Things To See And Do In Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden was never a place I had thought much about, or ever planned to visit.  Oh uninformed and uneducated me.  Was I in for a huge surprise.  It is gorgeous!  I can now say, that it is one of my favorite places, that I have ever visited.

We were in Stockholm for 4 days and we tried to take in and see as much as we possible could.  Here is a list of things that saw or did, that I believe are a must.

1.  Old Town Stockholm

Old Town Stockholm, is absolutely gorgeous!  It is said that parts of Old Town are dated back to the 1400's.  Beautiful cobble stone streets, darling little shops, and gorgeous architecture.  Have I mentioned, it's gorgeous?

As we walked through the streets, I felt as if I could be transported back to the 1400's, and almost hear the sounds of wooden carts being pushed up and down the cobble stone streets by different merchants.   You will do a lot of walking, so make sure and wear comfortable shoes.

2. The Royal Palace

I'd never been to a palace before, so this was high on my list of things to do.   I could have stayed and explored the whole day.  We walked through the whole thing (which took us a good couple of hours) and when we were done, I turned to Dan and said, "Let's go back through one more time."  Haha!  I can still see the look on his face.  Of course, I was kidding, but in all seriousness, I couldn't get enough of amazing the architecture.

3.  Eat.  

Food makes up so much of each culture.  Sit down and see what they have to offer.  Don't just swing through a quick diner for a regular old cheese burger.  I would highly recommend, stopping in little cafe's for a fun lunch, or stopping in a fancy restaurant for dinner.  One thing we noticed that was very different, was when we were done eating, we usually had to flag down our waiter or waitress.  They weren't trying to rush us out and give us our check as soon as they cleared our plates.  They were letting us dine as long as we desired, even if there was a line of people waiting to be seated.  

4.  The Vasa Museum

If you love history, you will love visiting the Vasa Museum.  This ship was built for the King, and on the day that it was set to sail, it sunk.  It lay in the water for over 300 years, before being pulled out and set up on display.

It's such a neat piece of history.  We were really surprised how large this museum was.  They had so many different displays and artifacts, that you could easily spend half a day here.

5.  Shop

Yes, that's right.  I said it.  Go shopping!  Granted, most of us can't buy everything we see or want.  But it's fun to check out the different souvenirs and knickknacks, as well as the different styles of clothing from each area.

After spending a couple of days in Stockholm, Dan and I swung into an art gallery and picked up a couple of pieces of artwork, that we loved and that would remind us of our trip.  I'm hoping to get them framed and hung up soon.

While on this trip, we heard someone say, "If not now, then when?"  That ended up being Dan and I's motto the rest of the trip.  I don't know if we'll ever make it back to Sweden, (even though I would love to) but at least we know that we soaked up as much of their culture as we could, and enjoyed every minute of it.

XOXO