Stockholm, you are beautiful! Our Baltic cruise on Royal Caribbean left and returned out of the port of Stockholm, Sweden, so when we planned our trip, we flew in a day early to spend a day beforehand in Stockholm and then spent the day once we docked back in Stockholm once our cruise was over. I HIGHLY suggest flying in the day before your cruise leaves, no matter where you might be visiting. When we flew to Stockholm, it was a little tough to get to with 2 major layovers. Our flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was delayed due to weather, so we were late arriving in Amsterdam. Since our flight was late, we missed our connection to Stockholm and were put on the later flight that afternoon. When we landed in Stockholm and went to collect our luggage, Dan’s suitcase was missing and they had NO idea where his bag was. Baggage services weren’t the most friendly and helpful, so we spent the night and half of the following day worrying/trying to locate his bag. When Dan and I pack, we actually pack half of his stuff in my bag and half of mine in his so that in the event something like this happens, both of us have things to wear, but still means we both end up losing out if a bag goes missing. Anywho, the entire point of this story is to explain why it is so important to fly in the day before your cruise leaves. If we had tried to fly in the same day, we could have missed our flights and missed the ship’s boarding cutoff time, which would have meant we would have been responsible getting to the next port which was Russia and since we didn’t have visas, we really wouldn’t have been able to meet the ship until Estonia, which was Thursday- 5 days after our ship would have left. Needless to say, fly in a day earlier and don’t put the stress of all of that on you. 😊 Dan’s luggage did end up making it onto the ship when it was delivered from the airport to the ship 1 hour before we set sail. You could imagine how nervous I was about that!

Back to Sweden- We stayed at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel. There are a couple of different Radisson Blu Hotels in Stockholm. We stayed at the one that was a little bit further from the city center. It was about a 10 minute Uber ride into the city, so it wasn’t terrible, but if you are wanting to be within walking distance of everything, you might want to pick somewhere closer in the heart of the city. We were actually right across from the train, so that was really convenient when we were coming and leaving to go to the airport.

The Arlanda Express airport rail provides fast and easy transportation between Stockholm’s Central Station and Stockholm Arland Airport. Getting from the airport into the city center is super easy since it only takes 20 minutes onboard the train. Arlanda Express departs every 15 minutes, every 10 minutes during peak hours, and services all the terminals at Arlanda Airport. Tickets can be bought at the self-service machines, the staffed counters at the station or online.  Just make sure that when you are returning to the airport on the Arlanda Express that you know what flight your terminal is located because there are different stops for the different terminals.

After 24 hours of traveling and losing our luggage, we checked into our hotel, showered, and went right to dinner since we ended up coming in much later than originally planned. We had dinner reservations at Taverna Brillo. This Italian style restaurant was so cute because it had indoor and outdoor seating with tables lined on the street. Since this restaurant was in the heart of the city, it was cool to be able to sit outside, enjoy the cool weather, and see Sweden like a local. Their flatbreads were so good! Since we only had time to eat and were exhausted after the day we had, we went back to the hotel and straight to sleep.

The next morning, we woke up early and went for coffee and breakfast as Espresso House. There are a bunch of locations all throughout Stockholm, but we picked the coffee shop on Drottninggatan (which is the main street of Stockholm). This Florida girl was loving the cooler weather, so we sat outside to enjoy our breakfast.

From there, we headed to the Vasa Museum. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been restored. This museum houses the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 right from the Stockholm harbor. Today the Vasa Museum is the most visited museum in Scandinavia, with over one million visitors a year, which means BUY YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE. That way you are able to skip the lines and go straight into the entrance. We spent about an hour at the Vasa Museum. You could spend more than that, but we saw what we wanted and were happy with spending an hour there.

After the Vasa Museum, we headed back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the ship. One of the great things about a European cruise is not only the ports of call on the itinerary but the fact that you get to sail in and out of another fun city as well! Since the ship leaves later in the afternoon and returns early in the morning, you get some extra time in the city, which is great!

On our second day in Stockholm, we were off the boat around 9 AM, so we had the entire day to spend in Sweden. We stayed at the same Radisson Blu as our pre-cruise stay, so we checked in, dropped off our bags, and were back off into the city! Our first stop was to the ABBA Museum! I LOVE ABBA! Mamma Mia is one of my favorite movies, and there was actually a Behind the Movie Magic Experience where you could see backstage props, costumes, etc that I definitely wanted to see! The ABBA Museum is an interactive exhibition all about ABBA, where you can learn all about their history, record a music video like ABBA, perform on stage, and other fun activities to participate in. I loved it and was such a different way to spend our morning. You can also buy your tickets ahead of time. I definitely suggest this if you plan to go later in the afternoon because the lines to buy tickets can get long, especially on a hot day!

After the ABBA Museum, we walked down to the water and ate at a café called Scojafeet. The food was good and tasted very fresh. They served meatballs, flatbreads, and salads, but the Swedish meatballs stole the show. This restaurant has open seating all along the water, which is really nice when the weather is pretty!

After lunch, we grabbed an Uber and headed to The Capital, which is the rooftop bar at the Scandic Continental. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, with a beautiful view over Riddarfjarden both from the bar and terrace. It was super hot when we visited, so we only stayed for one drink. This hotel was actually within walking distance to the Radisson Blu, so we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for our last night out in Sweden.

I knew one of the things I was most excited for was the ICE Bar that I had found online in Stockholm! ICEBAR Stockholm is located inside Hotel C Stockholm. This ice bar is the world’s first permanent ice bar. The interior is carved out of 40 tons of natural ice from the Torne River by ice sculptors from ICEHOTEL. Since the entire bar is made out of ice, the drinks are also served in ice glasses. With a constant temperature of -5 degrees Celcius (23 degrees Fahrenheit, it was super cold, but I LOVED it! You can buy your tickets in advance (which I recommend in case it is busy on the day you visit) but your entry #fcc3c2fee includes a drink from the drink menu and a 45-minute visit. (We actually weren’t timed or told to leave at any point since we were the only ones in there. I imagine on busy days when there is a wait, this is regulated more). All visitors get an ice cape and a pair of gloves to keep your warm. I really enjoyed this experience. Yes, it is super touristy, but it was fun to do something different while on our trip.

After ICEBAR, we had made a reservation at AGATON- an Italian restaurant and pizzeria over on Gamla Stan- one of the main shopping streets in Stockholm. I’m really happy we chose this restaurant and got to eat here. The food was SO good and tasted so fresh. Gamla Stan is the Old Town of Stockholm with tons of cafes, bars, and shops to walk through. It was a great place to spend our last night after finishing up our meal.

Stockholm was more than I had it expected it to be and definitely think anyone should visit if given the chance!

Love and Travel Dust,

Molly