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On your third and final day in Stockholm you will want to see some of the modern downtown in the morning, visit the fine art museum, eat in a stylish café, walk the main shopping street back to the Gamla Stan in the afternoon and stay there through the evening. DOWNTOWN Cross over into the newer part of Stockholm. There’s the Opera House in the background, Now we are going to loop around here and there for 15 blocks, starting with a stroll through the pretty park called Kungstragarden, the outdoor living room of the city. Here you will find locals relaxing, kids playing, fountains gushing, statues standing and flowers blooming. This park is really a perfect urban space – there’s the greenery, there’s cafes, places for the kids to play, beautiful benches, the big chess game and different activities all in this one central park. There are a couple of nice restaurants and cafes in this park, this is the Kungstragarden, which is really the central park of downtown, occupying several city blocks and it’s just a great place to relax and hang out with your friends. It’s mostly local people here, with playgrounds for the children, occasional outdoor free concerts as well, and there are various statues. Naturally there is a history here – it was first opened up as a vegetable garden for the king, which is the meaning of term Kungstragarden, king’s garden. And finally in the 18th century it was opened as a public park. Nearby we ran into some kind of gypsy music from Eastern Europe performed on the sidewalk, with very lively fiddles. It’s great to hear these buskers on the street as you travel along. Be sure to stop and give a listen and give them a tip. We’re out front of the Gallerian, which is Stockholm’s first shopping mall built right in the heart of town. There are 60 stores here and they maintain this mall very nicely. It still looks quite modern and quite new in that Swedish style of modern décor. We noticed one of those fund-raisers going on, so common lately, with cow statues painted in wild colors that people bid on and purchase as a charity offering. Have a brief look as you walk past heading for the nicest shopping blocks of Hamngatan where you began your tour at the information office. If you want to peek inside NK go ahead – it’s a fancy department store with a nice cafe. At the center of downtown is a vast traffic circle called Sergels Torg, a modern post-war design with interesting streets and squares around it. Sergels Torg is the crossroads of downtown. It’s a rather controversial intersection with huge, modern buildings around it and large fountain in the middle. Many people don’t like it, and lament the historic neighborhood that was demolished to make way for it back in the 1960s, but this is a touch of modern architecture in the heart of Stockholm. Part of Sergels Torg is the Culture House, a huge, glass building with several theaters and galleries inside. Performers are often putting on a show in the broad plaza in frontm sometimes with very strange acts. You can walk underneath Sergels Torg instead of trying to cross this busy intersection at street level, with its heavy traffic and long pedestrian detours. The convenient underground shopping mall brings you across to the other side where you find rows of benches set up where people hang out and relax and watch the passing parade. Now make your way along Sergelgatan pedestrian mall past some shops and bakeries and those modern skyscrapers to the Hotorget, the major outdoor farmer’s market in the heart of downtown Stockholm, selling fruits, vegetables, flowers and many other items. It’s really a lot of fun. You can bargain with the vendors a little bit. They’ve got not only food for sale, but you’ll see some clothing and souvenirs – all sorts of goodies here. Adjacent to the market is a major concert hall where the Nobel Prizes are awarded and many great musical events take place. Notice the modern statues in the fountain out front. Turn left into the busy outdoor market of Hotorget, where you will be immersed in flowers and veggies, with noisy hawkers enticing you to buy. So now just walk along, continuing your tour of the city. This route gets off the beaten tourist track and into the heart of the real city where locals shop and work. Next comes another one of the major city streets, Kungsgatan, lined with shops including a shop with fine Swedish crystal, which is one of the better local items you might like to purchase. Continue a few blocks along another busy shopping street, Kungsgatan, where you just might find that Swedish crystal vase you’ve been craving. Walk back another two blocks to Birger Jarlsgatan and take a left into a beautiful five-block section of trendy shops and cafes, ending at the modern mall of Stureplan. The outside of the buildings look ancient but inside is fully reconstructed and totally contemporary. Notice how some of the rustic stone walls were formerly exterior walls but have now been incorporated into the interior design. There is a small atrium with a chocolate shop/bakery in the middle with clothing stores and a wonderful kitchen gadget shop, Cordon Bleu. Of course, Sweden and Scandinvia in general, is famous for its modern design, especially when it comes to furniture, lighting, interior design and assorted furnishings, so it makes a nice treat to step in to the Nordic Gallery store and have a look – you can even sit down on their comfortable sofas and have a brief rest. Then continue on to the Stureplan shopping mall. Just out front you will notice a fine restaurant specializing in fresh fish, and it gets very busy in the evening. This entire Stureplan neighborhood is very much a night-spot, busier after dark than during the day. But our schedule will send you walking through in daylight when it is also quite lively. At the end of Kungsgatan you arrive at the Stureplan district, with its fine Galleria, a very posh shopping mall. The Galleria is not nearly as big or old as the other Galleria you were just visiting. It is really upscale with some trendy cafes and deluxe stores inside. For now you might just pass on through as part of your reconnaissance and continue towards Ostermalmstorg. While visiting the food market you might also pop upstairs to the vegetarian restaurant, which is one of the less-expensive places to eat in town with delicious and nutritious foods laid out on their buffet table. It is just above the Ostermalm Saluhall, which is the wonderful indoor food market of Stockholm, the finest in the city. Here you can stock up on supplies, maybe grab some takeout food for a picnic in the park later on. Detour a few blocks behind to Ostermalmstorg if you would like to grab some take-out, or just look at the lively Sluhallen food market. You can buy some food here and eat it at some of the café counters inside if you like, or you can buy food to go and walk out to the adjacent city park, sit on the bench and enjoy a relatively inexpensive picnic. Double back to Stureplan for another look at this recently renovated intersection that is one of the most popular centers of town, day and night. Continue a few blocks along another busy shopping street, Kungsgatan, where you just might find that Swedish crystal vase you’ve been craving. Turn left into the busy outdoor market of Hotorget, where you will be immersed in flowers and veggies, with noisy hawkers enticing you to buy. Rather than returning to Sergels Torg where we began, walk a block over to the busy pedestrian shopping lane of Drottninggatan. Continue your stroll and find your way six blocks back across town, picking whatever route looks most attractive based on your earlier explorations, heading west to the main pedestrian street of the city, Drottninggatan. This busy shopping lane goes for about one mile and connects right down to Gamla Stan where it changes names and becomes Vesterlanggatan, the main street of the Old Town. You really want to spend some quality time along this spectacular pedestrian lane, do some people-watching and buy your souvenirs. They’ve got a lot of good shops for the locals as well as the visitor. And of course you’ll find some outdoor cafes, bars and restaurants. This is truly one of the world’s great streets! Always filled with locals – it’s a perfect spot for a stroll and people-watching. Make your way south for ten blocks of retail heaven. As it leads you back to Gamla Stan, the street gets narrower and then becomes the Vasterlanggatan, Old Town’s main pedestrian street that you were on your first day. All together this route is about one mile long, offering a happy experience you must not miss – a long pedestrian street connecting the modern downtown with the heart of the Old Town.. GAMLA STAN Just before arriving in Gamla Stan, you will pass over a canal and through two triumphal arches at the back of the Parliament, where you can take a brief detour if you want another glimpse back into the past. The Museum of Medieval Times, underneath the Parliament, recreates the atmosphere of old Stockholm including a section of the city wall in its original location and many artifacts from the Viking days. It is great to be back in Gamla Stan, the best part of Stockholm. Things to buy here include the famous Swedish crystal and related glassware, wooden toys, silverware, handicrafts and anything that shows Swedish design. Non-shoppers can wander into those little side alleys to explore four centuries of ancient buildings. The more you stroll around the old and new sections of town, the more you'll appreciate how much variety of architecture there is to enjoy. Other diversions to squeeze in: If you are interested in fine arts, consider a visit to the Moderna Museet, opened in 1998 with an excellent collection of 20th century famous artists. For a more traditional collection, visit the nearby Nationalmuseum, which holds a decent collection of Old Masters and Impressionists. This is a good but not a great museum -- definitely worthwhile for the art lover but not quite in Europe's top ten, so you could whip through it in one hour. After the museum, enjoy some refreshments in the opulent Grand Hotel, one block over. You should try their world-famous smorgasbord for dinner! Even if you don't want to pay the price, sit in their lobby and rest for a while amidst the plush setting. Another nearby restaurant is the very famous Operakallaren in the Opera House. It's an Art Nouveau masterpiece, first opened in the 18th century and noted for a smorgasbord lunch and heavy crowds, so it’s better to arrive at a non-peak time. Downstairs you will find the equally beautiful Opera Café, very busy at dinner, but even busier later when it becomes the city’s main yuppie meeting place. That covers our outline of three ideal days. Of course you can modify this plan any way you like, shifting days and segments, or ignore any parts you question. You also need to find time to take a break now and then. It does help to catch your breath, relax, stop your culture-pursuit and do nothing for a while -- perhaps sit at a sidewalk café or rest on somebody's front steps and watch the endless parade of people pass by. 20:00 If you have any spare hours between our suggestions, hop another boat for the "Under the Bridges" two-hour tour if you enjoyed the water first time around. It's especially nice towards sunset. If you admire civic architecture, ride over to the City Hall, particularly if you are hungry to partake in their basement food court. Venturing further afield, there are many palaces and homes devoted to Sweden's monarchs scattered throughout suburbia, connected with a multitude of parks, walking paths and bicycle trails. You can walk everywhere in this civilized place, or utilize the efficient public transit bus and subway system to really cover some extra ground. The Swedes are friendly and nearly everyone speaks English, so it is worth your effort to say hello. An effective technique to meet a local anywhere is stop one who is not in a hurry and ask them for directions, or for tips on a nearby place to eat. Following these tips, you will find that Stockholm is the most interesting of all Scandinavian cities to visit. Sweden's socialistic cradle-to-the-grave support system provides tremendous benefits to the population, such as paying young people to go to college and making sure nobody dies from poverty. The outcome is a healthy society with friendly well-educated people, and a culture that has many things to offer the visitor. When you enter their country you too will reap the rewards of a well-planned society where everybody contributes, and everybody benefits. There are so many things to see here! Have we found a small utopia? Yes!

• Category

  Food & Drink

• Release Date

  Dec 6, 2007

• Runtime

  20:56