Things to do in Stockholm
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Vasamuseet
The mighty warship Vasa, 69m long, 160ft tall and pride of the Swedish crown, set off on her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. Within minutes, she and her 100-member crew capsized and sank tragicomically to the bottom of Saltsjön. Painstakingly raised in 1961, the ship and its incredible wooden sculptures were re- assembled like a giant 14,000-piece jigsaw and housed in an amazing purpose-built space. Salvaged objects from the ship, including shoes, cannonballs and pillboxes, provide a vivid glimpse into the lives of 17th-century sailors, but none more so than the forensically reconstructed faces of the ill-fated passengers. Guided tours in English run hourly from 9.30am…
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Abyssinia
Forget what your mother said and eat with your hands at this down-to-earth gem, which serves up authentic, award-winning Ethiopian grub in Technicolor mesobs (traditional woven baskets). The multi-flavoured Abyssinia Special is unmissable (carnivorous, vegetarian or vegan option), as is the heavenly Ethiopian coffee – made to a secret recipe you’ll never know, no matter how sweetly you ask.
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Junibacken
Junibacken whimsically recreates the fantasy scenes of Astrid Lindgren’s books for children. Catch the flying Story Train over Stockholm, shrink to the size of a sugar cube, and end up at Villekulla cottage where kids can shout, squeal and dress up like Pippi Longstocking. The bookshop is a treasure trove of children’s books, as well as a great place to pick up anything from cheeky Karlsson dolls to cute little art cards with story-book themes.
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Åhléns
Looking better than ever after a revamp, this is the main branch of Sweden’s best-known department store. All the standards are here from books, electronics and homewares to cosmetics and fashion, including the store’s own very wearable label. Basement supermarket Hemköp sells ready-made vegetarian foods, while the 4th floor is home to a dreamy day spa.
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Nordiska Museet
With its flouncy turrets and neo-Swedish Renaissance looks, Isak Gustav Clason’s iconic building is hard to miss. Inside is a collection of all things Swedish, from Sami folklore to eclectic exhibitions of Swedish fashion, shoes, interiors and even table settings. The museum owns the largest collection of paintings by August Strindberg and the audio tours (Skr20) are nothing short of satisfying.
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Café Saturnus
Everyone from yummy mummies to peckish princesses flock here for Gallic-inspired baguettes, pastries and creamy café au lait. While Saturnus’ claim that it was the first to introduce Stockholm to ‘proper’ coffee is hotly contested, there’s little doubt that its kanelbullar (cinnamon bun) is the city’s biggest…and dare we say its best.
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Pelikan
High ceilings, wood-panelling and no-nonsense waiters in waistcoats set the scene for classic husmanskost (traditional Swedish fare) at this century-old beer hall. The superb menu includes an assortment of herring and cheeses and expertly roasted spare-ribs served with red cabbage and apple purée. Add huge beer glasses and you’re set for an epic toast to Sverige.
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Hermitage
All hail herbivorous Hermitage, famed for its cosy laid-back vibe and soulful veggie fare. Everyone from Stockholm students to frazzled tourists comes here for global flavours like spicy Moroccan stews and creamy cottage cheese pancakes. Indecisive types can opt for a bit of everything, served high and mighty on a gut-filling plate.
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Elverket
Best for a lazy weekend brunch, slick and cosy Elverket sits in an old electricity plant, alongside Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern’s more experimental stage. Here, a mix of Capote-styled intellectuals, gossipy girlfriends and designer dads nurse hangovers over Scandi staples, Asian extras and sinfully good chocolate brownies.
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Hermans Trädgårdscafé
The cakes aren’t always brilliant, but the vegetarian buffets here are unvaryingly fab. Get your aura glowing with soul-satisfying lasagne, stuffed vine leaves, crunchy potato wedges and Moroccan-inspired salads served in the barrel-vaulted basement or on the swoon-worthy summer terrace, complete with sea and city views.
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Roxy
Laid-back but never short on chic, Roxy draws an erudite mix of lipstick lesbians, publishing types and Söder-style socialites, all smitten with modern-Med mains and tapas treats (think soy-marinated tuna with mango). Roll in some tango tunes, the odd brusque Spanish waitress, and all that’s missing is Frida Kahlo at the bar.
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Mooncake
Stick a Hong Kong chef behind a wok and watch the crowds roll in. The inventive menu at this elegant Eastern hotspot includes crispy rösti crab and prawn cakes (Skr95) and the delicate drunken Szechuan duck with tamarind-chilli glaze (Skr237). It’s all sublime and complemented by discreet, near-perfect service.
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Chutney
Left-leaning, boho-inclined Chutney feeds the arty masses on inspired vegetarian and vegan creations like potato pancakes, coconut stews and rich mushroom ravioli. The Skr75 lunch menu (11am to 5pm daily), with its generous helpings and divine homemade breads, is good value. Wash it all down with a glass of organic red.
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Hattori Sushi Devil
Busier than a Shinjuku subway stop, this slick little sushi bar rolls out sushi so good it could make a sumo wrestler weep. The complimentary miso soup is top-notch, the fish is filthy-fresh and the artful nigiri (sushi rice with fish on top) is well worth the lunchtime queues.
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Lux Dessert Och Choklad
Little brother to Lux Stockholm, this is the haute patisserie of celebrated confectioner Ted Johansson, who devised the dessert menu for the 2005 Nobel Banquet. Throw your scales to the wind.
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Nationalparkernas Hus
Some of the best hiking and wilderness scenery can be found in the 4900-hectare Tyresta National Park, only 20km southeast of Stockholm. Established in 1993, the park is noted for its two-billion-year-old rocks and virgin forest, which includes 300-year-old pine trees. It’s a beautiful area, with rocky outcrops, small lakes, marshes and a wide variety of birdlife. At the southwestern edge of the park is Nationalparkernas Hus. Here you can discover all of Sweden’s national parks (28 at the time of research) through exhibitions and slide shows, but be sure to check out the centre itself – it’s built in the shape of Sweden, complete with all 41 corners! There are even…
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ABBA: The Museum
Despite the indefinite postponement of its opening (expect a 2010 opening due to construction setbacks; check the website for updates on opening date, hours and prices), Stockholm’s eagerly anticipated, epically hyped ABBA: The Museum is set to become one of Sweden’s major crowd-pullers, with an estimated half-million visitors annually. Housed in a converted customs building on Södermalm, the museum’s three floors will trace the supergroup’s rise to pop immortality in what promises to be an interactive, multimedia extravaganza. A series of linear, interactive ‘scenes’ will have you hanging out in the recreated Polar recording studio, shaking your booty on stage and even…
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Drottningholms Slottsteater & Teatermuseum
Slottsteater was completed in 1766 on the instructions of Queen Lovisa Ulrika. Remarkably untouched from the time of Gustav III’s death (1792) until 1922, it’s now the oldest theatre in the world still in its original state; performances are held here in summer using 18th-century machinery, including ropes, pulleys, wagons and wind machines. Scenes can be changed in less than seven seconds! Illusion was the order of the day here, and accordingly the theatre makes use of fake marble, fake curtains and papier-mâché viewing boxes. Even the stage was designed to create illusions regarding size. The fascinating guided tour takes you into other rooms in the building, where…
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Zinkensdamms Idrottsplats
Bandy matches, a uniquely Scandinavian phenomenon, take place all winter at Stockholm’s ice arenas. Head over to Zinkensdamms Idrottsplats, where watching a bandy match is great fun. The sport, a precursor to ice hockey but with more players (11 to a side) and less fighting, has grown massively popular since the rise of the Hammarby team in the late ’90s. There’s a round vinyl ball instead of a puck, and the rules are similar to football, except that you hit the ball with a stick instead of kicking it. The season lasts from November to March, so make sure you bring your own thermos of kaffekask – a warming mix of coffee and booze. For the low-down on upcoming…
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Stadshuset
Built in the National Romantic style using eight million bricks and completed in 1923, Stockholm’s iconic City Hall is home of the Nobel Banquet, held in the Italianate Blue Hall, which is in fact red. More accurately named is the Golden Hall, a glittering spectacle made with 10kg of gold and 68 million mosaic pieces. Tours of the building are fascinating, while a soulful chill on the waterside terrace (the sculptures are by Carl Eldh) is free. For breathtaking views over Gamla Stan, head to the top of the hulking tower. That the tower is exactly 1m taller than Copenhagen’s slightly older City Hall tower is no coincidence – neighbourly rivalries are hard to quench.
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Urban Outfitters
That the exterior of trendy concept store Urban Outfitters has a certain star quality is no coincidence. The building used to house the Röda Kvarn (Moulin Rouge), a gorgeous vintage picture palace. While the projectors have gone, the heritage features remain, from the decadent chandeliers to the beautiful hardwood details. Where film buffs once sat, House of Holland T-shirts sit beside Dita Von Teese art books and Bad Boyfriend Voodoo Dolls. Fitting rooms line the grand old stage behind a kitschy mock-chateau facade, and the upstairs foyers now premiere the work of new Stockholm artists. A case of clever conservation or consumerist degradation? You be the judge.
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Katarina Kyrka
Designed by Jean de la Vallée and completed in 1695, the sublimely beautiful Katarina Kyrka stands on the 1520 burial site of the Stockholm Bloodbath victims – the betrayed Swedish nobility trapped, beheaded and burnt for opposing King Christian II’s Danish invasion. The church itself caught fire in 1723. After it was restored, history repeated itself in 1990 when fire brought down the cupola. It’s since been painstakingly reconstructed using 17th-century building methods. Assassinated foreign minister Anna Lindh lies buried in its leafy cemetery. Organ music fills the church at noon on Tuesday and Thursday.
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Chokladfabriken
Cocoa addicts swear by this savvy chocolate peddler, whose head chocolatier Martin Isaksson trained at the Maison du Chocolat in Paris. Bite into the cardamom praline and you’ll be hooked. One line of chocolates features artwork by graphic designer Katy Kimbell, and the regular evening tasting sessions (Skr320, 90 minutes) are coveted affairs (book two to three months ahead). Best of all, you can kick back in the adjoining cafe and succumb to Stockholm’s dreamiest hot chocolate (made with 70% cocoa dark chocolate). There’s also a branch in Norrmalm and another one in Östermalm on Grevgatan 37.
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Riddarhuset
Admirers of architecture shouldn’t miss this 17th-century Dutch baroque masterpiece, designed by Simon de la Vallée, Heinrich Wilhelm, Joost Vingboons and Jean de la Vallée. Used by the Swedish parliament between 1641 and 1674, it still hosts the triennial Assembly of Nobles. While the chancellery houses some 300 pieces of heraldic porcelain, the real scene-stealer is the Great Hall, plastered with 2345 coats of arms belonging to Swedish nobility, as well as a precious ivory-carved land-marshall’s chair from 1625 and a beautiful ceiling painting by 17th-century artist David Klöcker Ehenstrahl.
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Hallwylska Museet
Looking as if it’s straight out of an Agatha Christie murder mystery, this kooky fin de siècle palace was once the home of cashed-up Count Walther von Hallwyl and his wife Wilhelmina, a notorious collector who took hoarding to new heights. The mansion’s lavish rooms are packed with the fruits of her labour, from 16th-century tapestries and Flemish paintings to rare silver teapots, oriental guns, vintage toiletries and even her children’s teeth. For in-depth voyeurism, join the one-hour guided tour (in English; Skr40; at 1pm Sunday, and at 1pm daily from late June to mid-August).
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