Brunch Cruise with Strömma

Yesterday, a colleague and I were invited by Strömma to try out their popular brunch cruise in the archipelago. This is a sightseeing boat cruise of the (inner) archipelago that they offer every Saturday and Sunday (year round) on the beautiful boat s/s Stockholm, which was built in 1931.

s/s Stockholm at berth

The brunch is a mix of Swedish smörgåsbord favorites (like a variety of herring, gravad salmon, smoked salmon, arctic shrimp, ham, sausages, Jansson's Temptation, patés and meatballs) and popular brunch dishes (eggs & bacon, several sallads, chicken drumsticks and grilled vegetables). But don't eat too much as they have a really nice dessert table that you won't want to miss... cheeses, mousses, parfaits, cookies, pies and fruit sallad.

A very Swedish brunch buffet...

The cruise itself is about 3 hours long and takes you through the inner Stockholm archipelago, about as far as the town of Vaxholm. The route is very picturesque no matter the season, though I would say that summer is the best... that is really when the archipelago comes to life. However a snowy landscape in the winter or a colorful autumn vista can also be quite spectacular. We have no snow or ice right now (a mild winter to say the least) and I was afraid that it would be a little dreary, but the grey, misty weather had its own haunting beauty.

This is a great way to combine several popular experiences in one fell swoop: brunch, Swedish cuisine, sightseeing and the natural wonder of the Stockholm archipelago. The boat departs at 12 noon every Saturday and Sunday from berth 16 on Strandvägen. The cost (boat trip & brunch) is 450 SEK for adults, half price for children between 6 and 11 and free for children under 6 years of age. Tickets can be purchased at a Strömma ticket office, online or, if you are staying at the Rival Hotel, you can talk to me and I can book your brunch cruise... or any of the other sightseeing options offered by Strömma. Click here for tour information, including menu, route, timetables and more.

The archipelago on a summer's day!

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AN archipelago, boat, lunch, sightseeing, strömma

What to do on Christmas Weekend?

Edit: note the no swimming sign!

If you need a little help in planning in what to do while in Stockholm over the Christmas weekend, here are some options of things that are open & running day to day...

Friday, December 24th

Museums- Skansen is open from 10am to 2pm. Free entrance! The Stockholm Jewish Museum is also open from 12pm to 4pm. All other major museums are closed.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 12:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Restaurants- Plan to eat at a hotel restaurant, any other restaurant of quality will be closed. The Rival Bistro is open!
Stores- many open, with shorter hours. NK Department store open 10am to 2pm. Gallerian shopping center open 10am to 2pm. Skrapan shopping center open 10am to 2pm.

Saturday, December 25th

Museums- Skansen, Fotografiska and the East Asian Antiquities Museum (where you can see the Terracotta Warrior Exhibition) are all open.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 1:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Other activities- Ice skating at Kungsträdgården from 11am to 8pm. Hammarbybacken is open for skiing 11am to 4pm.
Restaurants- Besides hotel restaurants, a few other restaurants open for business. Especially in the Stureplan neighborhood.
Stores- Most are closed, including NK, Gallerian and Skrapan.

Sunday, December 26th

Museums- all major museums, including the Vasa Museum, are open for business.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 1:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Other activities- Ice skating at Kungsträdgården from 11am to 8pm. Hammarbybacken is open for skiing 9am to 6pm.
Restaurants- many more restaurants are open for business, but it is a Sunday... so restaurants that are generally closed on Sundays will be closed today!
Stores- Open for business again! NK Department store open 12pm to 5pm. Gallerian shopping center open 10am to 6pm. Skrapan shopping center open 11am to 6pm.

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AN activity, christmas, sightseeing, strömma

Winter Sightseeing With Strömma

Strömma is Stockholm's premiere sightseeing company and last night a colleague and I attended their pre-winter party... a nice evening on their boats where they presented their winter offers and tours.
The Archipelago Tour w/ Guide continues through the winter taking visitors a bit out in the archipelago leaving each Saturday & Sunday at noon. During the winter Strömma adds a special Winter Tour several times a day from December 21st until April 7th (yes our winters can last that long!). The tour takes you through the Stockholm port and out to the islands of Fjäderholmarna... running about 1 hour and 15 minutes. There is food and drink available onboard and the cost is 190 SEK, half price for children between 6 and 11.

Photo by Magnus Rietz

A special Swedish Christmas tradition is the julbord, a holiday version of the classic smörgåsbord. Strömma gives you the opportunity to combine the julbord with a boat tour. Between November 25th and December 22nd, several boats a day will take guests through Stockholm and out among the islands all the while they enjoy a traditional Christmas feast. Four different boats leave at several times during the day... at noon, in the afternoon or in the evening. The cost runs from 425 SEK up to 675 SEK, depending on the time of day. There is also a special Christmas by Light tour that stays close to the city... you can enjoy an American/Swedish Christmas buffet while admiring the Christmas light displays along the waterfront. This is offered from November 30th through December 21st and the cost is 675 SEK per person.

Photo by Magnus Rietz

While many of the traditional sightseeing boat tours take a break during the winter season, remember that the Panorama bus tour runs year round!

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AN archipelago, boat, christmas, sightseeing, strömma, winter

Advisory for the Stockholm Sightseeing boats this Autumn



This autumn Strömma offers two sightseeing tours of Stockholm by boat... the Royal Canal Tour around the island of Djurgården and the more extensive Under the Bridges of Stockholm. They will be doing renovations on the Strömkajen docks (in front of Grand Hotel) so all departures for these tours will be from the Nybrokajen docks. The closest subway is Östermalmstorg (red line). The last day for the Royal Canal Tour before winter sets in is December 19th and for the Under the Bridges tour it will be November 7th. If you are here this autumn, make sure you take on of these tours. Stockholm is at her most beautiful from the water! After December 20th Strömma will be offering their Winter boat tour, and they expect the renovations to Strömkajen to be completed before the 2011 summer season begins.





Renovations



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Sightseeing Tours in September

Sightseeing boat coming in to dock at Strömkajen

The summer season is officially over... cooler days and less tourists in the city. This means that many sightseeing tours have either ended for the year or else they have reduced the number of tours each day. The popular sightseeing boat tours, Under the Bridges and Royal Canal Tour, still operate throughout September. However, it is important to note that they no longer start from Nybroplan! Both tours start only from Strömkajen. This means that the ticket office at Nybroplan is closed as well. Naturally, the ticket office at Strömkajen is open. Tickets can also be pre-purchased online or, if you are staying at the Rival Hotel, through me. The Hop-On Hop-Off boats have stopped running for the year... though the Hop-On busses are still running (until Oct 3rd). And speaking of busses, the Panorama Bus Tour runs year round! Opportunities to visit the archipelago have been reduced as well with a few choices left. For example, the last day for the convenient Cinderella boats is September 15th. Talk to me directly if you are interested in other options for getting out to the archipelago during the low season...

Good-bye Hop-on Hop-off boats... see you next year!

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AN sightseeing, strömma, tours

Day Trip - Birka (Viking Town)

Rounding out my weekend as tour guide for my friend visiting from Wales... we took a trip to Birka for the day. Birka is considered to be Sweden's first town and was active (750-960 A.D.) in the Viking Age with a population of about 700 people at its height (around 3,000 graves have been found). Birka was an important trading center as seen by grave items found originating in the Middle-East and mainland Europe. Archaeologists don't know exactly why the town was abandoned, but, at about the same time, nearby Sigtuna rose in importance. Birka is located on the island of Björkö in lake Mälaren, about an hour and 45 minute boat ride inland from Stockholm. During the Viking Age the water level was much higher and Birka was directly connected to the Baltic Sea.

Today the island and archaeological site are on UNESCO's World Heritage list. If you go to Birka expecting to see the fabulous ruins of an ancient city like Machu Pichu, you will be disappointed. Birka was built mainly of wood and all that is left are the grave mounds and black earth and it takes a little imagination to envision what the town once looked like. Fortunately visitors are helped first by visiting the on-site museum where they have miniature replicas of what the town may have looked like as well as eager and knowledgable tour guides who take you through the grave fields and the site of where the town once stood. A recent addition to the site is a life size replica of part of the town, complete with working Vikings. It is made up of 4 or 5 dwellings, gardens and boats. The Vikings go about their business doing their daily chores including smithy work. One week in July they set up a Viking market as well. In my opinion it is the tour guides who make the trip extra special. They are all archaeology students and you can feel their passion for their work. There are hour long tours in both Swedish and English as well as a later tour designed for children. Speaking of which, this is a great trip to take children on! I sent a family of four from Germany there last week and it was a big hit. Otherwise I recommend this day trip for nature and history lovers alike...

Strömma is the company that runs the tours. They leave daily (mid May to mid September) from City Hall at 9:30am and you are back in town at 5pm (this gives you almost 4 hours on the island- enough time to take the tour, visit the museum and have lunch). There is a cafe on board the boat as well as a restaurant on the island. The cost of the tour is 295 SEK, half off for children between 6 and 11. Included in the price is the boat trips (with on board guide), museum entrance and guided tour of the island.

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AN day trip, history, museum, strömma, unesco

Day Trip - Skokloster Castle

The tour to Skokloster Castle goes on the same boat as the one to Sigtuna (see last entry below). After stopping at Sigtuna the boat continues on for 1 hour more to the castle. The cost is the same... 290 SEK for a round trip tour.

Skokloster Castle is one of many castles and palaces scattered thoughout the Mälar Valley and perhaps the most well preserved baroque castles in the world and a monument to Sweden's Age of Power. Completed in 1676, the castle was built by Carl Gustav Wrangel and later came into the posession of the influential Brahe family. Wrangel was quite the collector and the armoury is filled with an amazing display of weaponry and even exotic objects from around the world. The baroque interior design is spectacular... hard to know where to rest your eyes with all of the magnificent furniture, tapestries and paintings. You are met by a guide at the boat dock who takes you through the castle, explaining the contents of the castle as well as about the Wrangel and Brahe families. The grounds are beautiful, especially considering that the castle is located in the Skohalvön nature reserve. There is a gift shop and a café for lunch on the castle grounds as well as a nearby church. You have two hours in all before the boat heads back to Stockholm. You are back in town at around 6:10pm.

The tour runs Wednesday through Sunday from July 3rd to August 22nd.

You want to go to Skokloster Castle on your own? Take the commuter train north to Bålsta and then get on bus #311 for Skokloster. The trip takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Click here for more information on public transportation.

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AN boat, castle, day trip, history, museum, Skokloster, strömma

Day Trip - Sigtuna

(EDIT: Strömma does not offer this tour anymore... but you can still visit the town on your own. Info at end of this article) I had the pleasure today to try out two new day trips that Strömma are offering Summer 2013. They are Sigtuna town and Skokloster Castle. The tours both leave on the same boat from in front of City Hall (Stadshusbron), you just choose if you want to get off first at Sigtuna or continue on to Skokloster. The cost is the same... 290 SEK for a round-trip ticket.

Sigtuna is located just north-west of Stockholm on the way to Uppsala. It was an important trading center and is considered the first city in Sweden. Sigtuna had its golden age between the late 900's and the mid 1200's when Stockholm rose to prominence. The city layout looks today much like it did back in its heyday with the main street (Stora gatan) still in place... though the buildings are mainly from the 17 and 1800s.

The tour starts by boat at 9:45am and the trip to Sigtuna takes approximately 2 hours. It is a beautiful trip through the forests and farmlands surrounding Lake Mälaren, sometimes going through narrow waterways and draw bridges. There is a cafeteria onboard serving light refreshments and a guide is there to explain the history of the countryside passing by. The tour continues on land with a guide who takes you through the charming streets of Sigtuna as well as seeing the church, ruins and runestones that are scattered through the town (the county has the highest concentration of runestones in Sweden). You then have some time on your own to explore, shop and eat lunch. Entrance to the Sigtuna Museum is included in the tour price. All in all you have 4 hours in the town before the boat picks you up for the trip back to Stockholm. You are back at about 6:10pm.

The tour runs Wednesdays through Sundays from July 3rd to August 22nd.

Would you like to visit Sigtuna on your own? Take the commuter train north to Märsta, there get on the bus #570 going towards Hässelboskolan. The trip takes approximately 1 hour. Click here for more information on public transportation.

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AN boat, day trip, history, museum, Sigtuna, strömma