Planning a short trip to Stockholm in the near future? Check out today’s perfect Stockholm travel guide when you only have a few days!
Have you ever thought about an upcoming trip and wished that someone else would just put together a perfect itinerary? Well I have. Don’t get me wrong, nothing makes me happier or as giddy as the thought of getting on a plane and soaring off to vacation. However, the idea of not having enough time to soak up the sites, the shopping, and the experience on a trip- really overwhelms me. And this time I was traveling with my sister who would be experiencing her first trip to Europe so I wanted the time to be optimal. This September we headed for Scandinavia! Sweden to be exact!
While I had been once before, years prior, I didn’t have an itinerary and would hardly consider it a real sojourn as much as I would a blip. And this time we were starting off our trip in one of the coolest cities in Europe – Stockholm. And I needed to create a perfect 3 Day Itinerary to fall in love with Stockholm.
First On The Itinerary...Breakfast
Through my travels I learned that one of the best places to begin planning your itinerary for your stay was planning your breakfasts! More importantly is having your breakfasts like a local, if you can manage. One of my favorite things to do on Day 1 nowadays is to find a local grocery store and load up to make breakfast throughout my stay. I love seeing how different foods are in other countries and it just feels a bit more relaxed when you can experience it— if even just a brief moment, what it’s like to be a local. And it doesn’t hurt to save your money for fancy dinners out!
Location, location, location…
Where we stayed was only 20 minutes outside of Stockholm’s city center and let me just say that the transit system in Stockholm runs better than any European country that I’ve experienced! You’ll soon learn just how organized and orderly the Swedes are and I absolutely loved it. Not only are their trains on time, but people actually wait their turns to get on and off those trains. I’m not sure why I’m surprised by their organization and efficiency – I mean we are talking about a country that birthed Ikea. So basically if you’re not exactly in the city center, don’t worry the subway is fantastic and runs late into the night.
This leads me to Day 2. You’re going to want to take advantage of the Free Walking Tours. You can find these tours just about anywhere in Europe. Yes they are free. They’re quite fun and informative and you’ll be able to see just about all of the sites you were hoping to see. The tours in Stockholm were broken up to cover the old town of Gamla Stan and the more metropolitan part of town.
Which brings me to the second portion of Day 2– shopping. Now that you’ve gotten familiar with both parts of town, you’ll have the rest of the day the shop or enjoy a Fika. Fika is a sort of coffee break so to speak. It’s about taking out a bit of time to just sit have a coffee with a friend and enjoy the moment. And do not leave Sweden without trying a beloved Kanelbullar. You’ll thank me later.
Now that you’re well rested from your Fika—you can head back over to Drottninggatan or Queen’s Street to enjoy all of the best shopping Stockholm has to offer. Oh and don’t be surprised if you see an H&M on every corner. As you probably know It is a Swedish fashion chain.
And Vogue
Day 3 – Photo Shoot. The first couple of days can be overwhelming as there is a lot to do and see. Day 3 is the best day or actually just an even better day. Now you can make your way back to Stockholm’s city center. Wander about town and really enjoy the countless opportunities for photo sessions. I knew that I needed a full day to make some permanent visual memories. I also knew that there were a couple of places that would make this an easy task. I planned to see the inside of the Royal Palace, and then having a drink at a cute restaurant in Gamla Stan. That was actually the alternative plan, the original plan was to head over to the Kaknästornet Tv Tower for some coffee and desert and the absolutely stunning view—but it was about an hour by train and frankly I couldn’t be bothered.
After visiting the landmarks that I most wanted to see there was still plenty of time in the afternoon to go back to shopping and fika-ing. Stockholm was an incredible experience and I truly fell in love with it. As a country that has English as a second language, I would suggest it be one of your top European cities to visit as a first timer. I’ve got a special place in my heart for Stockholm and I can’t wait to go back. If you want an exact breakdown as far the scheduling in my itinerary, because yes I did make a print out itinerary to include in my luggage- just shoot me a message and I’ll send you a copy! Check out my most recent blog post for luggage details CalPak Carry On Luggage Review
