A passage through Sweden

My brief passage through Sweden is part of a much wider journey made with an InterRail rail ticket, also including the crossing of Switzerland, West Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and European Turkey, with visits to many cities along the way. I reached Sweden crossing the bridge between Tornio (Finland) and Haparanda (Sweden), once a place of exchange of political prisoners between the Soviet Union and the West. Having taken the train I continued to Boden, where I changed for Stockholm. The following day, a visit to the Swedish capital, made up of a cluster of little islands linked by bridges. The main monuments are all on the same island: the Royal Palace, the Cathedral, the Parliament. Two other islands are also interesting, Skeppsholmen and the romantic Kastelholmen.

The city that has expanded onto the mainland is instead modern but the fruit of skilful urban planning with wide avenues and public parks. In the evening I left by train and the following morning, having reached Helsingborg, I took the ferry which, crossing a short stretch of sea, reaches Danish Helsingør. After this journey I returned to Sweden to pass through Helsingborg and Gothenburg both going to and returning from a trip to Norway (see OLYMPIC NORWAY). The Swedish landscape is very similar to the rest of Scandinavia, so if you have seen Norway and/or Finland you can also skip it. Stockholm certainly deserves a visit.