We have recently come back from a whirlwind tour of Stockholm, Sweden. We boarded the Baltic Princess at night for a long 11 hour ferry. We booked the ferry via Silja line as the return trip was rediculously cheap at only €20!! We were booked onto 3 B class cabins each with 2 bunk beds. The cabins were small but perfect for a snooze inbetween our adventures around the ferry!
The ferry had many restaurants, a few pubs, a casino, an arcade, a club and even a sauna so there was plenty for us to do. After hitting up the tax free shop we explored the ferry and thoroughly enjoyed the sea pub and club. We would highly recommend getting the overnight ferry as it was such a cheap and cheerful experience.
We arrived in Stockholm extremely sleepy at around 6am. We got the metro to an espresso house in the center of town for some much needed breakfast. The Stockholm metro stations have been called the longest art gallery in the world and the stops that we visited were definitely the coolest metro stops we'd ever seen!
After breakfast we set out to do some sightseeing. First, we visited the incredible Stockholm city hall building. The views across the river were stunning and the architecture was breathtaking!
Next, we went to the Stockholm Palace at the edge of the old town. The building is somewhat modest but definitely fitting for a King. While we were admiring the architecture were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a what a royal taxi service in Sweden is like!
We then strolled through the picturesque old town island 'Gamla Stan'. The winding cobbled streets and historic buildings gave us a good feel for the history of Stockholm. We enjoyed taking many photos and taking in the sights.
As we wandered through the streets of Stockholm we stumbled upon an ice rink and stopped for some ipromptu ice skating. After a wobbly start on the ice, most of us managed to stay upright and get a few laps in of the ice rink. Luckily there were no disasters!
We then reached the museum island and hit up Sjocafeet for lunch. We ate some delicious pizza which was surprisingly reasonably priced for Sweden, and then continued on to the Vasa museum. This museum was highly recommended for us to visit and it did not disappoint! The museum was built around an impressive Swedish sunken warship named 'Vasa'. The ship was built between 1626 and 1628 by order of the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus but unfortunately sank around 1300m into her maiden voyage on August 10th 1628. It had been laying at the bottom of the Baltic sea for 333 years until it was discovered and finally salvaged in 1961. The hull was found largely intact and many of the 500+ decorative sculpture pieces on the ship were identified and restored. The sheer size of the ship (she's 69m long and 30m tall!) and the regal ornamental features were enough to drop our jaws. We very much enjoyed the museum and it was definitely a highlight for most of us on our trip. This museum is well worth a visit to anyone taking a trip to Stockholm.
We concluded our busy day with a quiet dinner in the center of Stockholm and then headed back to board the ferry to Turku. We had a very chill ferry trip back to Turku and all got a much needed 8 hours of sleep. We arrived back to Turku at around 7am to find the city covered in a magical blanket of snow which was a lovely end to our fantastic trip. We would highly recommend taking a trip to Stockholm on the ferry!
~ Eilidh ~
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