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Stockholm Highlights - continued
Most ships transit the archipelago to reach Stockholm’s
city center. Some, however, dock at Nynashamn, about
an hour’s drive from Stockholm’s city center.
If your ship docks at the city center (or if you’re
staying pre- or post-cruise), make your way to the Grand
Hotel, a 30-minute easy walk from the terminal. Along
the way, stop at the medieval old town, Gamla Stan,
with its charming cobblestone streets, museums, shops
and restaurants, Here at Gamla Stan, you’re standing
on one of 14 islands that make up “the city that
floats on water,” Locks at Gamla Stan separate
Lake Malaren (60 miles long) from the Baltic Sea.
Spend a few hours in and around the old
town. In the vicinity 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
made of elk antlers and oak carved in 1489; and the
Royal Palace (changing of the guard is at noon).
Stop in for lunch al fresco at Martin
Trotzig at Vasterlanggatan 79 in Gamla Stan or any of
the many fine restaurants (try a glass of Swedish beer,
Pripps), then head to the quay in front of the Grand
Hotel to hop a canal cruise. A selection of cruises
are offered ranging from one hour to nearly three hours.
 Upon
your return, continue to walk a few streets behind the
Grand Hotel for about 15 minutes along Strandvagen,
to the Vasa Museum, which 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 exploring
all six floors of the exhibit.
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. Rent three-speed
bikes at Skepp & Hoj (near the bridge that you crossed
to get to the Vasa Museum) and pedal through the park.
If you want a guided tour of the park and other attractions,
make arrangements with John’s Bike Tours in front
of the Grand Hotel. After returning your bike, walk
just a few minutes to Skansen, the world’s oldest
open-air museum that is part zoo, part living heritage
exhibit.
Spend at least a couple of hours to walk
through five centuries of Swedish history at Skansen,
then cross the street to the amusement park known as
Grona Lunds Tivoli. From just outside the amusement
park, take the ferry to Slussen to appreciate Stockholm
from the water and to arrive back at Gamla Stan.
 Head
over to City Hall, the beautiful brick building where
Nobel festivities are presented each December. Of particular
interest is the Golden Room and its mosaic, made of
18.5 million gold leaves. Be sure to climb the tower
for spectacular city views from more than 300 feet above
the ground. You can see Gamla Stan down below. It appears
in the shape of a heart.
 At
Stadshusbron by the City Hall, board the steam-powered
SS Drottningholm, built in 1909, for a voyage through
Lake Malaren to Drottningholm Palace, an hour’s
chug away. The palace, where building began in 1662,
has been home to the Swedish Royal Family since 1981.
When you return, head to the Ice Bar,
located in the Nordic Sea Hotel, near Central Station.
The price of admission 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. If you
want to take home a souvenir, purchase ice glasses,
packed in a special box to keep them from melting. You’ll
have to rush home, though. The gifts are guaranteed
for only 24 hours.
Be sure to pick up a Stockholm
Card, which gives you free admission to 75 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.
It’s a good thing that Stockholm
enjoys 20 hours of sunlight during summers. With so
much to do and see, you’re going to need it.
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