Highlights of Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪

Stockholm was at the top of my 2017 travel goals list. I’m not sure what aspect of the city had the biggest draw on me – whether it was the conglomeration of different islands and canals that compose the city center, the beautiful, preserved Scandinavian architecture, the seamless IKEA-like design of just about everything, or the incredibly attractive people that inhabit this city. It was probably a combination of all of those reasons.

I was lucky to return there in 2024 before venturing to Cape Town to visit a friend who was coming with me — so I’ve added in information from both trips in this post!

Getting There

I flew into Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Norwegian Airlines. It cost €129 for a roundtrip ticket, leaving on a Friday and coming home on a Monday. From the airport, it’s about an hour bus ride to the City Center. I bought a bus ticket at a kiosk in the airport with the company Flygbussarna, which was $24 roundtrip (slight discount if you buy a roundtrip),

The bus was comfortable, and the central station stop was very close to my accommodation.

Budget Accommodation in Stockholm

I stayed at City Hostel Central Station in Stockholm. It was clean and very well-run, with a fully equipped kitchen, comfortable beds, security lockers (bring your own lock) and fast wi-fi. It cost me about $22/night for a dorm bed. This is very expensive, but Scandinavia isn’t cheap, so don’t expect to find many better deals. Just bring earplugs to deal with sharing a room with strangers 🙂

Money Saving Tips — Budget Travelers & Backpackers in Stockholm

As previously stated, Sweden is expensive, and even more so in the capital city of Stockholm. I made sure to walk to the nearest Lidl, my favorite discount grocery store, to stock up on snacks, breakfast items and filler meals to eat when I wasn’t going to indulge in a restaurant. The Lidl prices were very comparable to other European cities. I also walked everywhere instead of taking the subway system, which I personally enjoy a lot but if you have to take the subway, it isn’t terribly expensive.

Top Things To Do in Stockholm

Vasa Museum

The most visited museum in Scandinavia is home to the impressive Vasa ship, a 17th-century vessel that sank on its maiden voyage. It’s almost fully intact, and visitors can walk around the perimeter as well as see the parts of the ships from multiple levels. The museum is chock-full of Swedish Maritime history. I really enjoyed spending a few hours here, walking around and reading the different informational postings about the ship, the crew, and the restoration process of such a massive structure.

Underground Art in the Stockholm Metro System — the Tunnelbana

This is a relatively cheap thing to do in Stockholm and a great perk to riding the subway, an otherwise boring means of transport. My photos didn’t turn out really great from my stop in the stations but check out this article in The Guardian, which has some awesome pictures of the underground art exhibits.

The Canals

Walking around the city was one of my favorite parts of my stay in Stockholm. Being surrounded by water at almost all times while still being in a bustling city is one of the coolest experiences.

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Fotografiska

This is a giant center for contemporary photography. Fotografiska is located on the waterfront in the Sodermalm district of Stockholm. I really loved all the photography exhibits and the short films that they had showing to explain some of the exhibits/showcase interviews with the photographers.

Gamla Stan

The Old Town of Stockholm, Gamla Stan, dates back to the 13th century and is full of charming, twisting side streets and beautiful, iconic buildings. I loved walking up and down in the different alleyways and getting lost in the simplistic elegance of Scandinavian architecture. This is where you can take free walking tours to learn a lot about the history of Stockholm and the older parts of the city. There are also countless cute cafes to settle into to enjoy Fika coffee and watch the crowds roll by.

Järnpojke

This tiny statue hidden around a corner in Stockholm is called Järnpojke, or the Iron Boy, known as “the little boy that looks at the moon.” It’s near the iconic plaza in Gamla Stan, and is the smallest monument in Stockholm. It’s cute and hard to find, which makes it kind of fun to wander around and look for.

Restaurants & Bars in Stockholm, Sweden

I got a lot of ideas for foods to try from this Buzzfeed article about cheap eats in Stockholm. I knew I couldn’t afford any fancy Swedish restaurants, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed every meal I ate while in Stockholm!

Swedish Meatballs at Tradition

This place was amazing. Super small and intimate, I sat at the bar at Tradition and was served by the owner himself. The Swedish meatballs with the mashed potatoes, lingonberries and pickled cucumbers were absolutely unreal. The perfect clash of sweet berries with savory meatballs was unlike any I’d ever tried before. I still have dreams about this meal. And this plus a beer was under $25.

Fika at Fjallgatans Kaffestuga

This is a tradition in Swedish culture that I didn’t know about, but I made sure to thoroughly enjoy it during my stay in Stockholm. The idea is that you take an afternoon break to get a coffee and pastry and catch up with friends. Fjallgatans Kaffestuga was cool because it overlooked a huge waterway where cruise ships and other boats were going in and out and it offered a panoramic view of a lot of Stockholm.

I stopped here en route to the Fotografiska photo museum – definitely worth a coffee break if you find yourself on this side of the city 🙂

Fika at Mr. Cake

Another great spot for Fika, Mr. Cake had a plethora of incredible desserts available, amazing coffees with cute latte art created in the foam, and a nice atmosphere. The almond croissant I had was amazing, and the coffee was the perfect pick-me-up to fuel a day of wandering around Stockholm.

Thai food at Tjabba Tha

This place was also highly recommended from the online research I did, and I will say I was not disappointed! Stockholm is one of those international cities that boasts a lot of delicious international cuisine. Tjabba Tha was a great way to satisfy my cravings for Asian food, which can be harder to do in other cities.

Phil’s Burger’s

Another awesome recommendation – I had no idea that Swedes loved burgers so much until doing some food research for Stockholm. Phil’s Burgers was super nice and happened to be close to my hostel, perfect for the first night in the city. Loved the burger, the blonde beer and the sweet potato fries. There are several locations throughout the city, and it’s reasonably priced.

Overall, Stockholm was a gem. I loved every minute that I spent in this city. I made a lovely new friend who is from Australia, and I enjoyed a lot of the time that I spent alone exploring a new place. If it wasn’t so expensive and I could actually find a job, I would 100% consider moving to Stockholm for a while, especially in the summer. The days are so long!

You can now read this article offline and get GPS-guided travel directions to the attractions featured here by clicking this link!