Hello friends in pjs!
On my month long road trip of the Northern Europe Stockholm was by far my most favourite location of all and sadly I stayed only one day there, insert: mega face palm here. Somewhen, I wrote that I'm not much of a planner and that I like to keep a flexible schedule, I broke my own rule and bought plan ticket from Stockholm to Belgrade before even getting to Stockholm, big mistake! For some reason I thought that it's a good idea to in Stockholm only one day and that's enough, well guess what, it's not and it was a mistake. I was a long and exhausting month, don't judge me.
I'm sure you're wondering how I go from Riga to Stockholm, you're not? Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway - a got on a ferry, and yes that's not a typo in the title of this post. This was my first time on a ferry of any kind and it was fantastic!!! We got on a ferry in Riga, journey to Stockholm took 17 hours, but it didn't feel like it at all. The ferry we're one was one of those that had restaurants, shops, bars and really comfy rooms. When we got on a ferry we enjoyed chilling on the deck and observing the area, then we had dinner, walked around and went to sleep, had a wonderful nights sleep, woke up, had breakfast while enjoying the view of Swedish coast and then we were in Stockholm. That's it! It was super comfortable and easy, in all honesty, way less stressful than plane journey and cheaper, too. Our little cabin cost 200e with Tallink, given that this is your hotel room and a ride, it's pretty fairly priced.
We arrived to Stockholm early in the morning and decided to do sightseeing immediately and try to take in as much as possible of the city. Again, what impressed me the most about Stockholm was it's Old Town, I can't help it I have a soft spot for Old Towns. What I like the most about the Old Town were beautiful, colourful building, narrow cobble stone alleys and artisan shops everywhere. I was amazed with how handmade things are popular and appreciated here, also fashion design shops were just fantastic. What makes Stockholm so magical is it's canals and bridges, sitting next to the canal and observing little boats was just fantastic and we were so lucky with the weather, as well. I just regret not having enough time to take a boat tour and enjoy this view some more. The thing I enjoyed the most about Stockholm was not it's beautiful architecture, it's canals, bridges, it's the quiet peaceful atmosphere. If you're anything like me, someone who enjoys order and peace you will love it here. If you enjoy walking Stockholm seems to be a place for that, cyclists definitely have a lot of fun here, as well. The entire city is adjusted to cycling which is just brilliant. And if you're into neither, then clean, punctual public transport will not disappoint. Stockholm is one perfect little city! On top of fantastic infrastructure, people are incredibly friendly and willing to help, on couple of occasions I was stood in the street looking over my map, and each time a kind locals offered their unsolicited help. I don't remember this has happened in any of the countries I've been to before, particularly not a capital city.
The truth is that Stockholm is not one cheap place, but Scandinavian countries have this reputation anyway. A ride on public transport costs about 2e, a meal in a restaurant costs about 20-25e, a coffee will set you back good 5e. For our trip we opted in for a hotel, which was well outside of the city that cost us 80e per night, thankfully public transport being so great we didn't see this as an issue. However, my AirBnb research shows that renting apartments here is not so expensive, of course, as everything else here, they're pretty perfect. Even though, pretty expensive, I feel everywhere you get good value for money. The service everywhere was fantastic and friendly, everything was done at a high level so at least you don't feel like you're overpaying that much.
If I had to point out one negative thing about Stockholm, besides incredibly cold winters, it would be that it get extremely quiet and boring after 7pm. Everything closes very early, all the shops and so on, the moment that happens the city quiets down and practically not a single soul outside. This was a huge shock for someone coming from here from St. Petersburg and Riga which are quit lively and busy places.
So, friends in pjs, if you decide to visit lovely Stockholm make sure to charge your credit cars with a lot of euros and definitely spend there more than one day, facepalm again. And don't worry much about anything, here, everything is incredibly organized and someone will be there to help you out should you need it.
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