Where to travel from Stockholm for 2-3 days?

July 15, 2006 10:27 AM

What are some good side trips from Stockholm?

At the end of August I'll be travelling to Stockholm to visit my American friends who have just moved there. I would also like to travel somewhere nearby. I will probably do a two or three day excursion on my own and a weekend trip with my two friends/hosts.

Ryanair flies to Riga, Latvia, Kaunas, Lithuania and Gdansk, Poland. Ferries go from Stockholm to Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. How are Goteborg and Malmo?

Where are some entertaining places to go by myself and with my friends? I'll probably do tourist things by myself midweek and either outdoor activities or tourist things with my friends on the weekend.

posted by Frank Grimes to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

I love Malmo and spent a decent amount of time there, mostly to use the trainstation which took me to Copenhagen. I would certainly recommend doing that, as it's a 20 minute or so ride and there's so much to do and see there! Go to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, drink some fine beer and enjoy the city. I would also suggest hitting up Helsingborg in Sweden and taking the ferry over to Helsingor and seeing Kronborg Castle, the land (the original castle of Shakespeare's time is no longer there, though Kronborg is pretty old) where Hamlet takes place. The grounds are beautiful, there's usually a lot going on in the summer and it's an awesome day trip. Helsingborg has a lot of shops and is also a really cool city...there's lots of stuff to check out.

I've only driven through Goteborg, so I don't have much advice as far as that goes. My uncle used to live in southern Sweden, in Svalov, and I've spent a good amount of time there. I would also recommend, if you want to do any swimming, to check out Landskrona, which is beautiful, as well as the isle of Len or Lan (I can't remember)...you can rent a bike and bike all over it, swim, eat, etc.

Now I'm jealous! I miss Sweden more than any place I've ever been, I think, so have a great time! I can't be of much help with the other countries as I've not explored that much of Europe, but hopefully this was slightly helpful. :)
posted by nonmerci at 12:14 PM on July 15, 2006

My favorite place in Sweden was the Luleå Archipelago. You can get to Luleå by train from Stockholm. SAS also flies there. (I've done both, and I'd recommend the train. It's a stunning trip). Depends on what you are looking for though. I found the north of Sweden to be very unspoilt, quiet and beautiful.

It's been a few years, but my favorite short excursion from Stockholm was a boat trip to the Pripps brewery. I can't find any information on whether they still do that though.
posted by Otis at 12:18 PM on July 15, 2006

The archipelago off Stockholm is truly beautiful. You can drive from the city and then take a water taxi to one of the larger islands. The Northern parts of the archipelago (that Otis mentions) are more rustic, but you can't go wrong no matter where you go. There are thousands upon thousands of islands off the coast and they're all just amazing.

Water's quite cold though . . .
posted by aladfar at 4:58 PM on July 15, 2006

I would also like to add that the whole of Skane, to me, is beautiful. Additionally, Bastad, on the Eastern coast of Sweden if memory serves, is a great little town with a lot of cute shops. When we were there last in the summer there was an arts-and-crafts festival with tons of Swedish artists selling their numerous wares. It was awesome.

Tyco Brahe's observatory is pretty cool, too. It's also located on the isle of Ven* (the isle mentioned above, misremembered).

Sorry, as I remember more stuff from the two trips I took about five years ago I have to post more!
posted by nonmerci at 6:17 PM on July 15, 2006

Well, unless it's changed in the 13 years since I was there last, the museum of the shipwreck Wasa is kind of amazing.
posted by cloudscratcher at 9:16 PM on July 16, 2006