Best of Stockholm: 11 Favorite Moments

By Mary Anne Evans

You could just sit back and embrace the views over one of the world's most beautiful cities. Alternatively, you can go back to the Middle Ages on a stroll through Gamla Stan, discover Stockholm's exciting new cooking, row a boat along a tree-lined canal in summer, or skate on the sea in winter. Stockholm is a city for all seasons and for all pleasures. Here are some of my favorite things to do in Sweden's beautiful and elegant capital.

Photo Caption: Early morning in Gamla Stan (Old Town) in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Slipping through Stockholm on a Boat

Stockholm is a city where the water is never far away. Getting on a boat and going almost anywhere -- sightseeing around the main islands, out to the Baltic Sea Archipelago, or through the sheltered waterways onto Lake Mälaren -- is the first thing I always do every time I arrive in Stockholm. If you do the trip in winter, the sound of ice breaking replaces the cries of seagulls.

Photo Caption: Lake Mälaren in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Walking into the Vasa Museum

No matter how many times I visit the Vasa Museum, the hairs on the back of my neck always rise when I walk in from the bright sunlight to be confronted by this huge 17th-century wooden warship, raised from the dead and now permanently moored in its own building. Go when the crowds are few and you can feel the ghosts of the dead sailors walking along with you as you pass the gun decks and gaze up at the ornately carved prow.

Photo Caption: The Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Wandering through the Medieval Streets of Gamla Stan

This may be Stockholm's most visited area, but catch it early in the morning when the light filters through the narrow alleyways and the shutters on the houses are still closed -- you feel you've stepped back four centuries. Then walk down narrow Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, the 90cm (less than 3 feet) wide street where the drainpipes cling crazily to the peeling, damp walls.

Photo Caption: Gamla Stan (Old Town) in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Shopping for a New Look

There's something about the strong shapes of furniture conceived by the Scandinavian icons of modern design that makes me want to transform my house. So I always spend time in Jacksons and Modernity. But they stock mainly collectors pieces; for something I can afford (and take home), I go along to Design Torget and 10 Swedish Designers. And I always leave plenty of room in my luggage for textiles and those small items that are distinctly Scandinavian.

Photo Caption: DesignTorget in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Sampling the New Swedish Cooking

Many of Stockholm's young chefs might have had a French culinary training, but they've taken the classics and reinvented them. They use native ingredients such as Arctic char, lingonberries, mousse, and elk and put the tastes together in a unique way. Try the 'new Swedish cooking' of the likes of Gustav Otterberg at Leijontornet and you'll see why Stockholm is rapidly becoming the hot destination for serious gastronomy.

Photo Caption: Leijontornet restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Spending the Evening in Centralbadet

The Jugendstil Centralbadet spa is a wonderful place to round off the day. I don't book any of the treatments; I just get steamy in the sauna, swim in the outdoor pool, and sit in the leafy garden with a cup of coffee and let the world's troubles fade away.

Photo Caption: Swimming at the Jugendstil Centralbadet spa in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Joining the Skaters in Winter

I think that Scandinavians must be born with skates on; everybody, young and old, seems to take expertly to the ice in winter. You can join them on the little Kungsträdgården rink, or hire or buy your own skates and take to Lake Mälaren -- and the sea if the temperature really plummets below zero. You can skate all the way to Sigtuna from Stockholm, but you may have to be Scandinavian to achieve that.

Photo Caption: Ice skating at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Discovering Northern Art at the Nationalmuseum

A visit to the Nationalmuseum is a bit like taking an external art history degree. I come away ashamed at my ignorance of northern European artists and excited by the amount of great and unknown art that I've seen.

Photo Caption: The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Partying the Night Away

It's true that Stockholm is a clubber's paradise, but if you feel either too old, or not well dressed enough, ignore the crowds outside the hippest places and pick either a couple of bars or a jazz club for your evening's entertainment. There's something about emerging at 3am into the light of day that seems to keep you going.

Photo Caption: Fasching Jazz Club in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Looking at the View from on High

Of all the magnificent views you get in Stockholm, I love sitting on Mosebacke Terrass with a glass of wine, invariably surrounded by musicians who are going to play there that evening, looking out towards Skeppsholmen and down towards the Södermalm shoreline. This is where you can see the huge ferries that go between Stockholm and Helsinki, making a real mix of old and new.

Photo Caption: Mosebacke Terrass in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Shopping in Östermalms Saluhall