-Works Explainer

Public transport works very well here. We have Uber and normal cabs (Taxi Stockholm is our favorite, they have an app). Almost every person you will meet will speak English. There are no more “city bikes” but you can rent the scooters to get around if that is your thing. 

  • Arriving at Arlanda, take the Arlanda Express train into the central station (T-centralen). It’s faster and cheaper than a cab.

  • Don’t take cash out. Most places are kort endast (card only) and haven’t seen cash in a decade +.

  • Either get the SL app for the travel card or just use your tap and go function on your cards or phone to access the buses, trams, subway or boats.

  • SL is the name of the public transport network which includes the subway (T-banna), the buses, the tram and boats. There SL boats and non SL boats so just be aware of this.

Södermalm

The working class part of the city, still is a lot more casual and easy going than the other neighborhoods in this guide. You’ll find lots of graphic designers and musicians wearing a painful amount of black and nursing hangovers in the morning. For a classic Swedish meal, we are partial to Pelikan, it has been around for over 110 years.


The nytorget area is the Williamsburg of Sodermalm, cute cafes, lots of restaurants, active night scene and decent shopping. Mariatorget is a little more chill and wholesome. For some fashionable shopping you can check out Hornsgatan and its vintage boutiques. Here is a guide. And we live in Hornstull, most low key, most residential. We like it cause it’s right next to the water and Långholmen, a lovely little “park” island well worth a walk around.

Vasastan

Located in the north west corner of the city, it reminds me most of Paris, and has the city’s best park - Vasaparken. You’ll find a terrific pizzeria here (800 Grader) and a really good ramen place, Ramen Totomo. Portal is nice fancy spot for lunch. A stroll along the top of Vasaparken will take you from Sankt Eriksplan to Odenplan and give you a nice feel for the city.

Kungsholmen

An island between Sodermalm and Vasastan, it has a lovely waterfront walk on its southern edge. Starting in Rålambshovparken you can walk east all the way to the City Hall. You can keep going and walk up the canal that loops back on the northern side of the island too. Hantverkargatan a couple of blocks inland from the lake shore has restaurants and shops.

Östermalm

This is the fancy part of town. You will see quite a lot of ladies with very blond hair, expensive shoes, fur coats and a good measure of unnecessary plastic surgery. The men tend to have that slicked-back hair look with Hugo Boss coats and leather brogues. The closest American iteration is probably the Upper East Side. 

You can walk along the harbor with a lot of the ferries, the newly renovated National Art Museum, the Grand Hotel, and one of the city’s oldest brasserie-style places, Bar Riche and its little sister Lilla Riche right next door. There is a cafe we like a lot called Stora Bageriet - great for a fika or lunch. 


This is also the area closest to Djurgården and the Vasa Museum, Nordiska Museum and Skansen. If you have a kid with you, Skansen is heaven. There is also Grona Lund which is the Tivoli of Stockholm, all rides and candy.

Norrmalm

This is the center of town. It includes the train station, the main shopping streets of Drottninggatan, Biblioteksgatan (more upmarket) and Ahlèns and the NK store. The area isn’t as charming as the other areas of town but there is still plenty to do. If you need anything basic you will probably be able to find it at either Alhèns (Macy’s of Sweden) or NK. 

The department store NK has great food court in the basement, and has Swedish gift items.

Gamlastan

The old town of Stockholm (very literaly means Old Town: Gamla means old, Stan means town). You’ll find the Royal Palace which you can visit. The most touristy part of town but there are still some gems. Iris Hantverk is a great place to pick hand made and good quality Swedish made items. The blankets by Klippan are gorgeous and you’ll find them in plenty of Swedish homes. The wine bar, Cork, is well liked and worth a visit. And for a classic Swedish meal go to Den Gyldene Freden is not a tourist trap. Best for dinner but do book.

Transportation tips

All roads (trains) lead to T-Centralen. That is the main train station located in Norrmalm. It’s a good tip to keep in mind as you navigate the subway since they don’t say whether you are heading south or north.

But you can always place yourself in respect to the center of town, i.e. T-Centralen. It’s right below the main modernist square, Sergels Torg, which is roughly the geographic center of the city. If you pop out there, it’s a little arresting (not in a good way) to first time visitors but a quick walk in any direction will get you out.

One redeeming feature of the square is the large Kulturhuset (Culture House) building on the southern side, worth a visit and has several cafes for lunch.

Morning: coffee and kardemumma bullars

The Swedes are a coffee and pastry culture, you will find lots of lovely coffee shops to choose from. Most hotels will have a nice breakfast spread as this is a thing that matters to the locals.

If you enjoy your coffee decaf, be prepared to have trouble finding it here even in the best hotels. Tea is also not a big part of the local culture though most places will have one or two options.

For breakfast at a cafe it’s bullar (rolls), viennoiserie, macka (sandwiches) and juice. At the hotels, imagine if Germany and France got together and compromised over their ideal breakfast -- that’s Sweden for you.

Culture

This list is not exhaustive, there are many wonderful hotels not mentioned below but hey we have to start somewhere. Fotografiska, the photography museum, is worth a visit. Upstairs is a terrific restaurant where you can get lunch and take in the best view of old Stockholm. I think you can book but get there early enough and a walk in should be fine.


If you have time for one super nerdy museum that has nothing to do with art or design, then go to the Vasa Museum. It is the most visited museum in Scandinavia and worth it. The Swedes sank a boat in the harbour about 400 years ago, and sometime in the 60s they pulled it out of the muck. I realize that might not sound captivating, but I promise it is.

The Swedish History Museum is worth a visit if you want a quick survey of Scandianvian history. Nordiska Museet is a strange place but has some fascinating exhibits on the Sàpmi, Swedish food throughout history and a nice museum shop. If you have kids with you, head to the Post Museum in Gamla Stan, the Spärväg Museum north of town, or the classic Skansen outdoor museum and Zoo. Junibacken for the Pippi Longström fans.

What about Kid friendly stuff?

The city is full of parks for kids to play in and they are open all year round. Turn a corner and you’ll find a park for them to play in, so I won’t give any specifics in this guide. All of the museums will have a kid-friendly aspect to them that will put to shame almost all other museums you’ve ever been too. Even the Moma (modern art museum) is very kid friendly. There is a open studio room downstairs you can go to and doodle with your kid and a colourful reading room. 


Every restaurant will have a seat for kids and every restaurant will have kid food, you just have to ask. The menu is so obvious to Swedes they often don’t make a separate menu for children. They will usually have pankakor (Swedish pancakes) or kottbullar (meatballs). Swedes feed their children pancakes at every meal – it’s their equivalent of American chicken tenders or French steak haché.

Day: Walks and Culture

The most obvious place is to walk the edge of the water is around Gamla Stan all the way to the Moderna Museet. If you do that you’ll see all the oldest part of Stockholm, the palaces, lovely hotels, the National Art Museum, the ferries coming in and out from the city and the archipelago. 

My favorite walk is on the northern side of Sodermalm island, it’s a tiny bit hidden so hopefully these directions will help you find it. Make your way to Bastugatan and turn left down a little dirt path towards the water - just follow it down, you’ll see – it’s magical


Okay last walk, head over to Långholmen (pronounced Longholmen) and walk yourselves around the perimeter of the island. You’ll see the city from the eastern side, the wooden boats on the southern side and the beginning of lake Malaren on the western side.

Outside of the center

Stora Skuggan is a restaurant in a red cabin-like building slightly north of town, right near a 4H farm, animals included. This one is a bit more of a hike but you will get a feel for what stockholmers do to get fresh air.


For a bit of a boat trip, you can take the local boat and go either to Nacka Strandan or to Fjaderholmarna. Both are great spots for lunch.


Summer only: you can kayak on the lake that sits in the middle of Stockholm. One spot to get Kayaks for a few hours is Långholms Kajak.

Shopping

Now for some shopping recommendations, really just a list:

Svenst Tenn - Swedish Hermes

Nitty Gritty (Mariatorget)

Acne (Norrmalm and Nytorget)

Grandpa (Nytorget)

Herr Judit (vintage, Zinkensdam). The whole street has lots of vintage options.

Biblioteksgatan in Ostermalm is a outdoor shopping area. 

Lots of places around Nytorget - just wander

The Galleria Mall, Mood Mall and around Ahlens on Drottninggatan.

Oh and for high end: NK 

A note on alcohol: Outside of bars and restaurants, the Swedish state controls all sales of alcohol over 3.5% beer and you can only buy it from Systembolaget and only Mon – Saturday until 2pm.

Restaurants

This list is NOT exhaustive. Just a random collection of recommendations

C = Casual, D = Great for Dinner, B = Book it

(C) Falafelbar – super casual fast falafel place, always packed with locals. Falafel in Europe is leaps and bounds better than what we get in the states. We get falafel but no mexican. 

(C) Barobao – tasty asian inspired small dish place. Fancy dishes but casual atmosphere. Located along Hornsgatan in Sodermalm, where you’ll find lots of other spots to eat and drink (Lao Lao, Babel Bazaar etc). 

(C) Totomo Ramen – maybe Ramen isn’t why you came to Stockholm, but this place is very good. Up in Vasastan. 

(C) (D) Urban Deli (also breakfast) – located in Nytorget area of Sodermalm and also in Ostermalm, it’s another great spot for fish soup (see below) and lunch. The Nytorget location is lovely!

(C) Kajsas Fisk – Its in Norrmalm in the Hortorgets area. It's located inside and downstairs of the best food market in the city - Hotorget Hallen. Kajsas is in the back and serves a delicious fish soup. You can stand in line to order and sit at the tables or short cut it and sit at the bar and order from the separate till there. That's what we always do. Don't bother with the rest - just the fish soup!

(C) 800 Grader – this is the pizza place I recommended in the opening paragraph. Its tiny but so freakin’ good. When I moved I was having paroxysm of stress that I’d have to settle for weird pizza substitutes. Nope. This place is as good as anywhere in Brooklyn.

(D) (B) Woodstockholm – It's in Söder and they change their menu every 8 weeks. When we were there they were doing a variation on super classic Swedish food. It was delicious and I liked the vibe a ton. Fantastic wine list and really excited sommelier. A bit pricey though.

(D) (B) Pelikan – I really like this place. It is a very old restaurant and they specialize in just Swedish food. Think big meatballs, mash potatoes or my favorite salt cured salmon (lax) and dill potatoes. It’s in a beautiful old building, and honestly just so worth it. You might need to book. 

(D) (B) Sturehof – This is also a bit of a see and be seen place. If you want to spy nightlife for the Ostermalm set you get a table here and watch as the bar fills up.

(D) (B) Haktet Its half bar, half restaurant and honestly the restaurant is delicious. I would highly recommend getting a table for two here and trying it out. 

(D) (B) Den Gyldene Freden classic Swedish food in Gamla Stan.

(D) (B) Fenix on Sodermalm is a buzzy place for dinner

(D) (B) Master Anders in Kungsholmen is a nice old fashion, steak frites and red wine place.