Stockholm Old Town on our Own

[Tom O.]

We have been looking at shore excursions for Stockholm. We don't know how well I will be able to get around next summer, because I just had a knee replacement. We mainly want to see old town. I was looking at a tour that had a tour to old town and included the Vasa Museum. I was concerned that I might not be able to keep up with a guided tour.

So, I was considering just taking a taxi from the ship to old town, doing some shopping, and then, when we feel like it, taking a taxi back to the ship.

Can anybody see anything wrong with this plan? I assume there will be plenty of taxis available.

[dogs4fun]

2 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

I was considering just taking a taxi from the ship to old town, doing some shopping, and then, when we feel like it, taking a taxi back to the ship.

The old town (Gamla Stan) has cobblestone streets & sidewalks - in view of your recent surgery, I would recommend wearing very comfortable shoes with good support.

[trosebery]

2 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

The old town (Gamla Stan) has cobblestone streets & sidewalks - in view of your recent surgery, I would recommend wearing very comfortable shoes with good support.

 

I will add that the old town isn't flat either -- some of the streets are sloped. Be careful, bring a walking aid like a cane, and take it easy. It's interesting to wander around (you can do an abbreviated self-guided tour based on the Rick Steves guide or similar), the shops are cute (if pricey), and I especially like the Royal Armory (free) in the Palace. We didn't have any problem finding a taxi, but of course, taxis aren't cheap in Stockholm!

 

If you decide that it would be too much for you, the Vasa Museum is great all on its own and it's in a lovely location itself (Djurgarden). It's hard to go wrong in Stockholm.

[John Bull]

Get to the Vasa earliest - numbers build as the day progresses, and to avoid over-crowding it's one in for every one out when numbers have been reached so the line is very slow.

 

Do you know where you'll be berthed?

There are bus and ho-ho boat options, depending on your berth

 

JB 

[Tom O.]

10 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Do you know where you'll be berthed?

There are bus and ho-ho boat options, depending on your berth

 

JB 

I don't know where we will be berthed. We will be on Holland America Zuiderdam. I assume that Holland America ships berth in the same place, but I don't know for sure. I have never been to this part of the world, so I have no experience here.

[dogs4fun]

14 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

I don't know where we will be berthed. We will be on Holland America Zuiderdam. I assume that Holland America ships berth in the same place, but I don't know for sure. I have never been to this part of the world, so I have no experience here.

You can check the port of Stockholm for your exact berth. The schedule is not yet available for 2020 so you can check back later. Here is the link to the port of Stockholm:

https://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

[mhb1757]

And I’ll add a word of encouragement.... I’m guessing your knee will be so much better by summer that you won’t recognize yourself. In 3 to 4 months you will see a huge improvement so keep plugging away at those exercises that hurt so much now. It will have huge benefits in the end. 

Depending on where your ship winds up docking the HoHo boat might well be your best option. It has a stop right by the Royal Palace in Old Town and another quite near the Vasa and Nordic Museums and if you are lucky it has a stop near your ship’s berth as well, although it’s more likely your ship will be docked out at Oceankaj but if it is there will be taxis and public transport readily available. 

[dogs4fun]

7 minutes ago, mhb1757 said:

it’s more likely your ship will be docked out at Oceankaj but if it is there will be taxis and public transport readily available. 

Actually, Oceankaj is in Copenhagen, not Stockholm.

[mhb1757]

3 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Actually, Oceankaj is in Copenhagen, not Stockholm.

My bad. Sorry!  Senior moment 🤪😬

[Kim Viktor]

Welcome to Stockholm! I found two calls for Zuiderdam next summer, 22nd of July and 15th of August, both at the Stadsgården 167 berth (the closest one to city). So you can take a, taxi for around 20 dollars single way, a 10 minutes ride. Or you can take the hop on hop off boat for 25 dollars a whole day ticket or the ferry a bit more than 10 dollars for a whole day ticket (both options make it possible for you to do both Vasa and Old Town without any stress). Holland America usually also offer shuttle buses. 

[dogs4fun]

3 hours ago, Kim Viktor said:

I found two calls for Zuiderdam next summer, 22nd of July and 15th of August, both at the Stadsgården 167 berth (the closest one to city).

 

On 12/2/2019 at 9:02 AM, Tom O. said:

So, I was considering just taking a taxi from the ship to old town, doing some shopping, and then, when we feel like it, taking a taxi back to the ship.

Lucky you - your ship is docking in a great location. I would recommend the HOHO boat as it will call at Stadsgården berth 167 (every 30 minutes), take you everywhere you wish to visit and also return you to your berth. I would further recommend visiting the Vasa Museum on your own (a guided tour is included in the cost of your ticket) where you can move at your own pace - it is amazing and, imho, not to be missed. 

Note:  visit the Vasa museum first as it is very popular and gets more crowded as the morning progresses. If you go there first thing, you should easily beat the cruise ship tours. You can spend the remainder of your time in port exploring Gamla Stan. 

Link to HOHO:

https://www.stromma.com/en-se/stockholm/sightseeing/sightseeing-by-boat/hop-on-hop-off-boat/

[John Bull]

14 hours ago, Kim Viktor said:

Welcome to Stockholm! I found two calls for Zuiderdam next summer, 22nd of July and 15th of August, both at the Stadsgården 167 berth (the closest one to city).

 

10 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

 

Lucky you - your ship is docking in a great location. I would recommend the HOHO boat as it will call at Stadsgården berth 167 (every 30 minutes), take you everywhere you wish to visit and also return you to your berth. I would further recommend visiting the Vasa Museum on your own (a guided tour is included in the cost of your ticket) where you can move at your own pace - it is amazing and, imho, not to be missed. 

Note:  visit the Vasa museum first as it is very popular and gets more crowded as the morning progresses. If you go there first thing, you should easily beat the cruise ship tours. You can spend the remainder of your time in port exploring Gamla Stan. 

Link to HOHO:

https://www.stromma.com/en-se/stockholm/sightseeing/sightseeing-by-boat/hop-on-hop-off-boat/

 

Note that, as per the link in Dogs4's post, the ho-ho boat route is clockwise, so it takes quite a while to get from the pier at Stadsgarden to the Vasa museum.

But unless things have changed in the past few years, in the morning (?? vaguely 9am - 10am??) the ho-ho boat folk also run boats direct from the pier to Vasa.

So don't disembark too late, and check with the ho-ho folk whether there's a direct service.

Getting to Vasa early does pay dividends.

 

JB 

[Earl Rosebery]

We were sorely disappointed with the Vasa museum. Considered it a waste of time.   Gamma Stan on the other hand is worth the visit. The Nobel museum was far more interesting than the Vasa

[dogs4fun]

9 hours ago, Earl Rosebery said:

We were sorely disappointed with the Vasa museum. Considered it a waste of time.   Gamma Stan on the other hand is worth the visit. The Nobel museum was far more interesting than the Vasa

This was not our experience at all. The Vasa is the world's only preserved/salvaged 17th century warship (she sank on her maiden voyage in 1628). We found the Vasa museum exceptional but it gets quite crowded by mid-morning as it is Stockholm's most visited museum.

Sweden's 17th century military history is fascinating to history buffs (Sweden was a great power during this period & was a dominant factor in control of the Baltic sea). Furthermore, the carvings on this warship are truly amazing. There is much to see in the museum.

You can check-out the museum's website here:

https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

[kitkat343]

6 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

This was not our experience at all. The Vasa is the world's only preserved/salvaged 17th century warship (she sank on her maiden voyage in 1628). We found the Vasa museum exceptional but it gets quite crowded by mid-morning as it is Stockholm's most visited museum.

Sweden's 17th century military history is fascinating to history buffs (Sweden was a great power during this period & was a dominant factor in control of the Baltic sea). Furthermore, the carvings on this warship are truly amazing. There is much to see in the museum.

You can check-out the museum's website here:

https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

 

 

I'd agree with this assessment of the Vassa, which was one of our family's highlights in the Baltics.  Also, we could really appreciate it right when it opened and wasn't crowded.  By the time we were ready to leave it was harder to appreciate with all the crowds.  

 

But the original poster who was disappointed in the Vassa makes a good point - there's so much to see on a Baltic cruise, it helps to google pictures/videos of sites since what most people appreciate might not be what you'd want to see personally and there is so much to see in limited time that you want to try to pick the highlights for your family personally.  In Stockholm, my family loved the open air lemur exhibit at Skansen.  That's only something I'd recommend to people who love animals/have small children with them. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by kitkat343

[Kate P.C]

That sounds like a good plan to me! If you can you can do the HOHO bus, or grab a taxi to Vasa museum and ABBA museum yourself. Old town is pretty nice, but with cobblestone, so you have to be very careful.

[dabear]

Vasa museum was the highlight of our stop in Stockholm. I guess everyone has different interests but it is the number one tourist stop on Stockholm. 

[Tom O.]

15 minutes ago, dabear said:

Vasa museum was the highlight of our stop in Stockholm. I guess everyone has different interests but it is the number one tourist stop on Stockholm. 

 

I would love to see the Vasa Museum, but I have heard that there is a lot of stair climbing there. I am recovering from knee surgery and won't know how well I will be able to climb stairs by next August. Right now it would be impossible, but I am hoping to be in much better shape by then.

Can you tell me if there were lots of stairs? Is there an elevator?

[dogs4fun]

26 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

 

I would love to see the Vasa Museum, but I have heard that there is a lot of stair climbing there. I am recovering from knee surgery and won't know how well I will be able to climb stairs by next August. Right now it would be impossible, but I am hoping to be in much better shape by then.

Can you tell me if there were lots of stairs? Is there an elevator?

There is an elevator allowing access to all levels. The Vasa is very disabled friendly - you will have no issues. Wheelchairs are available on request for visitors.

Edited February 10, 2020 by dogs4fun

[Fran2020]

I used to work in Stockholm for a while, love this city and Skansen is my absolute favorite. It is amazing how they managed to preserve all these wooden houses, in summer it is especially lovely there. For me Skansen is worth much more than any other museums there. And I cannot wait for a real Swedish fika somewhere in Gamla Stan! 

[Belfast Taxman]

How do you define “real fika” please

[Fran2020]

On 2/12/2020 at 12:41 AM, Belfast Taxman said:

How do you define “real fika” please

Sure! This was the first Swedish word I learned. I was wondering where my colleagues in the Stockholm office disappear every 40 minutes, so I asked one of the guys, and he said "it is fika time!". Fika means coffee break, it is time you spend to drink coffee with some goodies :). For an American a working day in Scandinavia is much more relaxed than at home :). The Swedish people love their fika, it is very important to do it properly, this is why in the Old town you will find an endless number of small cafe's or bakeries. I try to avoid fat food but in Sweden I simply cannot resist. Semla is my favorite desert. Google it if you want 🙂 I am truly addictive to Swedish semlas 🙂 

[dabear]

Olympic girl; we were at Vasa 2 years ago & you were free to wander on your own without a guide. There were a lot of good descriptions at various points

[Desdichado62]

12 hours ago, OlympicGirl said:

Hi

Maybe you can help - someone told me it that Wasa museum does not allow tourists to walk alone, you are supposed to take a guided tour inside. Is it true? We have just one day in stklm, I definitely want to see the ship but I don't want to spend too much time there because there are so many other things we wanted to see

Thanks! 

 

100 percent false information. You can absolutely walk around alone in the museum.
However there are free guided tours as well for those who would want a tour but as I
said they are not mandatory.

 

It is possible they confused Vasa with the City hall as guided tours are mandatory at the city hall.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Desdichado62

[Tom O.]

17 minutes ago, Nok977 said:

Hi! Has anyone heard anything about Stockholm rooftop tours? Sounds quite exciting for me but not sure this is the right thing to do if you just have one day in the city

 

Don't know anything about it, but I found this picture on Tripadvisor. Looks terrifying to me.