Tere!
Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm, is more urban than Tallinn, and has lots of museums. Among tourists the old town in Stockholm (called Gamla stan) is very popular. (People call it “Gamla stan” specifically, but “Gamla stan” actually means “old town” in Swedish. I often wonder why then the old town in Tallinn is not called “Vanalinn” among the tourists.)
Also, as written in the related articles repeatedly, my solo trip is basically a budget trip. However, I found a way to enjoy this expensive city as a frugal traveller, so you could refer to this article if you feel “I want to visit Stockholm, but I’m worried about my budget…”.
Table of Contents
1. Gig venue: Fryshuset
2. Djurgården
a. Blå porten
b. Villa Lusthusporten
c. Skansen city quarters
3. Skeppsholmen
a. Moderna Museet
b. Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron
★Summary
1. Gig venue: Fryshuset
In the first place, this trip to Sweden was planned for a gig by Louis Tomlinson from One Direction, which I had been waiting for three years since I bought a ticket (due to COVID). Unless you go to such an event, you may not visit a gig venue like Fryshuset, and yet I decided to include this place in this article.
As I already mentioned in some articles, this is my fourth time to visit Sweden, and three times were for concerts, but it was my first time to go to Fryshuset. I went there to queue with a relaxing plan as I took a nap because I couldn’t sleep well at the previous night although I arrived in Stockholm in the morning. Also, I thought “Meh, I don’t have to keep the front row”.
The closest station to Fryshuset is Gullmarsplan, and you would think:
Freaking hard to get out!
I walked everywhere in the Gullmarsplan station, and then finally was able to get out. (I could see the outside just over there from the Gullmarsplan station, but the exit was hard to find.) Once you get out of this station, it’s not complicated to reach the venue, Fryshuset.
Fryshuset is a regular gig venue. If you search on the map by its name, it might be difficult to find, but if you use Fryshuset’s physical address, maybe it’s easier. However, in reality, the area isn’t complex, so you can reach there more easily than you imagine.
At the cloak check in Fryshuset, there was no payment option such as by card or in cash available, but only by Swish. Swish seems to be a payment app by connecting a Swish account with one’s bank account in Sweden. I found out that at least a girl who appeared to come to Stockholm from outside of Sweden and I were not able to ask them to keep our bags at the cloak check, so we had to bring our bags and coats while watching the show. (She’s not my friend. I found she’s not Swedish as she was queuing in front of me speaking English to other people.) It was still March, so I wore a coat, but I went there with a backpack, so I could put everything in the backpack and hold it in the front, enjoying the show.
If it had been a small shoulder bag or something, I would have had no choice at all.
2. Djurgården
Have you heard of Djurgården? Me? I hadn’t.
I don’t know why, but suddenly I thought “I could take a ferry like an underground or a city bus because Stockholm consists of multiple small islands, couldn’t I?”
So I googled, and found out there was a ferry from Djurgården to the island next to Djurgården. I thought I wanted to try, so I decided to go to Djurgården.
For your information, ABBA The Museum is located in Djurgården.
a. Blå porten
Djurgården had more interesting things than I thought. For example, there is blå porten. Given that you go to Djurgården from the mainland (?), you will see a gate in super blue, and that is blå porten. To me a blue gate is atypical, hence I wanted to see it.
b. Villa Lusthusporten
Villa Lusthusporten is said to be a merchant’s house built in the 19th century. When looking at pictures online, the house looked nice in terms of its design, so I wanted to see it with my own eyes.
I’m not sure if you can go inside.
c. Skansen city quarters
I also saw Skansen city quarters in pictures, and looked nice, so I wanted to visit, and yet I found that it is in Skansen which is like a theme park and zoo, so I needed a ticket. One ticket costs around 20 EUR even for a student.
Strictly speaking, I didn’t go inside of Skansen’s area, but I saw something a bit from the outside, therefore I included this in the article. I’m still interested in this are. I might want to visit Stockholm for the fifth time…
It was a moment that I found Stockholm was more interesting if I searched about it more.
3. Skeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is an island that I went to from Djurgården. I will talk about a ferry connecting these islands in a different article regarding public transports in Stockholm, so please check that one.
a. Moderna Museet
In Skeppsholmen, there is a museum called Moderna Museet. Partially it costs, but there are areas where you can go free of charge, and even only there you can see lots of art works, so I believe even a poor student can visit.
However, you cannot bring your backpack or a plastic water bottle. (A staff member ran to me telling me not to do it.) There are lockers behind Moderna Museet’s reception and the shop, and you can use them. There is a cloak check, but they told me to use the lockers for some reasons. (Then what’s the point of a cloak check…) It doesn’t cost to use those lockers by the way.
As a museum I enjoyed the Moderna Museet since there are Soviet-related works too. (I felt strange but interested as for me Sweden does not seem to be as much relevant as the Baltic countries to the Soviet.
b. Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron
The Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron is in the centre of the bridge that connects Skeppsholmen and the mainland.
There was nothing special, but I thought it sounded so Swedish just because of the crowns. If you walk to Skeppsholmen from the mainland, or vice versa, you can see them. The Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron is decorated on both sides of the bridge, so you can choose whichever side you want.
★Summary
This article reveals how stingily I was travelling in Stockholm I believe, but I honestly think I should give myself a bit more reward after this trip. (But I’m so frugal, which prevents me from doing that.) On the other hand, my experiences might be useful for those who think their travels may be a budget trip, so it’s not in vain.
If you can spend more money, you can experience more, such as at ABBA The Museum, the Vasa museum, etc. Therefore I rethought and changed my thought; Stockholm is not boring as long as you have money.
😂
I realised I used to think “Stokcholm is boring, Gothenburg is more fun” because I “don’t have money”.
😂
Aitäh! 🙂
zooks.ee 