{"id":3627,"date":"2015-04-14T15:11:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T14:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=3627"},"modified":"2015-04-14T15:11:50","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T14:11:50","slug":"10-reasons-to-visit-stockholm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/10-reasons-to-visit-stockholm\/","title":{"rendered":"10 reasons to visit… Stockholm"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first started planning my trip to Stockholm, I didn\u2019t know exactly what to expect. I\u2019d heard from everyone that went there that it’s a beautiful place, but had no specifics so I thought I\u2019d do a bit of research \u2013 I\u2019m an avid planner so I enjoyed the planning of the trip every bit as much as the trip itself. Below are 10 reasons why you should consider this great Scandinavian city as your next holiday destination.<\/p>\n

1. Gamla Stan<\/h3>\n

This is the first thing you\u2019ll find online about Stockholm. It\u2019s the old centre of the city and is located on a small island. Actually, Stockholm is formed from more islands split by canals but they are very well interconnected. This district is a really special part of the city with colourful architecture, narrow streets paved with cubic rock, tall churches and last but not least, great caf\u00e9s and restaurants. Just put down the map and get lost on the lovely streets, looking everywhere around you. When you get tired, have a break at Fabrique \u2013 amazing coffee and pastry.<\/p>\n

2. Pastry<\/h3>\n

Oh, Swedish pastry. I intoxicated my Facebook friends for the whole length of my trip with photos of the delicious pastries that this country makes. If you have to try something from the Swedish cuisine, ditch the IKEA meatballs and go for the great, cinnamon or nutty tasting pastry. Have it at breakfast, with a creamy coffee (what the Swedes call \u2018fika\u2019) \u2013 guarantees a great start of the day. What am I talking about, have it any time you want and try ALL the varieties.<\/p>\n

\"Swedish<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Observatorielunden<\/h3>\n

For a nice view over the city, go to Observatorielunden – it’s a park on\u00a0a hill next to the Old Stockholm Observatory. From there, take a nice walk through Norrmalm’s streets, it’s a lovely area with shops both local and international. For a coffee break, go to Espresso House on Drottninggatan, one of the best decorated places I’ve ever been – great coffee and tea too!<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Hammarby Sj\u00f6stad<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roughly translating as Hammarby Sea City or Hammarby Lake City, this is a very modern and new area of Stockholm and is part of the S\u00f6dermalm district. Go there in the morning or even afternoon, perhaps to see the sunset as the area is surrounded by water and canals. You can then take the boat to return to the centre.<\/p>\n

5. Skansen<\/h3>\n

Skansen is the world’s first open-air museum, founded in 1891. Here you can stroll through five centuries of Swedish history, from north to south, with a real sense of the past all around in the historical buildings and dwellings, populated by characters in period dress – according to their website. It was a really great place to see, especially as it started snowing while we were there \u2013 a very good reason to refugee in an old style caf\u00e9 and have home-made pastry and sweets.<\/p>\n

\"Skansen<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Swedish people<\/h3>\n

They have a lot of style, that is for sure. That reflects in their clothes, shoes, bags, decoration and anything that involves design, really. They are discreet, not very outgoing but friendly. If you are the kind of person that likes to get to know the locals you will have to put some active effort into it – try renting a room in a flat hosted by locals.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0The Stockholm City Hall<\/h3>\n

The City Hall\u00a0has an interesting building (with an interior garden) and location, next to Stadhusparken, which is a park surrounded by water. As long as you are there, check out the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel; it looks very cool.<\/p>\n

8. Rosendals Tr\u00e4g\u00e5rd<\/h3>\n

Next to Skansen is Rosendals Tr\u00e4g\u00e5rd (Rosendal’s Garden) – an open garden, which wishes to present biodynamic (organic) garden cultivation. We didn’t get to go there, but apparently they have a caf\u00e9, plant shop and bakery, so what\u2019s not to like?<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0S\u00f6dermalm<\/h3>\n

One of the hipster districts of Stockholm, with a creative and relaxed vibe, offering a variety of Swedish fashion shops, vintage stores, galleries and design stores as well as well decorated caf\u00e9s and bars. Here are also two of the best viewpoints in the city: Fj\u00e4llgatan and Monteliusv\u00e4gen.<\/p>\n

10. Architecture<\/h3>\n

All around the city, I never\u00a0laid my eyes on an ugly building. The Swedes have a great sense of what looks good and that reflects in everything. Interesting colourful buildings, wonderfully refurbished old ones. We particularly found the roofs worth a look at so if you are into that, be careful not to trip while looking up all the time.<\/p>\n

\"Stockholm<\/a><\/p>\n

Blend in with the locals – learn\u00a0Swedish with\u00a0uTalk<\/a>\u00a0so you can order pastry and coffee or even just to say \u2018hello\u2019 or \u2018goodbye\u2019. Everyone in Stockholm\u00a0speaks very good English, but nothing compares with the feeling of seeing that smile on their faces when you use the local language in a casual conversation.<\/p>\n

Ioana<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first started planning my trip to Stockholm, I didn\u2019t know exactly what to expect. I\u2019d heard from everyone that went there that it’s a beautiful place, but had no specifics so I thought I\u2019d do a bit of research \u2013 I\u2019m an avid planner so I enjoyed the planning of the trip every … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[385,97,18],"tags":[411,198,46,1072,826,1073,353,57,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}