Top Things to do in Stockholm | The Ultimate Guide to Stockholm, Sweden

Sweden is one of our favorite countries to visit, but we absolutely fell in love with Stockholm. Stockholm is known as the #OpenCity because everyone is welcome and included. We definitely felt welcomed and included as a lesbian couple while visiting Stockholm, and inclusivity is so ingrained into their culture that there is no need for separate LGBTQ+ spaces. Everyone is welcomed everywhere in Stockholm.

But the inclusiveness of the city wasn’t the only reason why we fell in love with it, we loved that you could walk everywhere, the people were friendly, the metro was easy to navigate, and of course it was absolutely beautiful. We spent a few days in Stockholm and we felt like we saw a good chunk of the city so keep on reading to see our essential guide to the city!

Where to Stay in Stockholm

Hotel Hellsten

Hotel Hellsten

We stayed at Hotel Hellsten during our trip to Stockholm. It’s a very eclectic, boutique hotel and in an absolutely perfect location. We could walk almost anywhere we wanted to go and the metro station was only one block away if we didn’t feel like walking. There were also a lot of bars and restaurants nearby or only a short walk away. Other areas we would recommend staying in are Gamla Stan, Sodermalm, or Bibliotekstan.

Find more Stockholm accommodations here!

How to get Around Stockholm

The best way to get around Stockholm is to walk! Stockholm is a very walkable city which is one of the reasons why we loved it so much. We were able to walk to almost all of the tourist attractions and areas of the city that we wanted to visit. If you are not an avid walker (or New Yorkers like us haha) Stockholm has an amazing metro system called T-Bana. We took the T-Bana a few times and it got us exactly where we needed to go. It’s super easy to use and was very clean. Ubers also work in Stockholm if you prefer that option.

Best Things to Do in Stockholm

The Royal Palace

Chokladkoppen

Millesgården

  • Explore Gamla Stan — Gamla Stan translates to “old town” and it’s a cute area with tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and markets. The streets are made of cobblestone and there are a lot of beautifully colorful buildings and narrow, winding alleys. It’s one of the most touristy areas of the city but it’s also not overrun with tourists either.

  • Visit the ABBA Museum. If you’re huge ABBA fans like us, then you will absolutely love visitng this museum. The museum talks a lot about the history of ABBA and their success but it’s also interactive at parts and even has costumes they wore for special performances!

  • Take a tour of The Royal Palace of Sweden — The Royal Palace is not where the King and Queen of Sweden live, but it is where they hold important meetings and events. You can take a guided tour of the palace where you learn a lot about the history of the Swedish Crown. And if you’re lucky (like we were!) the King might even be on premises during your tour!

  • Check out the Vasa Museum — The Vasa is a ship sank in Stockholm in the 1600s and was recovered over 300 years later from under water. The entire ship is still in tact and housed in the Vasa Museum. It’s really cool to see in person and you can learn a lot of interesting history about the ship (and Sweden at the time) when you visit.

  • Have a fika! Fika is the Swedish tradition of drinking coffee, eating pastries, and hanging out and you will see a lot of signs for fika all around the city. Our favorite places to fika were Sara’s Art & Coffee, Kaffekoppen, and Chokladkoppen.

  • Get some shopping done in Bibliotekstan — Bibliotekstan is a shopping district in Stockholm that has high end fashion brands as well as more affordable brands and local shops. The people of Stockholm are known for being stylish and we definitely got that vibe when we were visiting.

  • Walk down the Narrowest Street in Stockholm. Mårten Trotszigs Gränd is 35 inches wide and is fun for a photo op!

  • Admire the amazing artwork at Millesgården — Millesgården is an outdoor sculpture garden that houses the work of Swedish artist and sculptor Carl Milles.

Book Stockholm activities here!

Where to Eat & Drink in Stockholm

  • Taverna Brillo

  • Sara’s Art & Coffee

  • The Hills

  • Kaffekoppen

  • Chokladkoppen

  • The South Indian

  • Herman’s (fully vegan buffet)

  • Dirty Vegan


We did so much during our time in Stockholm that we almost can’t even fit all of it into a blog post! Make sure you check out our Stockholm travel vlog on YouTube to see everything we got up to on our trip in case we forgot to mention anything here!

This trip was sponsored by Stockholm LGBT & Visit Stockholm. Make sure to check them out when planning your trip to Stockholm. Some links on this post are affiliate links of which we receive a small commission, but the price is the same for you.

Shanna Sciarastockholm, sweden, europeComment