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Reporter's
Notebook:
Stately
Stockholm: City of Islands
by Ralph Grizzle, editor of portprofiles.com
 Only
about 20 cruises will originate from Stockholm this
coming season (compared to nearly 80 in Copenhagen).
Thus, most cruise passengers will have only a day in
port to explore Sweden’s capital.
Most ships dock close to the city
center, and these will transit the beautiful archipelago
of 24,000 islands to reach Stockholm. Others, such as
Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess, will dock at
Nynashamn, about an hour away, allowing passengers to
take in the gorgeous countryside during the bus transit.
If your ship docks at the city
center, make your
way to the Grand Hotel (stop in for the famous smorgasbord),
a 30-minute easy walk from the terminal. Along the
way, stop at the medieval Old Town, Gamla Stan, with
its charming streets, museums,
shops, and restaurants, Nearby, is the Nobel Museum
(Stockholm is home to the Nobel Prize), the Cathedral
of Stockholm, which features Scandinavia’s
largest medieval monument, St. George and the Dragon,
a wooden
sculpture carved in 1489; and the Royal Palace (changing
of the guard is at noon).
 Here
at Gamla Stan, locks separate Lake Malaren (60 miles
long) from the Baltic Sea. In fact, at Gamla Stan, you’re
standing on one of 14 islands that make up “the
city that floats on water.”
You could spend a few hours in
and around Gamla Stan, and if you do resist the urge
to return to the ship, as many passengers do, for lunch.
Instead, dine al fresco (Martin Trotzig is a good choice)
then head to the quay in front of the Grand Hotel. Here,
you can hop a canal cruise or join a bike tour.
One of the more popular trips via
water is to Drottningholm Palace, an hour’s chug
by the steam-powered SS Drottningholm, built in 1909
and still going strong. The palace, where building began
in 1662, has been home to the Swedish Royal Family since
1981. Join a guided tour, and be sure to visit the court
theater, built in 1766. Don’t miss the wonderful
Chinese Pavilion.
 If
you’re sea weary, join John Grankvist for his
guided bike tours: three-hour tours begin at 9:30 a.m.
and include refreshments -cost is SEK 270; two-hour
tours begin at 2:30 for SEK 190. John will lead you
to City Hall, the beautiful brick building where Nobel
festivities are presented each December. Return later
to climb the tower for spectacular city views from more
than 300 feet above the ground.
John will also take you to (or past)
the attractions mentioned next. If you prefer not to
pedal, however, you can walk to these in 15 minutes
along Strandvägen, a few streets behind the Grand
Hotel.
The spectacular Vasa Museum houses
a warship (the actual ship, not a model) that in 1628
sank in the harbor on its maiden voyage and was brought
up from the depths in 1961. Nothing can prepare you
for the scale of what you will see in the city’s
most popular museum, built in 1990. Plan to spend at
least two hours here if time allows.
The Vasa Museum is situated in Djurgarden,
once a Royal deer park that is now home to Ekoparken,
the world’s first city national park, and Skansen,
an open-air museum that is part zoo, part living heritage
exhibit. Here, spend at least a couple of hours to walk
through five centuries of Swedish history, then cross
the street to the amusement park known as Grona Lunds
Tivoli. Get your thrills here, then take the ferry from
here to Slussen to appreciate Stockholm from the water
and to arrive back at Gamla Stan.
If you plan on doing shore excursions
on your own, the Stockholm Card gives you free admission
to 70 museums (Stockholm boasts the world’s highest
concentration of museums) and attractions, free sightseeing
by boat, and free transportation on the subway, local
buses, and trains. The price also includes a 96-page
guidebook. The cost of 24-hour cards is SEK 220; SEK
380 for 48 hours; and SEK 540 for 72 hours. Cards may
be purchased in advance at http://www.stockholmtown.com/.
 For
something completely different, head to the “Ice
Bar,” located in the Nordic Sea Hotel, near Central
Station. The price of admission, SEK 125, includes use
of capes, mitts, and slippers to keep you warm inside
the below-freezing bar and an Absolut cocktail (or lingonberry
juice) served in glasses made from ice. The ice bar
and nearly all in it is made from 20 tons of ice from
Northern Sweden’s Torne River. Want a souvenir?
Purchase ice glasses, packed in a special box to keep
them from melting - guaranteed for 24 hours.
 If
You Have A Few Days
If you’re staying in Stockholm for more than a
day, do what the locals do whenever they get an opportunity:
Get out to the archipelago, which stretches nearly 50
miles east of Stockholm. Many of the islands are uninhabited,
rocky outcrops that are homes to birds. Others have
quaint red-and-white Swedish cottages. I ventured out
to the archipelago on a boat that departed near Djurgarden
with Magnus Lonn, whose company, Event Seven, specializes
in active excursions. We cruised on a bright day for
about two hours to Sandhamn, a small village where,
after a wonderful lunch at Sandhamns Värdhus, we
set out on kayaks for smaller, uninhabited islands just
a few miles away. The water was calm, the paddling easy,
the experience quintessentially Swedish.
Guides
and Maps
For descriptions of the many attractions in Stockholm,
you'll need a guidebook. Before leaving home, pick up
the pocket-sized, "Insight Compact Guide Stockholm"
published by Insight Guides. Insight also publishes
a laminated city map of Stockholm that you'll find useful
for getting around.
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