It’s a rainy day in Svolvaer Norway, so catching up with this blog, before doing a drive tonight to a remote location, hunting a Northern Lights opportunity between breaks in the weather.
I decided a while ago, not to endure the stress of connecting flights. Delayed legs, missing baggage etc don’t bode well for enjoyable travel, and the ever reducing service from airlines competing for trade & profits, left me with a philosophy. Try to always fly non-stop.
If there is not an economical direct flight, then find the best value connecting option, and stay overnight (at least) in the connecting town rather than fly-through.
So in this case, there was a good rate for Amsterdam to my intended destination Bergen in Norway, via Stockholm. I arrove in Stockholm mid Friday, and arranged to fly out Monday morning, 3 nights and the weekend on Stockholm’s old town, Gamla Stan.
With little expectation, I booked a room at the Victory Hotel, near the subway, and a block from all the action of Old Town. The Victory is Ship themed, each room named after a Captain, with a short bio on each. A little fun and quirky. The room was small but well appointed and comfortable, and staff were very friendly and helpful.
I managed to enjoy walking most of Gamla Stan on the arrival afternoon, getting bearings and seeing some things & places to return to.
abba-museum-selfie-opportunity
Next day was a ferry ride to Durjgarden to visit the Abba Museum and Vasa Museum. The ferry ticket seller suggested I buy a 24hr pass, 135kr, with the ability to hop on & off any public transport for 24hrs from first activation. Sounded good to me.
The Abba Museum requires booking in advance, choosing a 15 minute time slot for entry. Order the audio tour for the 40kr more, and you get the band members telling their story to you as you navigate through the exhibition.
It helps if you liked or appreciated their music, but I could guess that most music lovers would appreciate the insight to the highs & lows of recording, touring, and trying to be just people in between.
vasa-museum-stern-detail
A short walk further along got me to the Vasa Museum about lunch time, finding a long queue awaiting entry. With little better to do, I joined the queue, and found it moved along fairly quickly, helped by efficient staff taking payments and issuing tickets. I guessed it could be an hour, but it took maybe 15 minutes from about 100 meters away from the doors.
Walk through the doors, and the ship in front of you is spectacular, almost overwhelming in size. The Vasa is a sad and tragic story, told through a continuously running documentary in a large theatre to the right of the entry, & I would recommend seeing the film first, to help truly appreciate the exhibition.
This blog is not intended to be a step by step replacement to visting yourself. Enough to say, the Vasa Museum deserves it’s number 1 Stockholm attraction status.
I will happily answer questions from comments below, or private contact message.
djurgarden-outlooks
As the day was Blue and warm, I stretched my legs and walked the waterfront of Djurgarden, across the river, up through Ostermalm and back. Not a hard walk, and quite a variety of scenery.
Next day was saved for the Skansen Open Air Museum, getting there with the tail end of my 24hr pass.
Last note and travel tip, if you know you heading to Stockholm, you can book a ticket in advance for the Arlanda Express Airport Train, and save on the cost of buying tickets on arrival. At 20 minutes from airport to Centraal, it’s way cheaper & faster than a cab, and with the bus expecting about an hour, this fast train (up to 200kph) was clean, comfortable, frequent and easy to use.