Sweden: Stockholm, Lakes and Canals

We started thinking about the trip to Sweden a year in advance. Having visited Norway, Finland and Denmark in previous years, a holiday in Sweden was almost obligatory and we knew we would certainly like it. The Mondadori Guide and travel diaries on the internet form our basis for organising everything. Booking.com is our tried-and-tested tool for choosing hotels. In September 2017 we planned the itinerary, defined the stops and booked the hotels via booking.com.

8-9-10 August 2018 STOCKHOLM - Mornington Hotel Stockholm 200.00 euros per double plus single room per night, breakfast included 11 August 2018 ÖREBRO - Hotel Hjalmar 151.00 euros triple, breakfast included 12 and 13 August 2018 VADSTENA - Starby Hotell Konferens & Spa 230.00 euros triple per night, breakfast included 14 August 2018 MARIEBERG/NYKÖPING - Öster Malma Hotell 114.00 euros the double, 68.00 euros the single, breakfast included. In December, booked Easyjet flight Malpensa-Stockholm, about 140.00 euros per person. In June 2018 booked boat tour "Historic canals tour" with Stromma, approx. 20 euros per person.

8 AUGUST 2018. STOCKHOLM

We set off in the late morning from Cassano Magnago (VA) for the very nearby Terminal 2 of Malpensa airport, where we hand over our car to the Valet of the Parkingo Malpensa car park. The Easyjet flight to Stockholm, lasting about 3 hours, is very punctual. In the mid-afternoon we arrive at Stockholm Arlanda airport where we have booked a car from Sixt via Rentalcars. With a convenient shuttle we reach the Sixt rental point located a few km from the terminal. Here we are forced to change the type of car hired because the Audi A3 they wanted to give us is too small to hold all our luggage. Paying a supplement, we hire a more capacious BMW 220 Station Wagon. Using the car's built-in navigator, we head towards the centre of Stockholm where we will stay for 3 days. The journey to the city centre should take about 30 minutes but there is a lot of traffic and it takes us longer.

We then arrive at the Mornington Hotel Stockholm. The hotel is in a semi-central position, in the sense that we still always have to use the car to reach the places of interest, located about 3 km from the hotel. The entrance is welcoming, all furnished with books that form the hotel's central theme. The young man at the Reception is super kind and quickly hands us the keys to our 2 rooms: my daughter's single room is spacious and cool while the double for me and my husband is small, suffocating and uncomfortable, with useless decorating books here too. And in Sweden we won't find air conditioning in any hotel, not even in this undeserved 4-star one.

In Sweden, this is the hottest summer of all time; it is 30°C anyway and the 2 fans they give us only partially solve the problem. As it is by now Italian dinner time, we look for a place to eat nearby. Right on the hotel's pedestrian street there are, fortunately, several restaurants of various ethnicities, precisely because there is no typical Swedish cuisine and it's not clear what on earth these people eat. Not being very fond of ethnic cuisine (we hate sushi restaurants, Thai, Mexican cuisine etc.) we choose the lesser evil: a nice Scottish pub, St. Andrew, where we have dinner with hamburgers and a Club Sandwich. We enjoy it all and so decide to go back there in the following days too.

We then return to the hotel, lingering a little chatting in the lobby with the friendly young man at reception who asks us for information about our itinerary in Sweden and offers us travel advice, even though by now, as usual, we have everything planned and booked.

9 August 2018. STOCKHOLM

After an abundant, mainly savoury breakfast at the Mornington Hotel, we set off to discover Stockholm. We park the car in front of the Royal Palace and visit both the outside and the inside. It is an austere building, with sumptuous but somewhat gloomy interiors. Not bad but we have seen better, during our previous trips.

We then visit the narrow and somewhat winding alleys of the old town, Gamla Stan, with the typical tall, narrow houses, one attached to the other. We then come out into the pretty central square Stortorget, where the fountain, the colourful houses and the building that houses the Nobel museum are located.

Right after, we move to the place we will frequent the most during our stay in Stockholm: Drottninggatan, a long avenue with many souvenir shops, restaurants and bars. It is an avenue 1 km long that starts from the historic centre of the city and ends in the elegant area facing the sea, near the Parliament and the City Hall.

Then Max and Clarissa will visit, as usual, the local Harley dealership, located on the outskirts of Stockholm, where they will buy the ritual T-shirt.

For dinner, we go to the restaurant right in front of the hotel with outdoor tables, which today, finally, has free seats, being very busy at every hour and we can't understand why. From the almost incomprehensible and expensive menu, we choose the only thing whose name we understand, namely the omelette: good but not worth the price paid of about 16 euros each. Moreover we are terribly uncomfortable: the tables are round, about 50 cm in diameter, and three of us have to eat at them; the chairs, very much in vogue here in Sweden, are uncomfortable folding picnic chairs, which hurt the bottom and the back. Then we return to Drottninggatan and buy some Churros and Donuts at our favourite kiosk.

We also buy little gifts to take home in the many little souvenir shops and then head on foot towards the sea. Here the area is very beautiful: there are the bridges, lots of water and the Parliament building. Walking in this area is a real pleasure. Finally we return to the hotel, hoping our room is a bit cooler than the previous night.

10 August 2018. STOCKHOLM

For this morning we have booked from home, via the relevant website, a boat excursion on the canals of Stockholm, "Historic canals tour". So we park the car in front of the City Hall, the departure point of the Stromma boats. The City Hall is a beautiful red-brick building resembling a castle, with a large courtyard, fountain and gardens overlooking the sea. Right in front of the building is the boarding point of the Stromma boats, with a wide range of excursions and mini-cruises.

We, for lack of time, have chosen the shortest of all, lasting just 50 minutes. However, the choice did not turn out to be the best in life, as the boat was small, old and uncomfortable. The tour is mostly uninteresting from a scenic point of view since it crosses the most modern area: you only see modern big buildings and factories. More interesting is the last part of the tour, in which you can glimpse the original House Boats, a somewhat more picturesque canal and the old town with a view from the sea.

Once disembarked, we head by car outside Stockholm to visit Drottningholm Castle, residence of the Swedish Royal Family. It is a fascinating palace overlooking the sea with beautiful gardens and fountains both in front of the castle and at the back of it.

We have a snack in the castle's outdoor café with generous slices of cake and then return to the hotel.

For dinner, we decide to go back to the St.Andrew pub, near the hotel, and here we spend our last evening in the city.

11 August 2018. MARIEFRED - ÖREBRO

We leave Stockholm and head to Mariefred, which is 70 km from the capital. We arrive and the idyllic landscape that opens up before our eyes leaves us stunned. I really feel as if I am in an Inga Lindström film (which I particularly like), where the Swedish summer landscape is exalted to the maximum. We think this is a perfect place; there is really everything we love most: there is a lake, there are many little bridges, there is a castle overlooking the water complete with a drawbridge, there are colourful wooden houses and there is lots of greenery. We should have stayed overnight here instead of just making a stopover; there is also a nice hotel with a view, which seems perfect, the Hotel Gripsholms Värdshus. We absolutely must come back.

That day in the village there is a fair with stalls and street artists. At first we stroll through the streets of the little centre admiring the colourful houses and listening to the improbable musicians who "perform" on every corner of the village. There is even a picturesque station, with old steam trains, some of which go around the village on special tracks positioned along the lakeside.

Then we head towards the nearby castle lapped by the water, following the various little wooden bridges and the fine drawbridge. There is also a romantic little peninsula with a bench, which we reach via a wooden bridge.

Then we spot a typical café with outdoor tables housed in a grandma's house-museum where we enjoy homemade cakes.

Unfortunately, however, the time comes to leave this fairy-tale place to reach the final destination of the day: Örebro. After about 2 hours we arrive in Örebro, a medium-sized town, where we have booked the Hotel Hjalmar. The hotel, comfortable, with beautiful spacious and modernly furnished rooms, is located in a strategic position, at the beginning of the pedestrian island.

In the centre of the town stands the majestic castle with a wide moat, connected to the canals that cross the town centre. There are also many nice places with outdoor tables where one could dine but, at that very moment, it is raining and we are forced to eat sandwiches from Subway. After dinner, fortunately the rain gives us a little respite and we can do a complete tour of the castle moat and the canals. Finally we catch sight of a nice place with many little lights that attracts our attention. It is the Frimis Trädgård, a large, very youthful bar, with pleasant outdoor spaces, where we drink something before returning to the hotel.

12 August 2018. ASKERSUND - VADSTENA

The breakfast at our hotel in Örebro is perhaps the best of the trip; here, besides the savoury foods, there are also some sweets. Unfortunately, this morning too the weather is not good. We hope it improves in the afternoon (and so it will be). The first stop of the day is the village of Askersund: a nice, colourful little harbour. When we arrive there, however, it is raining, so we limit ourselves to a technical stop to take a few photos of the port and the little bridge.

We then continue towards Vadstena, where we will stay 2 nights at the Starby hotel. Fortunately, in the meantime the sun has come out and the day looks promising. The Starby hotel is a beautiful hotel, with a charming central building and, to the side, ground-floor rooms, almost like an American motel. Elegant is the restaurant and the bistro with tables in the very green garden, overlooking a little pond. There is also a small Spa with a whirlpool bath and sauna. A splendid hotel, a pity it is a bit expensive; the most expensive of our trip.

The town of Vadstena is delightful. It overlooks a very large blue lake that looks almost like a sea, it is so big. In front of the lake there is a large stone castle with an enormous moat and a spectacular drawbridge. The main street of the little town is pedestrian, with many shops, restaurants, pleasant cafés, little squares and interesting buildings.

At the end of the same street, we visit the Kloster, a Gothic-style Abbey, with a museum, gardens and a little pond. It is a strange conception of a church, with even children's play corners, where we see children busy drawing, as if they were in a baby park. Unthinkable in Italy.

We then visit the castle courtyard and have a snack in a restaurant-café, Mat Från Köket, with a splendid Carrot Cake, two slices of apple cake and coffee. It is all so perfect. We also find the time to have a whirlpool in the hotel Spa before dinner.

We decide to have dinner in the same café as in the afternoon with cheeseburgers and a disgusting pizza (ketchup instead of tomato), reluctantly staying in the indoor room of the place, because of the unexpected cold. We cannot, however, resist the temptation to take an evening look at the castle and the moat, which leaves us enchanted every time we pass by.

13 August 2018. GÖTA CANAL - VADSTENA

This morning we will do one of the most interesting stops of our trip: the Göta Canal and the Berg locks (Berg Locks). The Göta Canal is a 190 km long canal that runs from Gothenburg to the Baltic Sea.

At Berg there are 7 consecutive locks, which gradually lower or raise the boats by a height of 30 metres, equal to the difference in altitude between Berg and Lake Roxen. The whole of the canal and the lock area constitutes an amazing panorama, which we will hardly forget. It is possible to walk along the perimeter of the water basins thanks to convenient wooden pontoons and to cross the locks, passing from one end of the canal to the other.

We then return to Vadstena, glimpsing from the windows a beautiful landscape with the typical little red wooden houses immersed in the beautiful Swedish countryside.

For dinner we choose a place housed in the oldest Swedish town hall, the Rådhuskällaren, where we order a very good chicken breast with potatoes.

After dinner we walk in the park situated between the castle and the lake, where there is even a nice former Swedish telephone box, now used for Book Crossing, which we have already noticed in several towns already visited.

14 August 2018. TROSA AND ÖSTER MALMA

We leave Vadstena for good and after about 2 hours we arrive in Trosa. Trosa is a small, characteristic village, crossed by a little canal. It is so pretty that it has been used several times as a set for Inga Lindström's films. It reminds me so much of Pippi Longstocking's village and I expect to see Villa Villekulla at any moment. But it is only a resemblance, since the real Pippi village exists, but is not in the area. We walk along the lively central street characterised by houses with nice gardens and flowers at the windows.

There are also lots of stylish cafés, unfortunately many already closed since the Swedish summer season must already be over. At the end of the village there is the dock with the little port. There we notice a café still open and take advantage of it. We get back in the car to go to the Öster Malma hotel, which is in Nyköping, only 30 minutes from Trosa. The road is amazing: we are in the middle of the Swedish forest and have to watch out for animals that can pop out at any moment. Indeed a fawn crosses the road in front of us, but it was still at a certain distance and did not represent a danger.

The hotel is in a completely isolated position, overlooking a little lake. The central body consists of a small castle, surrounded by buildings used as annexes, reception, restaurant etc.

There is even a wildlife park, with the typical animals of the area: moose, deer, herons, pheasants etc.

Our 2 rooms are in the annexe and are very spacious with a large bathroom. Unfortunately the restaurant is inexplicably closed for dinner and we are too far from the nearest town. However, they suggest we order cold game dishes at reception to be consumed in a small lounge of the annexe.

15 August 2018. SIGTUNA AND RETURN

We have reached our last day. We have a decent breakfast in the hotel restaurant, now finally open, and then take one last stroll near the lake, taking a few photos. What peace there is here!

But unfortunately we have to go, in the afternoon we have the return flight. First, however, we treat ourselves to the last stop in the town of Sigtuna. Even when we arrive here we realise that this place deserved more than a simple visit. We should have stopped for at least one night. Sigtuna is on Lake Mälaren, with its beautiful lakeside, the port, the little houses, the central street with the shops and cafés: in short, all the things we like. Near the port we are struck by a place housed in a fishermen's building that recalls an Abruzzo trabocco, Boothuis Kroeg & Bar.

But the time has come to go to the airport, where we deal without difficulty with the car return and boarding procedures. The flight is punctual and even the baggage delivery at Malpensa is strangely quick. The Parkingo valet arrives in a flash with our car and so we are home earlier than expected. However, we already have an irrepressible desire to plan a second trip to Sweden to visit the places we haven't seen and to revisit, calmly, the ones we liked most.

DANI, MAX AND CLARISSA