PM2AM Trip – Baltic Sea cruise stop 1: Stockholm

On March/April 2018 we joined a cruise journey organized by PM2AM student trips, an organisation that arranges different trips for young adults (until the age of 35). The cruise we went on is epic. The route started in Stockholm and took us further by cruise ship towards Helsinki, Saint Petersburg and Tallinn over the span of 4 nights. A new country every time you wake up! In this series of four blogs I will tell you how we experienced each city. First stop: Stockholm, Sweden!

Getting there

We decided to fly to Stockholm and join the group a day later rather than going by bus from our beloved Aachen (20+ hours bus journey? Not preferred). PM2AM student trips offers different bus stops throughout the Netherlands and Germany for you to hop on towards Stockholm, or you could get on the cruise ship directly by getting to Stockholm or Helsinki on your own.

We took a Eurowings flight from Düsseldorf which took us one hour (beats that long bus journey!). The flight took us to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which is a bit far from the city center (approx. 40 km). You have three options to go towards the city, you either go by bus, train or taxi. Seeing that Scandinavian countries are not the cheapest, taxi is not recommended.

Train is faster, and can have you in the city within 20 minutes. A single ticket for an adult costs SEK 280. Departure is every 15 minutes. For the most recent prices check the website of Arlanda Express.

We recommend going by bus. The Flygbussarna coaches leave every 15 minutes as well and are a lot cheaper than the train. You can purchase tickets for SEK 120 on the airport itself or book them beforehand for SEK 99 on their website.

Must visits

The most amazing thing I found about Stockholm was the Vasa Museum. This museum holds the only fully recovered wreckage of a 17th century warship. Back in 1628, the mighty warship got wrecked in a storm. After centuries under water, Anders Franzén started the search for the fallen wreckage in the 1950’s, resulting in finding the whereabouts in 1956. To read more about the history I suggest a visit to the museum itself, there the ship is partially restored except its original colors. There are several stories within the museum built around the enormous warship, with every floor telling a part of the history of that time and giving you an amazing view of every angle. It is absolutely stunning!

Visiting the charming old town of Stockholm is a must after that, since it is just 15 minutes walk from the Vasa Museum! Stroll past medieval buildings and cozy streets which will give you a magical feeling.

Want to have a good view? There are two spots we can recommend.

The first one is from the City Hall of Stockholm. Visiting this place itself is already beautiful, with a big square once you enter through the gate mounding towards a look over the water onto old town. Perfect! Oh, and the City Hall is famous for being the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet!

The second is viewing point is located at Södermalm. South from Castle Slussen you will find wooden steps which take you on an amazing view over the old town and the city hall, for free. Södermalm itself is also the creative and trendy area of Stockholm with a lot of vintage stores and galleries. Be sure to explore a bit after enjoying the view!

Of course there are a lot of other sights to enjoy in Stockholm as well which we could not visit. There is a museum dedicated to ABBA if you enjoy pop culture, a visit modern art in Moderna Museet museum, see the change of guard at The Royal Palace, visit the largest IKEA in the world, or take a ride in the Gröna Lund Tivoli amusementpark. Stockholm has a lot to offer!

Costs

Sweden, and Scandinavia in that matter, is more expensive than other European countries. A beer in a pub can cost between € 6,- to € 8,-, but if you find the right spot you can also find beers for € 4,- (or in the supermarket for € 2,-, it is cold enough outside to act as a freezer anyways 🙂 ).

There are a lot of diverse cultures who live in Stockholm, bringing their own cuisine in the form of restaurants to the city. Prices for a meal are usually between € 16,- to € 30,- depending on your taste. Just know there is a great Bangladeshi restaurant called Shanti Touch who have a lunch meal for 95 SK (around €9,50) which is absolutely worth the trip!

If you are staying the night, be sure to spend. Even a hostel bed on a dorm with a shared bathroom will start at € 50,- a night. We were lucky to find Hotel Aldoria for € 70,- for one night for two persons, having our own private bathroom and breakfast included.

Public transport is very well organized within Stockholm. There are buses, a subway, trains, trams, and even ferries. Be aware that it is not possible to pay with cash for tickets on board of buses in Stockholm! Tickets can be bought at kiosks, SL Centers and underground platform barriers. A single ticket could be expensive if you will use public transport the whole day, so you might want to consider taking a day card (or longer). Be sure to get a SL card to charge for money to use for public transport, it makes life easier. The fee for a card is 20 SK. A tip, if you are with two just buy one ticket and two fares on that ticket. You can just tell the bus driver that you have two tickets purchased on the same SL card. For more information about the prices, check here.

Shopping can be expensive, but if you have a sale going on: Swedish now what sale is about. My fiance got a lot of dresses and even a coat for a fair price! Be sure to go on a shopping spree if you are free :)!

We spend a total of 2 days in Stockholm, but 3 days would be perfect to see everything you want to see.

Stockholm is a charming city which is worth the trip. Especially in a cruise ship combination!

Stay tuned for our next Day Trip blog about the next stop: Helsinki, Finland!

 

 

 

 

 

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3 Comments

  1. Wow that was awesome you had a great trip! I have always dreamed of exploring this kind of places. Thanks for sharing your experience!

    • Robert Dolmans

      Hey Guru, yeah it was awesome! And remember, still three more parts to come about this awesome trip ;-).

  2. I’d love to visit Stockholm during winter. But I saw you visited on April so maybe it’s better.
    The Vasa museum sounds fantastic! I hope to do it soon.
    Thank you so much!

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