Stockholm and Helsinki: Travel Details
This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in the "Stockholm and Helsinki" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Scandinavia guidebook.
Drottningholm Castle
The queen's 17th-century summer castle and present royal residence has been called "Sweden's Versailles." Touring the palace, you'll see the queen making the point: She's divine and belongs with the gods. Below the clouds are her earthly subjects...and you. But she was a divine monarch on a budget: Test the "marble" doorways. They warm to the touch...painted to look like marble. You'll see three crowns on the Swedish coat of arms, a reminder of Sweden 's aspiration to rule Norway and Denmark. The Room of War — with kings, generals, battle scenes, and war-trumpet-like candleholders — is from the time (1600-1750) when Sweden was a superpower (60 kr, May-Aug daily 10:00-16:30, Sept daily 12:00-15:30, Oct-April Sat-Sun only 12:00-15:30; call 08/402-6280 to reserve free-with-admission palace tours in English, offered June-Aug usually at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, and 15:00, fewer off-season; www.royalcourt.se).
Queen's Theater
The 18th-century Drottningholm Court Theater (Drottningholms Slottsteater) somehow survived the ages — complete with its instruments, sound-effects machines, and stage sets. It's one of two such theaters remaining in Europe (the other is in Ceský Krumlov, Czech Republic). Visit it on a 30-minute guided tour (60 kr, May-Sept English theater tours normally depart half-past each hour, 11:30-16:30, no tours off-season, tel. 08/759-0406). Or check their schedule for the rare opportunity to see perfectly authentic operas (about 25 performances each summer). Tickets for this popular, time-tunnel musical and theatrical experience cost 165-600 kr and go on sale by phone, fax, or mail each March, www.drottningholmsslottsteater.dtm.se.
Stockholm Card
The Stockholm Card, a 24-hour pass for 260 kr, includes all public transit (except harbor shuttle ferry), virtually every sight (70 places), some free or discounted tours, free parking, and a handy sightseeing handbook. An added bonus is the substantial pleasure of doing everything without considering the cost (many of Stockholm 's sights are worth the time but not the money). This card pays for itself if you do Skansen, the Vasa Museum, and Millesgården. You can stretch it by entering Skansen on your 24th hour. Parents: Up to two children (age 7-17) can share a pass for 100 kr. The Stockholm Card also comes in 48-hour (390 kr for adults, 140 kr for kids) and 72-hour (540 kr for adults, 190 kr for kids) versions. Cards are sold at the Sweden House TI, Hotel Center (in train station), hostels, and some subway stations.
Skansen
This is Europe's original open-air folk museum, founded in 1891. It's a huge park gathering more than 150 historic buildings (homes, churches, shops, and schoolhouses) transplanted from all corners of Sweden.
Skansen was the first in what became a Europe-wide movement to preserve traditional architecture in open-air museums. Other languages have even borrowed the Swedish term "Skansen" (which originally meant "the Fort") to mean "open-air museum." Today tourists still explore this Swedish-culture-on-a-lazy-Susan, seeing folk crafts in action and wonderfully furnished old interiors (lively June-Aug before about 17:00 , otherwise pretty dead; May-Aug 70 kr; Sept-April 30 kr on weekdays, 50 kr on weekends. Open daily May 10:00-20:00 , June-Aug 10:00-22:00, Sept 10:00-17:00, Oct-April 10:00-16:00, closed only on Christmas Eve. The historical buildings are open 11:00-17:00, some until 19:00 June-Aug, Oct-April 11:00-15:00 — only a few are open in winter, tel. 08/578-90005 for recorded info, or tel. 08/442-8000, www.skansen.se).
Vasa
Stockholm turned a titanic flop into one of Europe's great sightseeing attractions. This glamorous but unseaworthy warship — top-heavy with an extra cannon deck — sank 20 minutes into her 1628 maiden voyage when a breeze caught the sails and blew her over. After 333 years at the bottom of Stockholm's harbor, she rose again from the deep with the help of marine archaeologists. Ironically, this Edsel of the sea is today the best-preserved ship of its age anywhere — housed in a state-of-the-art museum. The masts perched atop the museum's roof — best seen from a distance — show the actual height of the ship.
The 25-minute movie (top of each hour with English subtitles, actually in English at 11:30 and 13:30 ) tells the fascinating story. Displays are well described in English. Learn about the ship's rules (bread can't be older than 8 years), why it sank (heavy bread?), how it's preserved (the ship, not the bread), and so on(70 kr, daily mid-June-mid-Aug 9:30-19:00, off-season 10:00-17:00, winter Wed until 20:00, Galärvarvet, Djurgården, tel. 08/519-54800, www.vasamuseet.se).
AF Chapman
Europe 's most famous youth hostel, is a 100-year-old cutter ship permanently moored to Skeppsholmen island. It's open all year and has 140 beds in two- to 10-bed staterooms (lockout daily 11:00-15:00 ). The reception is at Skeppsholmen Hostel (bunk in 3- to 10-bed room-230 kr, in 17-bed dorm-185 kr, D-510 kr, 45 kr less for hostel members, sheets-60 kr, breakfast-70 kr, laundry service, STF Vandrarhem Af Chapman, Skeppsholmen, bus #65 from station or walk about 20 min, tel. 08/463-2266, fax 08/611-7155, www.stfchapman.com, info@chapman.stfturist.se).
Café Kappeli
In the park across the street from the TI is my favorite café in northern Europe, Café Kappeli. When you've got some time, dip into this old-fashioned gazebo-like oasis of coffee, pastry, and relaxation. In the 19th century, it was a popular hangout for local intellectuals and artists. Today the café offers romantic tourists waiting for their ship a great €2-cup-of-coffee memory.