Cheap flights to Stockholm from PLN55*

Stockholm spans 14 islands, with more than 50 bridges. It’s got colourful old town buildings and cosy cobblestone streets, a Baroque royal palace and a Neoclassical parliament, museums dedicated to the Nobel prize, maritime travel and even ABBA, plus parks and beaches, artsy neighbourhoods and culinary delights. Sweden’s capital is stunning and stylish, exciting and relaxing, the perfect Scandinavian city break.

 

Visit Stockholm, Sweden for

A quintessential Scandinavian experience

Island-hopping is a way of life in a city spread over several, each with its own vibe. Stockholm’s old town is quaint and cobblestoned but with a grand cathedral and royal palace, while another island offers museums, parks and Ferris wheels. Swedish design is present in chic bistros doing new takes on reindeer stew and pickled herring, as well as in shops proffering local artists’ ceramic, glass and clothing creations. There’s lots to choose from in the Stockholm archipelago and beyond.

 

Island culture-hopping

Start with Stockholm’s old town, Gamla Stan, to wander the colourful streets, visit the 13th-century Storkyrkan Cathedral and the Baroque Kungliga Slottet, the Royal Palace, which has 1,430 rooms. Charming Stortorget is the main square, with the Börshuset, the Rococo former stock exchange on one side – it’s now home to the Nobel Museum. This square hosts the sparkling Stockholm Christmas market each year. From Gamla Stan you can see Stockholm City Hall across the water – modest from the outside but worth visiting to see lavish gold mosaics and the hall where the Nobel Prize is awarded. Just one island over from the Royal Palace, you’ll find the Riksdag, or Parliament. Cross a different bridge to Riddarholmen, or Knights' Islet, with 17th-century private palaces and the church where Sweden’s royals are buried. One of the largest islands, Djurgården, is worth a day in itself. Here, visit the Skansen open-air museum to experience Swedish village and farm life, enjoy the Gröna Lund amusement park, or explore the Vasa Museum, the most visited in Scandinavia, which displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship ever salvaged. And mamma mia, don’t miss the ABBA Museum, where you can virtually don costumes and sing with Björn, Benny, Frida and Agnetha. To name just two more islands you should hop on a ferry to, Södermalm has artsy shops, eclectic cafés and the Fotografiska gallery, while neighbouring Långholmen is a green oasis – and you’ll be glad to hear that Långholmen Prison is now a hotel and hostel, with a restaurant and pub.

 

Innovative local cuisine and beers

Stockholms Gastabud, near the Royal Palace, is a cosy place for quality Swedish food such as gravlax and herring, filet of moose or Swedish meatballs. Another place for Swedish specialities such as roasted reindeer is Restaurang Kryp in Gamla Stan. If you’d like to go upscale, opt for Gastrologik for a 20-course meal featuring the very best of Sweden and the Nordic countries, or Nisch, an out-of-the-way, 28-seat restaurant serving innovative twists on local cuisine. Back in Gamla Stan, some say that Kagges is headed for Michelin stardom with its bold but simple dishes, so get there while you can. Craft breweries are all the rage in Stockholm as elsewhere. Try the Swedish tradition, a shot of akvavit spiced with anise and fennel, with a beer chaser. A summer choice is Mälarpaviljongen, which floats on the water. Choose beer or fancy cocktails at the sky bar Tak, with 14th-floor views over Stockholm. Or visit award-winning local brewers Omnipollo at Omnipollos Hatt in Södermalm or Omnipollos Flora, in a green space in Östermalm.

 

Grand and local design

Drottninggatan is Stockholm’s premier shopping street, with all the international brands, plus local ones, cafés and restaurants. Not far away, you’ll find Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), Sweden’s flagship department store, with designer brands and a lower-level food hall. Nearby Mood Stockholm is a shopping centre full of small Swedish boutiques. In the super-hip district called Sofo, i.e. south of Folkungagatan, discover design and art shops such as Keramikerna, surf-inspired store 6/5/4, and high-end Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios Nytorgsgatan. And as you’d expect, there are souvenirs and handicrafts galore in Gamla Stan. As night falls, just head to Södra Teatern, a theatre since the 1800s, now converted into a complex of bars from a champagne sky bar to a beer garden outside with space for 1,000. Inside there’s live music for all tastes. For jazz, try Stampen or Fasching. Berns Salonger is a party zone with a different theme every night, or choose the Tiki Room for exotic cocktails or Bara Bistro Bar for affordable food and drink. Colosseum is a huge nightclub with a young crowd, and Slakthuset is a post-industrial, multiple-dance-floor experience with a 600-square-metre patio for dancing the white nights away in summer.

 

Vikings, royals and yachts

For day trips from Stockholm, you can visit a real Viking city, choose palatial Baroque elegance, or get out on the water, to name just a few options. The Viking city of Birka, on an island in Lake Mälaren, is a reconstructed village with period-costumed blacksmiths and weavers, or tour the actual Viking ruins in the nearby fields. Take a boat from central Stockholm for your Viking voyage. To walk through even more centuries of history, visit Uppsala, a city with Viking and medieval roots just 40 minutes by train from Stockholm. Here there are royal burial mounds, a university founded in 1477, the oldest Gothic Cathedral in Scandinavia and a vibrant coffee-shop-filled centre perfect for a fika, the requisite Swedish coffee and cake break. For a royal tour, visit Drottningholm Palace, the private residence of the Swedish royal family, on the island of Lovön, about a half hour from Stockholm. Dating from the 16th century, it’s now a Baroque masterpiece inspired by Versailles, featuring bedchambers and ballrooms dripping with gold, a Baroque garden, an English garden and a Chinese pavilion. If natural wonders are more your style, visit Sandhamn, home to the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. Named for its dunes, Sandhamn is suitable for walks through sand and forests, beaches and cliffs. In summer, try any number of water sports, while in winter, experience the quiet outdoors and perhaps chat with a local in a village café.

 

Stockholm airport

Stockholm Skavsta Airport is about 90 minutes from the city by Flygbussarna bus services, taxi or rental car. There are also local buses to the nearest town, Nyköping, and trains into the city from there. The airport has an Italian-style coffee bar with light meals and a restaurant serving Nordic specialities, a duty-free and travel items shop.

 

Stockholm weather

Most people choose to fly to Stockholm between May and September, and especially in summer, when highs are around 23°C. From mid-May through July, you can experience white nights: it doesn't get completely dark even at midnight. Winters are cold, with temperatures below freezing from December through February, and the days are very short. Don’t let that deter you, though: it doesn’t get more magical in Stockholm than when the islands are covered with snow and the sea freezes over.