Stockholm in Winter

We set off for Stockholm with high expectations, but although we saw some truly impressive things, we could not shake off a feeling of underlying disappointment. It had been described to us as the first true Nordic capital, but the more southerly Amsterdam seems to me to correspond much better to that description, where the number of characteristic buildings is absolutely greater in quantity. Indeed, in Stockholm, despite its heart, the little island of Gamla Stan, being one of the most intact medieval centres in Europe, partly because of the countless ugly souvenir shops, partly because all around it few old buildings remain compared with the many big blocks dating from the 1960s...

in short, the atmospheres we had so expected to find, we simply did not feel them, especially considering that the city is built on 14 islands, one expected so much magic! Perhaps it also depended on the period when we went. Here too we were curious and full of expectations, and instead: no charm coming from the few hours of daylight (by 3 pm it was already dark), nor even beautiful winter landscapes with snow or frozen water. Anyway, let me move on to some practical advice. We arrived via Ryan Air at Skavsta, an airport about 1 hour 20 minutes by bus (Flygbussarna line) from Stockholm Central Station. The buses run ONLY in connection with arriving and departing flights, so we, who arrived late in the evening and preferred to sleep at the Hotel Connect, 100 metres from the Terminal exit, the next day could not leave before 11.30, thus wasting half a day or perhaps a whole one...

considering that museums and churches generally close at 4 or at most 5. This is something I find very serious and typical of the Nordic countries visited so far: everything closes early... and the museums even earlier, exactly the opposite of the much-maligned Italy and Spain! To tell the truth, though, even on this we had no reason to change our minds, because many museums are open until 8 pm at least on Wednesdays... but we were not there on that day of the week and could not appreciate it! Back to the bus: remember that the return journey starts from inside the Cityterminalen, where there is a sort of check-in through 2 glass doors.

I made and printed the tickets from Italy, at a price of about 32 euros return, and with these, which do not force you to choose precise times in advance but are clearly indicated on the site, you go directly onto the coach, without queueing again at the ticket office. Once in the city I found a tourist office very close to the Station, where I collected our 5-day StockholmCard, bought through the site at about 112 euros each, which includes museums, churches, public transport and even a boat trip on the Royal Canal. The card seems expensive, but just for public transport, which we used extensively and which costs a lot individually, it is not. Then, although museums, as I said, close early, perhaps because we are anyway thorough when we travel, we managed to cover and far exceed the initial outlay.

In Stockholm we slept at the Hostel Dalagatan, very nice and cheap, near the centre, well connected by bus and metro, with a supermarket open (a miracle!) until 10 pm and the possibility of using a well-stocked communal kitchen and taking free tea, coffee or hot chocolate. The only downside: our room was too close to the kitchen, where in the evening some young people shouted until late. Before leaving, I had made myself a detailed list of museum opening hours and guided tours with their times, and I organised myself accordingly, leaving the open-air Skansen museum and the Vasa museum for Monday, as they were the only ones open that day.

It must be admitted that Stockholm, unlike cities loaded with works of art such as any Italian city, offers a very large number of well "packaged" museums and also of things strange to us, like the Dance or Alcohol museum, so especially with the card in hand, there is really plenty to choose from! So we visited the City Hall, where the Nobel dinner and ball are held every 10 December, the Royal Palace, made up of various parts, the Cathedral, the Nordiska Museum, the Medieval Museum, the Photography Museum, Skansen, the Vasa, the Biology Museum, the Aquarium, the Royal Palace of Drottingholm, the Hallwyll collection (a noble house with incredible art collections), the National History Museum and the Globen.

Among these, the truly incredible one is the Vasa, a galleon that sank 25 minutes after its launch at the beginning of the 1600s, completely recovered, restored and displayed in the last century in this museum built practically "around" it: tremendous and truly UNIQUE. Also remarkable are the heavy kilo gold jewellery and the medieval sacred sculptures, housed in the beautiful History Museum. Skansen, the world's first open-air museum, occupies an entire hill and is covered with many authentic structures brought from all over the country: churches, farms and typical buildings. The customs, costumes and ancient crafts are represented, with costumed re-enactors from various eras, and the typical Nordic animals and the Lapp village are not missing either. A brilliant idea and a context arranged and set up to perfection.

The only flaw, which I even complained about to an employee, is that, not having gone at the weekend and, moreover, being guilty of going in winter, we found only a third of the structures open to visit... the rest was all barred, but the PRICE WAS FULL, and, I swear, if I hadn't had the card, I would have kicked up a real Mediterranean fuss!!! Long live Italy and long live Spain! I had read that some metro stations are as beautiful as an open-air museum: we deliberately toured many of them, in some moment of tiredness, and honestly, it is a gross exaggeration! Overall I can still say that, as expected, public transport is efficient, life is much cheaper than in Norway, the food is not bad and it is worth using your debit card directly both for spending and for withdrawing a little cash for small expenses.

Perhaps in summer we would have appreciated this city full of greenery more, who knows!