Boatside sightseeing in Stockholm

April 25, 2009

in Living in Sweden,Stockholm,Travels,what to see in Stockholm

There is nothing like a sunny day in this city to bring everyone outside. Especially when it’s the sunniest and warmest day we have had so far this year –about 20 degrees C (68F). From along the water at Gamla Stan to Sergels Torg to Kungstragarden, the streets were jam-packed with people of every age, size and shape. It was good to be out, especially since I was lucky enough to get to go out on a friend’s boat. My friend Mary and I were picked up at Nybroviken, directly in the center of the city and flet a bit like rock stars to be taxied around in such a cool manner.

We made our way along the Baltic past Skeppsholmen, an old military island where you can still take classes in how to craft a wooden boat or see modern art at its finest. Next we passed the island of Djurgården – the king’s game hunting island in days of old. Now you can go to the classic  amusement park of Gröna Lund where wonderful roller coasters and other rides are charmingly packed into a relatively small space or you can also go to the Vasa Museum, a fantastic museum that is home to a real warship and a great story. In brief, the Vasa set sail in 1628 only to sink before making it out of the harbor. The ship spent the next 333 years under water and then somewhat miraculously, the Swedish Navy managed to pull her out of the water in one piece. Now we can all see this fantastic warship and the museum is one of the most populat tourist destinations in town.

Continuing on our tour, the lovely buildings of  Strandvägen were next in our sights and then we made our way under Djurgårdsbron (a bridge to Djurgården) and along the lovely canal that leads into the more open waters of the Baltic. As the boating season is just starting, we pretty much had the canal to ourselves and we all felt extremely lucky to be out and enjoying the spring-like weather from the water. For a break, we stopped at Fjäderholmerna (the feather islands) just outside of town and had a mini picnic there. Again as the season is early, we had had the place to ourseulves and it was fantastic to wander around on our own. The boat trip felt like a perfect way to welcome in spring. My thanks to Jodi and Doug for the excursion!

{ 2 comments }

1 Steph May 3, 2009 at 16:25

Sounds fantastic! Would have liked to have a day on the water but our time was limited. Still, next time I guess! Glad you had a fab day! 🙂

2 Sam and Sophie May 4, 2009 at 17:24

We loved riding the rollercoasters at Grona Lund when we visited Stockholm. What a fun place to visit!

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