Weekend in Swiftholm

 Trip date: May 2024

After a few days in Oslo I was on my way to Stockholm to meet up with my friend Gail. The entirety of this trip was to see The Eras Tour and as a lot of you know, traveling overseas was less expensive than buying tickets in the states. Plus, Scandinavia in summer is the best!

The city had leaned FULLY into the concert and all the people coming for it. There were lots of Swift related things you could do, including meetups, special pre-show parties, bracelet swaps, etc. But the cutest was the rebranding of Stockholm to Swiftholm for the weekend!

My rail trip from Oslo was 5+ hours and only $157, mostly through gorgeous countryside. The train was very new and modern and between cars there were complimentary fika stations set up where you could help yourself to coffee/tea and some sweets. 

All long-distance trains have a car where you can purchase beer and wine, you also have to drink it in there though as it's forbidden to consume alcohol anywhere but the dining car during the ride. Lame but easily skirted by putting rosé in my water bottle. You can bring your own food onboard, which I had done, so a little picnic in my seat, while gazing out the window and relaxing with a bood made for a lovely afternoon.

I checked into the Radisson Blu Waterfront (because that was really the only thing that was not completely inflated cost wise because of the concert) where Gail and I were sharing a room, it's a great central location & across from the train station which was handy!

Before dinner I met up with some other Seattle friends who were in town for the show too! We had drinks at the absolutely lovely A Bar Called Gemma (which sadly closed just a couple of months ago).

After a few rounds and some good catching up, we walked over to Brassiere Astoria for dinner where we met Gail. It's a beautiful restaurant and has a big menu which makes it easy for everyone to find something they like. 

*pro tip- Sweden (like Norway) is basically a cash-free country. You use credit cards or tap for everything. Also they are almost a non-tipping country where you leave only 10% if it was a very good experience or you can round up on the total. You will see that most locals do not tip unless it is fine dining*

We walked home at almost 11pm with this stunning sky!

As this was Gail's first time in Stockholm we spent the next couple of days sightseeing around. Even though this was my 3rd time here, it is such a wonderful city that I was more than happy to see things again, and introduce her to a few of my favorites.

First up, walk to and around Gamla Stan. And we happened to have the most incredible weather for it!

Is it touristy? Yes. Is it also filled with wonderful antique shops, incredible architecture, and royal pageantry? Yes. Spend as little or as long as you like but don't miss this lovely little area. 

Next up, walk over to Sodermalm for a peek around some neighborhoods old and new, a lovely lunch, and some great views. 

We also met friends at super cute Herno Gin Bar for an afternoon cocktail, ah vacation! 

There was A LOT of construction going on over here when we were there, hopefully things are back to normal now!

Gail and I had dinner that night at Lilla Ego. This is such a wonderful spot! We had reservations at the counter which gave us a front row seat to watch the kitchen. Everything was super seasonal, like this dish of white asparagus, and the flavors were just perfect! 

The next morning we started at Vete-Katten for arguably the city's best cardamom buns (there are a few locations, we went to the King's Street one) and some coffee. 

Then we spent the day wandering and shopping and ended up finding a great design store, this fantastic consignment shop and of course I had to take Gail to my favorite fabric shop!

We had a wonderful lunch at Lisa Elmqvist, another one of my faves and now in the renovated Östermalms Food Hall. This is the place for amazing seafood! And the atmosphere is both fun and a little posh. While I had a traditional shrimp salad dish, Gail got an in-house smoked salmon with the softest scrambled eggs I'd ever seen! They were incredible!

After lunch we went down to the waterfront for a glass of wine, this is honestly one of my favorite things to do in Stockholm. Pick one of the floating bars during the afternoon, get something easy like rosé or a spritz, and enjoy the scenery and people watching!

That night we met up with my friends for pre-concert drinks at High Bar at the Radisson Blu Royal Viking. We picked this spot because it was easy for us all to get to and was near the train station we'd be using to go to the show, but I'd still say if you want a drink and a lovely view of the city it is a solid spot! 

We ended up taking an Uber to and from the show since there were 4 of us, and we all had a fantastic time! One thing about being cashless though is when the stadium had an issue with their payment processing machines they could only take the local equivalent of our Venmo, so we went the entire show without anything to drink, even water! 

On our last day in Stockholm we took one of the Cinderella boats to Vaxholm, the closest of the islands in the Stockholm Archipelago. We had reserved the 1-hour trip in advance as most of these boats sell out in the high season. 

Vaxholm is very small and easy to walk around. We spent the morning just wandering; exploring little alleyways, popping into local shops selling housewares and clothing, peeking into neighbors yards. Especially with the fantastic weather we were having, it's just a lovely little day trip.

For lunch we had a wonderful table outside at Hembygdsgårds Café. This homey spot sits right on the water and is known for their traditional Swedish dishes. We had a delicious cold poached salmon with a sauce made from skyr & dill. For dessert there is a huge table filled with all sorts of desserts that somehow you have to choose from. I loved this cafe!

I absolutely love being out on a boat in the Archipelago here, and with 30,000 islands you definitely have your choice of islands! If you want to head out to the farthest one, you can go to Sandön, which I did a few years ago. 

Back in Stockholm, we grabbed a glass of rosé down by the waterfront again and enjoyed more pretty views. I do find it shocking sometimes at how gorgeous this city is!

That evening we had some lovely cocktails, and even better service, at Lucy's Flower Shop. This basement level speakeasy of-a-sort is dim, busy, and just the right amount of loud to have a great time but still be able to hear your drinking partners!

And because there is no way I am going to leave Stockholm without having a plate of traditional meatballs, we had dinner at Riche. It's a big traditional bistro which has a good selection of Swedish and more modern dishes.

And with that, our weekend in Stockholm was over. And it still remains one of my favorite cities in Europe! In the morning we were off to Gothenburg!

All Stockholm photos here. 

Other posts from this trip:

Oh Oslo!