We are going to take you on a tour of Stockholm, featuring a detailed look at how to spend
three days in this beautiful city. Something special is going on in this Swedish capital.
Scandinavians are often considered to have the world's highest standard of living, with
Sweden occupying the top of that happy ranking and Stockholm is sometimes considered the
number one city in the world in which to live. So it figures there are many wonderful things
for the visitor to enjoy in Stockholm, a city created by a society that truly cares about
people. They really believe in quality of life, and have built a place that is one of
Europe's truly beautiful capitals. Stockholm is some kind of urban utopia - so let's go
find out what makes it so special. Stockholm offers a magical blend of efficiency and beauty,
romance and common sense all working together to make your visit extremely rewarding. You'll
enjoy some great food while you're in Stockholm, and were going to take you on some fascinating
walking tours. It is modern, yet offers some of Europe's best-preserved historic neighborhoods,
with an atmospheric mix of ancient cobbled alleys, 17th century buildings and contemporary
shops. You are going to love it! You can easily keep busy and have fun in Stockholm for three
days, but you should plan your schedule so that you cover the best things first as usual
when you travel. It's a good rule of thumb. The most worthwhile activities are a walk
the Old Town (of course); and take a boat ride around some of the city's 14 islands;
visit the reconstructed historic village of Skansen; tour the Royal Palace and the best
museums; check out the modern downtown; and walk along the great pedestrian promenade
of Drottninggatan. In your first day, a good way to start is with a visit to the Stockholm
Information Service right in the heart of downtown on Kungstradgarden, across from the
huge NK Department store. It is an extremely helpful place where the friendly knowledgeable
staff can fix you up with everything in one spot. For discount travel you can purchase
here a 3-day transit ticket, good for the metro, tram and bus lines in town. Or, for
a more expensive comprehensive option you can purchase the Stockholm Card which covers
admission to nearly all the museums, rides on public transit, a free one-hour boat tour,
discounted bus tour and other benefits. You can get it for 1 day, or 2 days or 3 days,
the Stockholm Card. Walk a few blocks to the docks in front of the Grand Hotel for a short
boat tour this morning -- a great way to learn some history while gliding through this city
of islands linked by bridges and canals. After the boat tour you want to go explore Gamla
Stan on foot. On this first afternoon dive into the most interesting neighborhood, the
"Old Town" of Gamla Stan, the cobbled alleys, the medieval city center. The narrow twisting
pedestrian lanes of Gamla Stan are lined with superbly preserved old buildings which hold
some very modern stores, so you can enjoy the historic experience while shopping! It
is the most fascinating place in town, and is a prime reason for coming to Stockholm
in the first place, so have a good look around. They just don't build cities like this any
more. Gamla Stan has been a place for commerce since the 12th century, when it was first
settled as a trading center. Because of frequent fires that kept destroying the old buildings,
they were originally built out of wood, most of the handsome buildings you see now were
built of brick and stone in the 17th century when Sweden was one of the strongest nations
in Europe. In those days Sweden was more powerful than Russia, and this island was the center
of the country. On Gamla Stan's northern edge you can visit the Royal Palace, one of Europe's
largest and most elaborate. Arrive in the courtyard just before noon for a good position
to see the spectacular Changing of the Guards, which begins daily at 12:10pm, or on Sundays
at 1:10pm. The highly decorated palace interior is typical of what you find throughout the
continent's extravagant royal mansions. And before even reaching the palace, the band
marches through downtown on a mile-long route that starts about 11:30 a.m. near the NK department
store -- so on another morning if you are in that shopping neighborhood look out for
them. The main activity in Gamla Stan is to simply walk, people-watch and shop along the
fascinating shopping lane, the Vasterlanggatan, lined with an amazing variety of little places
to spend your money. You would also enjoy a wander into those little side alleys, exploring
past centuries frozen in stone. It is much quieter a block or two from the shopping throngs
and there are an abundance of small pleasures to be found in the details of buildings, gardens
and older shop fronts. Yet another example how you can step away from nearly any major
tourist attraction anywhere you go and discover a more peaceful authentic nearby surrounding.
There is so much rich atmosphere to absorb in Gamla Stan we suggest you return for another
few hours later in the visit, perhaps on the final day. It is just a great place to hang
out, and offers an excellent opportunity for that most advanced travel technique: get lost.
When you let go and just wander you can begin to get a feeling for a place that no organized
itinerary can match. And since you are on a small island you won't be lost for long.
When hunger strikes in Gamla Stan try the series of ancient restaurants behind the 13th-century
Storkyrkan Cathedral on Skomakargatan. If the weather is mild you can sit outdoors,
or perhaps you can have a traditional meal in their medieval barrel-vaulted cellars,
which were storerooms four hundred years ago. You must see these ancient basements, even
if you are merely passing by looking for a restroom. Here you really step down in time
as you venture below street level into another world. And the restaurants won't mind Ð you
just walk in, ask if you can look around, take a look downstairs. They'd be happy to
show it off to you.Alternatively, pick from the charming outdoor restaurants that line
the Stortorget main square of the Gamla Stan, overlooking the historic Bourse stock market.
Gamla Stan is the only part of town where stores remain open late at night, and so you
will have time for browsing and shopping after dinner. That wraps up the first day in Stockholm.
You've had plenty to see and do, but get a good rest and get ready for Day Two. You could
start your second day in Stockholm with a couple of outstanding history museums that
you would really enjoy - the Vasa and the Nordic. You will want to see the 17th century
wooden warship, the Vasa, which was briefly the world's largest battleship until it tragically
sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. It was top-heavy with hundreds of wooden statues.
You can see them all, because the massive ship was rescued from the deep twenty years
ago and put on display here, they all look brand-new, with many related nautical artifacts,
and friendly knowledgeable guides who lead frequent tours of the exhibit.
[guide talks] "The Swedish king wanted to have the most effective navy, and in 1628
the Swedish Navy consisted of about 5000 seamen and soldiers, and 30 warships. The Vasa was
probably later going to sail from Stockholm to the harbor city, Gdansk in Poland, where
she was going to block the harbor with other Swedish warships, and prevent those warships
from sailing out on the Baltic Sea. And the Vasa only sailed for about 20-30 minutes until
she sank. And we don't really know exactly why she sank, but modern calculations tell
that the Vasa was a very top-heavy ship. She was heavier further up with all her cannons,
masts, and so on, then she was in her lower section. The Vasa had to run decks, whereas
the other ships only had one, and the gun ports were open. If they would've been close,
maybe the water would have never gotten in, and may be the Vasa could have had the possibility
to right herself up again. So as the water started to rush in she of course became heavier
on her port side. The ballast mostly consisted of stones which were put in the hold to add
stability to the ship, but obviously the Vasa had too-little ballast, or maybe she even
had the wrong type of ballast, because the stones that were put in the hold were quite
rounded. So maybe they should have been more angular so that they would not have moved
around so easily. Behind you you can see some original ballast stones from the Vasa under
the models, and you can see how rounded the stones are. We mustn't forget that the Vasa
is a well-built ship, and her construction is normal for warships of her time. It was
quite common that ships in this time were quite unstable, and that they also sank. The
shipbuilders in the 17th-century didn't really know how to make mathematical calculations
of the stability, and they didn't do any drawings after they built the ship. Most of these men
survived the accident but about 30-60 people died. Everyone couldn't swim and some people
and maybe got stuck under gun carriages, and so on. She sank just outside the amusement
park here nearby, Grunalund, that's nearby the Vasa Museum. And it's about 30 meters
deep there where she sank, so you could actually see the mast above the water surface."
Well you not only get to have a good look at the Vasa and its remains and its contents,
but this museum gives you a well-rounded view of life of the sailor, in particular, back
in the 1620s in Sweden. And also you gain some insight into the life of the sailors
who were on board, what happened to them, who survived and who didn't. They have got
a number of multimedia displays. There is a movie that tells you all about the salvage
and there's a multimedia presentation about different aspects of the ship's history. And
these are all original artifacts restored to their pristine condition. The researchers
are still cataloguing and studying the artifacts. You can also grab a snack or even have lunch
while you're at the Vasa Museum. They have a very nice cafeteria – you can have a sandwich
indoors or sit out on their terrace as well. It's quite a grand structure built specially
to house the ship. When you are finished here walk one block
over to the Nordic Museum, the largest collection of Scandinavian artifacts in the world. They
have tons of history on display, including folk art, handicrafts, furniture, table-settings,
clothing, interiors and a variety of changing special exhibits.
Their café features a fine salad bar, or hold off eating if you can until the next
stop.