Results tagged “4 days in Stockholm” from eat drink one woman

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ITINERARY 2, DAY 4: Sunday

Get on your bikes and ride east along beautiful Strandvägen for brunch on your last day.

Museum time: Vasa Museum

Photo by Flickr user Telstar Logistics, CC licensed

I'm not much of a museum person when I travel.  Most of the time, I'd rather interact with people food than art.  But the Vasa Museum is pretty special.  It's basically a giant wooden ship from the 17th century that floated out to sea tiny bit and then sank to the bottom of the sea.  They fished it up in the 50s mostly intact and built a big museum to house it.

What I love most about it is that it's the biggest tourist attraction in Stockholm, and it's basically a tribute to a one of the biggest FAILS in nautical engineering history.  It's like an allegory denouncing the sin of pride.

There's not much to it.  You basically walk in, walk around the big ship, and then you're done. If you ever played pirates as a kid, you'll love it.  If you're not into big ships, you'll feel ambivalent about it.  But you kind of have to see it.  It's a nice, quick hit. 

Lunch and fika: Rosendals Trädgård

I don't know why I saved this for last.  Rosendals Trädgård is probably my favorite spot in all of Stockholm.  I've written about it before here, but it's a very different place in the spring and summer.  It's a big complex smack in the middle of Djurgården, Stockholm's Central Park.  A set of converted greenhouses sit at the top of a hill, surrounded by farmed land and a small apple orchard.  The warmer it gets, the louder the flora colors are -- first come the crocuses and the then tiny grape hyacinths, then feathery tulips,  then apple blossoms, then lilacs, then jasmine, then lilies, as well as all kinds of flowers I don't know the names of.  Nature in Sweden can be so aggressive -- the flowers have two, three months to bloom and they sure do procreate like they mean it.

The organic gardens around the complex provide the cafe with emerald lettuces and beautiful, jewel-colored vegetables.  If no one is looking, you can even gather a handful of smultron, or wild strawberries, from the fruit patch.

I missed the blooming of the apple trees this year, but I hear that a picnic in the orchard as the blossoms start to rain petals down is about as close to heaven as you can get.
 




And the food is wonderful -- organic and locally sourced for the most part, with emphasis on hearty, farm-fresh ingredients dressed with a light hand.  Sej, a firm white-fleshed fish, is served sauteed with crispy hunks of bacon and fresh potatoes. Vegetarian soups like beet with cumin and creme fraiche or vegetable are full-flavored and filling without being too heavy. 

Order your dessert and coffee with your meal so you don't have to wait on line a second time.  I love the cream cheese frosted carrot cake and the perfectly creamy-dense chocolate kladdkaka with whipped cream.  I could eat kladdkaka every day.

Don't forget to hit the butik, where you can get really delicious marmelades like carrot with Persian spices or saffron fig to smuggle back, along with their bakery's breads and cookies for the plane.

Rosendals Trädgård
Djurgården
T-bana: Kungsträdgården

Have a safe flight home!

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ITINERARY 2, DAY 3: SATURDAY

Weekend Brunch: Djurgården

Sleep in a bit - it's the weekend!  Pick up some bikes from the nearest bike station and head over to Djurgården's Blå Porten, which I've also written about here.  Carbo-load on refined smörgåsar like croissants with brie and vegetables or multi-grain buns, or butter-soaked tosca raspberry cake and thick slices of cardamom cake.  Those who are ready for something a little more substantial can also order cooked entrees from the If you love the colorful Lotta Kühlhorn trays they use there, you can get them at the Liljevalchs art museum next door.











Or if it's raining and you don't feel like getting soaked in the garden, you can try Flickorna Helin & Voltaire a little up Rosendalsvägen.  A few rustic, dark-stained wood tables and booths fill the corners of the inner room.  Try the gubbmacka, a classic country open-faced sandwich made with sliced, hard-boiled egg draped with a few anchovy fillets over ruffly lettuce and buttered, syrup-sweetened dark bread.  Two chives recline over the composition like slender antenna, adding just the right amount of sharpness with each bite.  It's pretty badass.  I also love the enormous face-sized chocolate meringue, a sugar bomb that you'll want to wash down with a nice, bitter cup of black coffee.

Blå Porten
Djurgårdsvägen 64
T-bana: Kungsträdgården
No reservations required

Flickorna Helin och Voltaire
Rosendalsvägen 14
T-bana: Kungsträdgården
No reservations required

Post-brunch bike ride

If you don't have time to ride outside the city center, you should definitely do this inner-city loop.  Djurgården can be a totally magical place, even if the weather is uncooperative.  I ride around here as often as I can.  In fact, there is nothing I enjoy more than to eat something sugary and then take off through the lush green park.

Djurgården is the former hunting ground for the royal family.  These days, Djurgården and the rest of the royal grounds are owned collectively by the Swedish people.  The grounds are extremely well-cared for, perfect for the constitutional walks Swedish people like.  There are very few hills and plenty of well-marked bike lanes; just don't get your tires stuck in the tram tracks.  Take the main drag all the way past Skansen*, past Gröna Lund, and go east towards the marina.  Loop back up all the way along the tree-lined canal.  

If you're out at the right time, you'll pass horses flicking their tails peacefully in the grass.  Dozens of black-faced sheep graze just an arm's distance away; ambivalent red cows stand guard over their frolicking calves. Swans and fuzzy swanlings glide, while gray geese sit staunch on the banks, unperturbed by the crunch of bicycle tires on the gravel path.  Sailboats cut across the water, past mansions and cottages, all of them adorned with exuberant flora in rich Gauguin colors.  The air is unbelievably fresh and crisp.  My co-worker says that being out during a rain or post rain is best for exercise because there is so much oxygen in the air.  I am not sure if this is some kind of sour grapes compensation, but I would like to believe it is true.

Once you get up to the northeast corner of Djurgården, cross the road and ride through the tall grasses of Ladjurgården.  There isn't a ton to see here, but it is a lovely place to zip around.  It's very easy to spend two hours just exploring the park.  If you need to trade in your bike, there is a single, very popular station down at Gröna Lund.

Thirsty?  Let's head down the east side of Gamla Stan and make it back over to Söder.

Afternoon libation: Mosebacke

Mosebacke is a fine place to do a little people-watching while sipping on rosé, the summer refresher of choice.  It reminds me of Harry's at Water Taxi Beach, only it is sitting on a cliff high over the water.  They also have one of the finest views of the city in all of Stockholm.  On a nice day, the place is packed with RayBan sporting hipster kids.  The menu is quite limited to a few items like chicken Caesar salad and roast beef with potato salad.  It is generally uninteresting, so I don't recommend it, unless you're starving/too drunk/having too much of a good time to go anywhere else for food.

A good option for a snack (if you are somehow already hungry again) is the Nystekt Strömming kiosk down by Slussen.  This busy little cart sells freshly fried herring with all the fixings - pressgurka, vinegary cucumber salad,  crème fraiche, slivers of red onion and parsley, all piled on crunchy knäckebröd.  Fresh and clean and delicious.  And utterly authentic.

Mosebacke
Mosebacketorg 3
T-bana: Slussen

Nystekt Strömming
Cart outside the Slussen T-bana
T-bana: Slussen 

Now that you have had a nip of tipple, let's get back on the road!

Afternoon bike tour

You can pick up bikes in several City Bikes stations near Slussen.  Curve down the swirl of ramps and take the path towards Söder Malarstrand, which is a lovely bike path by the water lined with ships-cum-restaurants/hotels/nightclubs.  Curve down to Hornstull Strand and ride all the way until you reach Tanto Lund.

I'm not exactly sure what the history of Tanto Lund is, but it's like a teeny village of elven summer houses with some of the prettiest flower gardens in all of Stockholm.  This area is quite hilly, so you might have to get off the bike and walk around a bit.

Take Ringvägen's wide bicycle path all the way around Söder until you reach Skanstull.  Turn up Götgatan a bit here and you'll get to your dinner destination.

Dinner: Pelikan or Thai Boat

Pelikan is another one of those places that everyone in Stockholm loves.  It's an old Södermalm pub that has been around since the 1600s - well, the pub name has been around; the pub itself has moved locations many times.  

This claimed 17th century heritage feels genuine, though - it's easy to imagine time standing still here, with plenty of impassioned meetings taking place over long glasses of ale and artery-clogging dishes.  The Pelikan room mixes masculine and feminine elements together evenly. Hard, angular, dark wood booths ground the huge room's high walls.  Male waiters in white shirts and black vests glide around the chatter-filled room, which is noisy but not painfully so.  The gentle light filtering in through the huge windows mixed with the candlelight at the tables and the warm beige color on the walls lights everyone's faces up in the most romantic way.  A little gilded art deco mural of a monkey in the jungle climbs the wall, and a single playing card is knifed into the 20 foot ceiling.  Otherwise, the room is quite bare of decoration and garnish.

The food is again classic husmanskost, quite heavy. The best dish was cider mustard-glazed "schweinehaxe", a grilled pork neck, thick and unapologetic -- imagine Tony Soprano's fatty, meaty thugs as pigs and you've got the picture.  Meatballs here are tough nuts and a little liver-like - perhaps venison or moose in the mix? - not my fave. You can only get the pytt i panna after regular dinner hours, at the end of the night - I don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

Plenty of seats in the main hall, which means we were able to get a table without a reservation.  It's also a good place to accommodate large groups.  I actually ran into an old friend from New York whom I hadn't seen in two years, which only added to the feeling that we were being transported in time.

If you're tired of husmanskost, though (which, given the fact that you have only been here for three days, seems unlikely), you can always try the Thai Boat, which is parked in the summer down past Skanstull.  It's literally a boat docked on the south end of Söder, serving surprisingly fair Thai food.  I especially liked the steamed sea bass with raw garlic and cilantro.  The occasional live band plays on a sand-strewn stage, and fresh-from-Thailand immigrants pack the outdoor bar area.  It's a lovely place to sit and be raucous when the weather is nice.

Pelikan
Blekingegatan 40
T-bana: Skanstull

Thai Boat
Kajplats 300 at the end of Östgötagatan
T-bana: Skanstull

Late evening: Hang by the water

Make sure you check out a few bikes before 10pm.  My buddy Niklas called me and convinced us to ride over near Djurgården to drink with him on his friend's two-level boat - CHIC.  Three skinny cabin bedrooms, beer and cider in the fridge, it's the kind of place where I would totally put out under the right circumstances.  Who knew I was such a Hamptons ho?

We sat around and spent a lot of time debating America's merits and demerits with Swedes who wanted to know what America really thinks of them (the honest truth - they don't think of Sweden very much at all).  Company included a dude with one wonky Simpsons eye and a Mike Tyson face tat, though his lack of chattiness was probably the most intimidating thing about him.

But say you don't have a friend who has a friend who has a boat.  You can also ride over to Strandbryggan and have a little seaside cocktail there, or Josefinas, another pricy beach furniture boite by the water.  I haven't been, but it's been recommended to me a few times.  Lots of bland but pretty people in the pictures, but you can't go wrong sitting out at Djurgården.  Ride safely, and don't forget to return your bikes by 1am.

Strandbryggan
Strandvägskajen 27
T-bana: Kungsträdgården

Josefinas
Galärvarvsvägen 10
T-bana: Kungsträdgården

And after the show, it's the after party

Oh, you still want to go out?  My friend Klara tells me the hot party in town right now is Trädgården, an outdoor party which takes place under the Skanstull bridge.   Catch the club kids before closing time at 1am.

Trädgården
Hammarby slussväg 2
T-bana: Skanstull

*No Skansen on either itinerary.  I think it's very missable.  Unless you must see a deeply depressed elk up close.

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ITINERARY 2, DAY 2: FRIDAY

Breakfast: home
Okay, we're packing in a lot today, so keep up.  If you need breakfast, have something light at home.  I suggest the Vanilj hjortron äpple (vanilla cloudberry apple) yogurt from Valio with muesli.  Or you can pick up a little smörgås of bread, butter, cheese, cucumber and red pepper from any cafe.  Or just a little coffee and away we go!

Food halls
Stockholm has a couple of food halls worth exploring.  Östermalms Saluhall is the classic food hall in the fancy part of town.  I went there on my first week in Stockholm, and it's worth checking out if you're in the area.  The building is pretty, filled with wood stalls and lots of little ready-to-eat food shops and raw ingredients.  But I think it's also a bit touristy.

I prefer Hötorgetshallen, which happens to be close to my work.  This was traditionally more of a market for the people, but it is also expensive.  Still, expect to find stacks of smoked fish, cheeses, breads, reindeer loins, and a handy Systembolaget, as well as excellent takeout like my favorite, a Turkish meze stand where you can get three types of meze for 69 SEK.  (I always get a bit of parsley and coriander crusted salmon, a scoop of thick yogurt with zucchini and garlic, and a scoop of mashed, roasted eggplant and peppers.)  The produce stall is stupid expensive, but they do sell lots of frozen wild berries like smultron (alpine strawberries) and hjortron (cloudberries).

The outdoor market on Hötorget's square is actually just like the fruit carts on the street in New York -- not local, and the strawberries have probably been shipped in from Germany or Spain.

Farmer's markets here are really hard to come by, which is a shame because that's always my favorite part about a city.  If you're here for the three weekends in August and the six weekends from August to October that they're open, you can check out the Bondens egen Marknad site for details on where they set up.  I haven't seen them yet, so I can't say whether or not they're good; I'm always out of town when they're open. 

Stockholm, you need more farmer's markets!  You of the hälsotallrik and the färskpotatis obsession!  Seriously, it will change your life.

Lunch: Hötorgetshallen, Kajsas Fisk
Stand online and squeeze into a table in the dark, low-ceilinged Hötorgetshallen stand -- it's part of the experience.  I recommend a round of the fisksoppa, mystery mix fish soup, with a little bit of aioli and a healthy scoop of the harissa by the counter.  Filling and fortifying with some buttered knäckebröd.  Skip the fried calamari, which is heavy and greasy.

Post lunch: View from the water
Get a one-way ticket on the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing boat, which is 100 SEK.  This may sound cheesy, but it's really nice to stand at the front of the boat for an hour and see the city from the water.  You can also use this ticket to gain entry to Gröna Lund, where you should stop if you're into amusement parks.  I think there is also a cheaper price for one-way rides, with which you can see the entire loop.

Dinner: 2 options: Matsalen ($$$$) or Max ($)
If you've got a little cash to burn, go to Mathias Dahlgren's Matsalen.  It's one of only two Michelin 2-star restos in Stockholm, and it was one of the most giddy, tingle-inducing meals of my life.  It deserves its own post, so hang in there for the review.  But make your reservation now!

If you're running low on cash, try Max, the classic burger chain from the north of Sweden.  Northerners are real union people (think Detroit), and the chain is famous for having shut McDonald's out of the market up North, where the locals refused to support it.  I'm not going to say the burgers are good -- the patties reminded me of White Castle burgers, without the slime -- but the fries with dipping sauce are excellent.  And then you can say you supported the local Goliath-tumbler.

If, you're on the Max option and your friends are on the Matsalen option, you'll have some time to kill, so it might be fun to check out a movie.  Cinemateket, which is currently closed for the summer until August 17, is the classic Stockholm arthouse movie theater.  You could also try Zita on Birger Jarlsgatan.  If you want to see something mainstream, check out SF Bio. [Disclaimer: They're owned by the people who pay my rent.]

Dancing: Cliff Barnes Restaurant

This place was described to me as "not classy by any means, but a good place for people of a certain age who are too old to go dancing all night."  Music starts promptly at 11pm and ends promptly at 1am.  We walked from Matsalen up to Norrtullsgatan, really not knowing what to expect.

From the outside, the place looks a little bit like a high school; the patrons outside could have been nicotine-addicted moms and dads discussing parent-teacher conferences inside.  But when we walked in, the bouncer asked us to wait for a moment until some patrons could clear out of the rowdy, overcrowded room.  You could feel the humidity and heat pulsating from inside.  And the best part was that every single person in the room was singing along at the top of their lungs to Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer".  When he unhooked the rope to let us in, here's what the bouncer said:

BOUNCER: Okay, there are only two rules.  No dancing on the tables, and no opening the windows.  You can dance in the window or on the chairs.  Have fun and be nice.

And sure enough, there was a lot of chair dancing, a lot of fun, and no air circulation.  Lots of radio hits from the 80s as well as a few Euro tunes we had never heard, but that everyone else knew the words to.  Also, there was very little rhythm to be found anywhere.  But plenty of people jumping on each other's backs and falling over.  In a very benign, clumsy way.  Seriously, nowhere in Stockholm are there more drunk-ass nerdz making total uncoordinated fools of themselves and not giving a rat's ass.  Francis and Raymond stared slack-jawed in disbelief for an hour.  It's really a slice of life spectacle you have to see to understand. 

RAYMOND: If you had told me what this was going to be like, I wouldn't have believed you.

Cliff Barnes
Norrtullsgatan 45
T-bana: Odenplan

And after the show, it's the after party
If you are STILL up for partying, you're going to have to go without grandma.  Everybody usually winds up at Berns or Spy Bar in Stureplan with the rest of the kids at the end of the night, because they stay open til 5am, at least on the weekends.  You ain't in Berlin, people.

I haven't been to Spy Bar, so I can't say what it's like.  But Berns is part of the Berns Hotel, and if it weren't filled with teenagers trying to get their liquor on, it would be quite a beautiful place.  I went there early in my stay in Stockholm and had a great time doing my early 90s booty grinds alongside kids who may very well have been half my age. The main ballroom is  huge, with high-ceilings, wood paneled walls and elegant lantern-shaped chandeliers.  During the winter, the second-floor terrace stays open while they blast the heat lamps.  Not very environmentally friendly.  The snow sparkles in the floodlights, and the crush of bodies and the lamps form a heat shield that melts the flurries of snow on contact.  It's pretty spectacular.

Tomorrow, we get some physical activity in, so drink a lot of water before you go to bed.

To recap: So you've got four days in Stockholm and you want to make the most of it.  Or you're hosting two sets of guests for four days each and you don't want to do the same thing twice.  Here is The EDOW Guide to Stockholm in 4 Days, 2 Ways.

Itinerary 1 can be found here.

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And now, onto the second itinerary!


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ITINERARY 2, DAY 1: THURSDAY

It's funny, I think Winnie and Francis missed each other by about 30 minutes.  Francis and Raymond had an early afternoon arrival and were offered the same snacks chez moi.

Get a bike


Photo by Flickr user Let Ideas Compete, CC Licensed

Welcome to Stockholm!  If I were you, I'd get a City Bikes card right away.  Since you'll be here for four days, I would recommend getting the full season card, which is just 200 SEK (the 3-day card is 125 SEK).  You can go to the Tourist Center in T-Centralen to get a City Bikes card, or go to an SL office at Slussen, Fridhemsplan, or a number of other stations.

The City Bikes system is easy -- you get a card, and you can borrow a bike from any of the many stations around the city.  When you're done riding around, you can leave the bike at any station you can find -- doesn't have to be the station that you borrowed the bike from.  The system is not as big as the Paris bikeshare program, but it's big enough for Stockholm. 

The maximum time you can keep a bike out for is three hours.  The website currently says you can borrow from 6am to 6pm, but actually, they've extended the hours and you can now borrow bikes till 10pm (which means that if you borrow a bike at 10am, you can keep it out until 1am.)

If you keep a bike out for longer than three hours, you get a strike against you.  Two strikes and you won't be allowed to borrow a bike anymore.  If you keep a bike out for more than five hours, you automatically get kicked out of the system.  

All of the bikes have small wheels with a quick-release adjustable height seat, so they work for shorties and tall folk.  We didn't have any trouble getting bikes or finding a free spot to drop them off. Make sure you check your bike before you ride off, though.  While they're supposedly serviced all day long, Francis got one with faulty gears.

Du Gamla, Du Fria

 
This is a good time to walk around Gamla Stan, peeking in at Ye Olde Shoppes and buying reindeer skins if you must.  Gamla Stan means Old Town, and that's pretty much what it is -- all cobblestoned streets, health-inducing hills and sherbet toned buildings.  I don't know, Francis quite liked it, but it doesn't really do much for me.

When you're done, borrow a bike from the Gamla Stan station and ride north along the water, out past the Norstedts building, across the bridge, and up to Vasagatan. This is one of my favorite bike routes in Stockholm, especially at sunset. 

Ride up Vasagatan and follow the bike lane all the way to Torsgatan.  Take Torsgatan to S:t. Eriksgatan and drop your bikes off at the S:t Eriksplan station.  Walk through Vasaparken and down Dalagatan to get to the restaurant for dinner.

Dinner: Melanders Fisk
Melanders Fisk is a good place to start up on the fish and potatoes.  Pictures and my previous write-up about Melanders is here, but I think it's worth mentioning that the gravlax is special -- a coral origami fan of silky, cool fish adorned with a feathery frond of dill is served with a metal dish of hot, cream-enrobed new potatoes.  Divine.  Francis's method was to wrap one of those hot nuggets into a cool lox stole.  The majskyckling, corn-fed chicken, with summer truffled risotto is rich and earthy.  The fish stew I loved the first time wasn't as good the second time.  Go figure.

Melanders Fisk
Dalagatan 9R
T-bana: St. Eriksplan
It's not a super busy place, so I wouldn't say you need a reservation, but you can make one just in case.

After dinner: Music


Photo by Flickr user Bixentro, CC licensed

Okay, so actually, I took Francis and Raymond to Debaser Slussen, but since we already went there on itinerary 1, let's try any number of bars on Söder instead.  Pet Sounds Bar is popular with the indie rock crowd.  The walls are covered in glossy black rectangular subway tiles, giving the place a dark but clean feel.  Pompadoured and star tatted younguns lean their narrow, black jeans-clad hips against the barstools.  The bartenders make really interesting cocktails, including one with apple juice, lemon, and Żubrówka, a grassy Polish vodka.

If you want to stay in one place the whole evening, you can actually eat dinner here instead.  I have only eaten there once, but I remember the food being quite good, especially a gorgeous salad with crunchy pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses and chunky lego cubes of walnut-capped blue cheese.



Pet Sounds also has an intimate basement venue where DJs spin when indie rock heroes like Broken Social Scene and Lykke Li aren't playing.  

The whole operation is super sophisticated in a quintessentially Stockholm way.  I mean, imagine getting a composed salad with mixmaster cocktails in a high-design room at the Mercury Lounge.  During the day, check out Pet Sounds's museum of obsolete portable aural devices across the street.

It's also good to check out who's playing at Hornstull Strand, a big venue down by the water.  The young and beautiful cram themselves in wall to wall when international artists like Deerhoof and The Whitest Boy On Earth roll through.

Södra Teatern sometimes hosts interesting local acts.  I saw everyone's favorite Swedish ladies a cappella choir with one of the best band names ever, The Sweptaways.  As an added bonus, it's high on a hill overlooking the best view of the water in the city center.

If indie rock's not your thing, or if you're too old to stand all night with malnourished whippersnappers, look up Cirkus's schedule.  It's a big theater with a restaurant attached sitting in the middle of Djurgården.  There are plenty of seats for your weary gams, and David Byrne and Grace Jones played there this year.  But Chippendales and Cats are also playing there, so take it for what it's worth.

And if you are a REAL party pooper like me, you can just park your ass at home and hunt for Ulla Billquist clips on YouTube all night.
 


Pet Sounds
Skånegatan 80
T-bana: Medborgarplatsen

Hornstull Strand
Hornstull Strand 4
T-bana: Hornstull

Södra Teatern
Mosebacketorg 1-3
T-bana: Slussen

Cirkus
Djurgårdsslätten 4+45
T-bana: Kungsträdgården, but you are better off cycling or taking the bus

 

Getting to and from the airport:

If you're flying from Arlanda, you can take either the Arlanda Express train, which is 250 SEK and takes only 20 minutes to get to T-Centralen, or you can take the Flygbussarna bus, which is 110 SEK and takes 45 minutes and drops off at T-Centralen or a few spots in Stockholm.  I prefer the bus because it picks up and drops off practically in front of my apartment.

You can pay for either with a credit card -- it's cheaper to buy a ticket in the station for the train, and it's easiest to buy a ticket on the bus.  A reminder, the bus does not take cash, so make sure you have a credit card.  If you take the Flybussarna bus on a Saturday, take advantage of the special 2 for 1 price. 

I don't recommend taking a taxi from the airport -- it would cost you approximately 500 SEK, or about $75, and it won't get you into the city any faster. 

If you're flying from one of the smaller RyanAir airports, like Skavsta, your only option is the Flygbussarna or the RyanAir bus, which drop you off at T-Centralen. 


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ITINERARY 1, DAY 4: THURSDAY

If it's a travel day for you, make a little time to get to Cafe Saturnus for a cardamom bun, which I've written about before. Make sure you get the cardamom bun, not the cinnamon bun.  Believe me, you can make a meal (or two) out of one bun.  Avoid the omelettes, which are fried to a greasy crisp.

Cafe Saturnus
Erikbergsgatan 6
T-bana: Östermalmstorg
No reservation required

If you still have a little time, I recommend a nice walk down Birger Jarlsgatan to the water, then over to Skeppsholmen, a quiet little island trimmed with wooden piers and docked sailboats.  Pretend you're at the Pompidou when you walk by the Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely sculpture garden.  Pop into the Moderna Museet, which many Stockholmers say is the best art museum in town.  Tuck into a light lunch of soup or a curry chicken smörgås at the outdoor tables on the pebble patio.

Thanks for coming to Stockholm!  Hope you enjoyed your stay!

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What was that?  You didn't like that?  Looking for something more active, with a little more nightlife?  Let's face it, I'm the wrong gal to take you on a boozy spin through the club scene.  But Itinerary 2 kicks it up a tiny bit, so hang in there.

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ITINERARY 1, DAY 3: WEDNESDAY

Okay, I'm going to cheat here a little, because there was some overlap here.  The only person who'll notice is Winnie.  Anyway, inner monologue, pretend I didn't say anything.

Södermalm

I'm not going to use the H-word, but if you live in the lower east quadrant of Manhattan, or anywhere in the BK, you'll want to hang with your people on Södermalm.  If you didn't blow all your kronor on Norrmalm yesterday, you'll want to save some for the boutiques in the area known as SoFo (South of Folkungagatan, or We-want-to-be-like-New-York-and-who-could-blame-us). 

Nitty Gritty and Grandpa are favorites round these parts, for men and women's dead expensive streetwear, but there are also some great little vintage shops and furniture shops you can salivate in.  Just walk around, get lost and chase your wallet down the street.

The people watching is fab here.  The men have perfected the look that preppy look The Sartorialist loves and that Wburg metros sometimes try at -- the brushed and gelled Cary Grant hair, the popped collars, the little cardi, the aviators, occasionally accessorized with the non-ironic thin mustache.   And the women can be alien gorgeous, all swan neck and flamingo legs in denim and converse with blond bouffants and red lipstick.  

LUNCH: MACKOR
Swedish mackor, or sandwiches, are fantastic.  I love the morning macka of cheese and vegetables on bread, but lunch sandwiches are fantastic, too.  I still don't know what the difference between a smörgås and a macka is.    
 
Try Louie Louie, my friend Klara's favorite cafe in SoFo.  I haven't been, but I trust her.  I'm never down here during the day.  Or, if the weather's nice (that's the Swedish refrain, sing along with me!), walk west along Hornsgatan all the way to Hornstull Strand.  Far, far, west, you'll find Cafe Vurma, an adorbs little cafe with the menu handwritten on the wall, offering sandwiches with cute, hard-to-pronounce names like Rugguggla, Fjant and Snyggve. 

Pick up solid sandwiches like a vegan falafel sandwich on oat bread, excellent frosted chocolate cake, and, of course, coffee.  Take your sandwich to go and sit out in the park by the water.  If you're lucky, Friskis och Svettis (Fresh and Sweaty gym, the NYSC equivalent) will be holding outdoor aerobics classes so you can laugh at the uncoordinated Swedes at no additional cost.  One warning -- if there's a long line at Vurma, it will take you FOREVER to get your sandwich. 

COCKTAIL HOUR: Eriks Gondolen or Debaser Slussen (or both!)

So say it is 5pm and you are tired of all of the stripes and dangling cigarettes and skinny jeans.  Then take the elevator in the big glass office building up to Eriks Gondolen, a skinny little cabin in the sky where you can have well-prepared cocktails and a pretty fantastic view of Stockholm in all its earthy pastels against chalky gray sky glory.  If it's nice out, go all the way up to the top, where you can have your cocktails on the roof; like drinking at the top of the Empire State.


Photo by Winnie Yang

The uniformed bartender makes a well-balanced Pimms Cup, if a little heavy on the garnish (totally okay by me, as I like my cocktails like "fruit salad", as my friend Malin says). 

A few general notes on Stockholm life:

• I feel very safe here (knock wood).  Walking around late at night is fine in Stockholm, even under bridges and through tunnels that I would normally avoid in other big cities.
• Walking is the pastime of choice here in Sweden, to be indulged at least once a day, and the after dinner stroll is the best one. There are plenty of excellent walking paths -- just look for all of the walkers.  Those gaggles of gray geese nesting on the grassy banks may be cute, but be careful -- I hear they can be quite aggressive.
• Everyone pays for everything with credit cards.  Though foreign transaction fees can add up, you can rest assured that you can pay for almost anything in any amount with a credit card.  Also, servers have no problem splitting a bill nine ways on nine credit cards. 
  
• Tipping is discouraged by the locals.  Servers are paid good wages, and locals don't want you to ruin the no-tipping thing for them.  10% is very generous on a nice meal, but rounding up to the nearest hundred is sufficient.  Tipping for drinks is unnecessary. UPDATE: My friend Anna, who used to be a waitress, says this is a misconception. You should tip, maybe up to 10%.  Leave a few crowns of change for your drinks.  General consensus still seems to be tip lightly, so follow the lead of the people around you. 
  
• Generally true, but not always true -- expect Stockholmers to want to split the bill exactly as ordered.  So if I had two glasses of wine with dinner but you had one glass, I would be expected to pay more than you.  Makes bill time fair but a buzzkill.
• Lunch is a very social activity.  Nobody eats at their desk.  That means that lunch can be an excellent deal in Stockholm (about 80 SEK or $10) and usually includes bread, salad, coffee and sometimes even cookies.  If you're looking to save cash, eat out for lunch and eat in for dinner.
  

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ITINERARY 1, DAY 2: TUESDAY

Shopping!

If you are shopping for Scandinavian design, there are plenty of places to burn through your money.  July and February are GREAT times for sales in Stockholm -- much merchandise goes 30, 50 and 70% off.  Those sales make high end design actually affordable.

For clothing, I like PUB, a small but well-selected department store in Hötorget.  It is a bit like Barney's Co-op, but with housewares as well.  The top floor features lots of young Scandinavian designers, including Carin Wester, Ann-Sofie Back, Camilla Norrback, 2707, and my absolute favorite, Designers Remix by Danish designer Charlotte Eskildsen.  The first floor also has lots of Scandinavian faves like Acne, Rodebjer, Whyred, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Mads Nørgaard and Nudie.

Weekday is the spot for Cheap Monday jeans, the unbelievable painted on denim skins favored by fat free Swedish youth.  I can't rock them, but maybe you can.  Winnie bought a great ready-to-wear Carin Wester dress from the Weekday on Götgatan in Södermalm, which has a broader selection than the Weekday on Drottninggatan and Kungsgatan. 

NK is the Barney's of Stockholm.  I like the Scandinavian corner, with lots of offerings from Malene Birger, Dagmar, Rodebjer, Hope, Acne, etc.  The bottom floor also has a great kitchenware shop and a food hall. 

Filippa K (pronounced Filippa Ko) has boutiques near NK and on Götgatan.  Her clothes tend to look terrible on me, but I like her cool temp color palette. 

I am a fan of Acne's ugly beautiful clothes, so I would recommend seeing the flagship store on Hamngatan in Norrmalmstorg, right by the Filippa K.  I have to admit, though, that I bought a dress from them and I've been too chicken to wear it.  You really have to own it to make it work.  The store has a chic dressing room that used to be a vault.  You will probably also get to see this guy working there.  (For cheaper, previous season stuff, try Acne Archive on Torsgatan.)  

While in Norrmalmstorg, you can also visit the nearby Marimekko shop for the Finnish label's high quality home textiles as well as clothing, accessories, and more.

Speaking of Finnish design, Winnie went to town on a sale at Ittala boutique on Götgatan, the Finnish glass and ceramic designer whose beautiful and very usable pieces everyone has here.   

Stockholm turned me into a label whore!  If you see me wearing weird Swedish duds, though, rest assured I bought them 50% off or more.  (Except for the one Acne dress I'm still not entirely sure about.  But one day, someone will invite me to the right party for it.)

LUNCH: Vete-katten

I am not sure what Winnie did for lunch on this day, but I would recommend Vete-katten.  They have a labyrinthine and quaint kafferum, or coffee room, which is tricked out to look like grandma's parlor.  Try classic Swedish smörgåsar (sandwiches) on house baked bread or baked potatoes with skagen, the shrimp dill mayo salad.  (Sounds a little strange, but trust me, totally delicious.)  What you really want to save room for, though, is coffee and dessert. 


Photo by Winnie Yang

My favorite choklad biskvie in Stockholm can be found here -- an almond paste macaroon is topped with a mound of chocolate buttercream and dipped in semi-sweet chocolate to form a little coolie hat you crack with your teeth. 

If you are lucky enough to be in Stockholm around Fat Tuesday, you must get the semla, a cardamom yeast roll filled with almond paste and chantilly cream.

Vete-katten
Kungsgatan 55
T-bana Hötorget

DINNER: Kvarnen
Kvarnen is one of those classic old Stockholm pubs from back in Södermalm's days as a working class hood.  It's a popular spot for Hammarby football supporters, so don't go in wearing somebody else's scarf unless you want to get your ass kicked.  Otherwise, don't be intimidated -- it's more Sherlock Holmes than Cheers.  The gorgeous, high-ceilinged room has black and white hexagonal floor tiles, funny sculptures mounted on the walls, old wood booths, and lots of stained glass.  


Photo by Winnie Yang

At some point during my stay, I turned from herring-hater into herring-lover.  Which is good because Swedes can really knock the herring back, at least during the holidays.  The smör och sill sampler at Kvarnen is excellent, four types, served with boiled fresh potatoes, knäckebröd (hardtack? rykrisp? hard bread?) and Västerbotten cheese.  Their matjessill, which you have to order separate from the sampler, was the best I have had so far, sweet and salty spice-cured herring served with minced red onion, chives, sliced hard-boiled egg and potatoes in a pool of brown butter. Such sexy texture.  Don't forget to get an ice cold snaps with your herring -- I like Hallands Fläder, but you can go for the classic O.P. or Skåne.

Husmanskost, or classic Swedish comfort food, really sticks to your bones.  I like to imagine old school Swedes eating a huge meal like this with pitchers of ale, passing out at the end of the day, and waking up in the morning to chop down trees in the snow.  As long as you have a hearty appetite, you'll appreciate the cream gravy moistened älg Wallenbergare (elk burger), served with sugar snap peas and mashed potatoes.  The stekt strömming (fried herring) was beautiful, strewn with diced beets and capers. 


Photo by Winnie Yang

Pytt i panna is my favorite kind of dish -- it's like an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink hash, topped with a fried egg, which you spoon up with slices of cooked beets.  It's the kind of dish you only want to eat at a place you trust not to throw past-due horse meat in.  Unless past-due horse meat is your thing. 

Warning: if you show up early for dinner, pace yourself -- hefeweizen comes in a glass you could give birth in.  In fact, if you can really run yourself ragged during the day, you'll feel a lot better sitting down to a meal this heavy.

Kvarnen
Tjärhovsgatan 4
T-bana: Medborgarplatsen
Reservations not required in the summer, but call to make sure

After dinner, take a long, digestive walk back to wherever you're staying, preferably over some hills or along some water. 

So you've got four days in Stockholm and you want to make the most of it.  Or you're hosting two sets of guests for four days each and you don't want to do the same thing twice.  Here is The EDOW Guide to Stockholm in 4 Days, 2 Ways.  I'm guilty of being an over-planner, but I like filling my time and I assume other people do, too.

Here is a map that I will be adding to as I write the content.  (I am so good at this travel guide shit, somebody should pay me to do it.  Toot toot.)


View 4 Days in Stockholm in a larger map

Neighborhood stereotyping:
Stockholm is an archipelago made of lots of little islands that trickle out east into the sea for hours.  There are five main islands in the inner city.  Clockwise from the top, it goes Norrmalm, Djurgården, Södermalm and Kungsholmen, with Gamla Stan as the little eyeball in the middle. 

Norrmalm consists of, from left to right, Vasastan, the city center, and Östermalm. Vasastan is like Park Slope -- young families, quiet, lots of good restaurants.  The city center, near T-Centralen, is Midtowny, with Drottninggatan, a main shopping drag, the biggest department stores, and lots of office buildings.  Östermalm is the upper east side and Soho, swanky, boutiquey and expensive for the most part.

Djurgården is the former hunting grounds of the royal family.  It is a gigantic, gorgeous park with marinas, tons of excellent cafes, a huge amusement park and a funny little Ren-Fair-like village called Skansen.  This island is one of my favorite spots in the whole city.

Södermalm is the East Village, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. If you seek hipsters, you will find them here.  There are lots of great restaurants, bars and music venues here, of course. You get the best panoramic view of the city from the hills on the northern part of the island.  This part of the city has working class roots, so there are lots of classic pubs for the people.

Kungsholmen is where City Hall sits.  I don't actually know that much about Kungsholmen.  It's a pretty place to cycle around, and I've been to a couple of good restaurants there, but it's a bit more quiet and residential.  I do my grocery shopping there because they've got Fridhemsplan, a magic little corner with a bunch of grocery stores.  Not that interesting for visitors (unless you are Winnie Yang), but good to know if you are moving here.  

Gamla Stan is the tourist vortex.  It's pretty, and my guests thought it was interesting. I've only walked through once, and can't say it did anything for me. I generally ride around it on my way to Söder.

General tips for visitors:
 

• Stockholm is a reservations kind of town.  Book your tables in advance. 
  
• Everyone speaks English here.  In fact, everyone speaks vernacular-perfect American-English.  So don't be shy about calling and just launching into English.
• Hope you like fish and potatoes.  The Swedes do.  And so do I.
  
• The city shuts down in July, so if you're here in July, you may find a lot of places closed.  Not all, but a lot.  The restaurants listed here are all open, though. 
  
• Taxis are stupid expensive.  Still, don't bother with the long term train card.  You can pretty much walk to get everywhere.  Even better is the incredible City Bikes system.  The city is wonderful at bike speed, with lots of bike lanes and a good number of city bike stations.  At 200 SEK for the entire season, it can't be beat.  Especially since the advertising that paid for the bike system is completely lost on you.
• Eating out is expensive here. If you are on a budget, do as the locals do and eat picnics in the many parks.  But remember that you can't get cold bevs at the Systembolaget.  Folköl, beer that is up to 3.5% alcohol, is available at grocery stores all the time, though.
  
• It may rain.  Check smhi.se for fairly accurate local weather.  Bring a raincoat.  But don't be deterred by the rain, either.  It tends not to pour.  Just be a viking and get out there and do what you would normally do.
• That said, try to come for the summer.  Summer is pretty spectacular here.  Why see the city when it's less than its best?
  

ITINERARY 1: Made for Winnie, who came from Monday afternoon to Thursday morning.  Winnie just got back from El Bulli and was looking for a taste of life in Stockholm, but nothing too fancy since she'd just blown a wad of cash in Spain.  She was also pretty beat from running around San Sebastian and had some work to do, so we kept it pretty light.  Since it was a weekday trip, I also couldn't indulge in late night partying.  Winnie doesn't cycle, so we didn't have any bike trips.  Not that grandma would have, anyway.

ITINERARY 2: Made for Francis and Raymond, who came from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning.  The two of them were up for anything, and were really pliable to whatever I suggested.  Since they were here over the weekend, we had a few late nights (at least, late for me) and I was able to do more tour guiding.  They had just come from Berlin and were keen on bicycling, so we got to see a lot more of the city.  Francis was also willing to do a fancy hit with me, so this itinerary offers one upscale restaurant visit.

ITINERARY 1, DAY 1: MONDAY


photo by Winnie

Settle in and have a snack.  Winnie had an afternoon arrival.  If I'm not going to be home to greet guests, I like to make sure there's a nice variety of snacks available for them when they first arrive.  They should at least be able to have a bowl of cereal.  I'm always ravenous when I get off a plane.

After a snack, walk around the city. If you're in Vasastan, check out the brief but lively Rörstrandsgatan for good shopping, cafes and eateries.  Or if you are in Söder, walk up Götgatan and South of Folkungagatan (SoFo). 

Dinner: Tranan
This cozy Vasastan bistro is everyone's favorite place to eat in Stockholm.  Golden candlelight bounces off of mural-painted walls and red and white checked tablecloths.  The noise level is  pleasant -- no disco woofers and just enough room sound that you can hear the Skål! at the table next to yours but not the details of the conversation.  The menu offers a good variety of updated Swedish classics.  When the bread basket comes around, make sure to get a few pieces of the amazing black bread.  It's sweet and almost chocolate cake-y, shot through with spices and hazelnuts and all manner of delicious things.  I have no problem with slathering butter all over a piece of chocolate cake-like bread.


photo by Winnie

Try sikrom toast, pictured above -- a chicken egg-sized scoop of yellow whitefish roe is served with butter-fried toast points, red onion, chives, sour cream and lemon.  I could make a meal of it.  Yumz.  Meatballs, served with the classic accompaniments of rårörda lingon (sugared lingonberries), pressgurka (sweet pickled pressed cucumbers) and mashed potatoes, are some of the best in the city.  They aren't always on the menu, but they're always available.  And the stekt strömming is a classic example of breaded, fried herring, highlighting its fresh sweetness.  But skip the tomato salad -- I have yet to have a properly sun-ripened tomato here.  I know it is a little early, but we were able to have some in Italy in May that were divine.

If you are here in a month other than July, you can also try Bar Tranan, attached to the restaurant.  Hand-written chalkboard menus offer lovely girly cocktails like champagne with elderflower syrup.  The dark wood and candlelight create a convincing pub-cave effect.  The electronica DJ can be a bit assertive with the volume, but you shouldn't come to this bar to have an intimate chat.  Grab a booth against a wall and watch the young Vasastan peacocks and mantises check each other out.

Tranan
Karlbergsvägen 14, Odenplan
T-bana: Odenplan
08-52728100
You can also book tables through their Web site

(OMG, writing up this whole itinerary is going to take me forever.  I have already missed an two hours of sunshine today and I only got through one day.  Gah!  Bear with me!)