DJURGÅRDEN

This island is one of Stockholm’s MUSTS. It is really easy to get there as you just have to take bus 69 outside Stockholm Central Station and stop at Djurgården or you can take a boat (some boats are included with the SL travel card, and it only takes 12 minutes to get to the island).

It takes about 3 hours to see the island walking, but it is worthwhile. If you don’t want to walk that much, you can visit some museums and the Kungliga garden, which is really beautiful when the tree leafs are coloured.

Djurgården is connected to Östermalm by a bridge where you have a pretty good view of the river, the pier, and of a huge and amazing building, which is the Nordiska Museet.

 NORDISKA MUSEET

This museum, like the Skansen, was founded by Artur Hazelius. The Nordiska Museet is a museum dedicated to the history of the Swedish town, starting from the Middle Ages to today. In it we will be able to see different aspects of the Swedish life: toys, traditions, food, houses, etc.

It opens from 10AM to 5PM except Wednesdays (closes at 8PM).

The entrance fee is 100SEK, on Wednesdays it is FREE from 5PM to 8PM.

Next to the Nordiska Museet is the famous Vassa Museet, which will definitely leave you open mouthed.

VASA MUSEUM

The Vasa Museum is probably the most famous museum in Stockholm. This museum houses the Vasa warship, the only ship of the 17th century that has survived almost intact to the present day. I am not going to tell you the story because you can find it on their website, but I highly recommend you to do the guided tour; the guides explain really well.

You'll definitely should come to Stockholm and see the Vasa with you own eyes, you will love it.

This museum opens from 10AM to 5PM except Wednesdays (closes at 8PM).

Student fee 100SEK.

 SKANSEN

Another famous attraction in this island is the Skansen. The Skansen is a famous open-air museum that represents rural life in Sweden, but it is also a zoo where you can see several Scandinavian animals such as reindeers as well as farm animals, bears, owls, etc.
In addition, during the winter there is a very famous Christmas market.

If you have more time you can also enjoy the Spirit Museum, the famous ABBA Museum or the Gröna Lund (and amusement park).

STOCKHOLM'S SUBWAY ART

Have you heared about the Stockholm Subway? If your answer is no, this is going to interest you.

The Stockholm Subway is not just trains, vias, people waiting, people running, people looking at their watches... The Stockholm Subway is also full of ART.

In 1950s some artists started decorating this subway with paintings, mosaics, sculptures, etc. Nowadays over 90 of the 100 subway stations in Stockholm are decorated.

If you travel along the blue, red and green lines you will see the most famous stations.

If you are living here you just need your SL card, but in case you come to Stockholm on vacation (or your family or friends come here to visit you), then you will need to buy a ticket at the station.

T-Centralen is the main station, therefore it is the station with more passengers. Per Olof Ultvedt decorated it in 1975 with flowers along the walls in order to offer some calm and patience to passengers that are waiting for trains. 

The same artist also wanted to honour the workers, so he decided to paint their silhouettes.

The Kungsträdgården subway station looks like an archaeological excavation as it has Roman columns, sculptures and marble that belong to the National Art Museum.

The Gamla Stan Station. The designer of this station was Göran Dahl who was inspired by the tapestries from Överhogdal. So this station simbolizes the textile. 

Solna station has its walls decorated with a forest. The red paintings symbolize the pollution and the destruction of the environment. You can take advantage of the trip and visit the Mall of Scandinavia, which is the Sweden's largest shopping centre.

This is the Stadion station, with bright and colourful walls. The rainbow colours symbolize the 1912 Olympics which took place in Stockholm. 

In this station you can also find a colourful letter M that represents the Royal College of Music.

The Tekniska Högskolan station is one of my favourites. The theme of this station is science, so you will findart related to Isaac Newton, Christopher Polhem, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus and Johannes Kepler.

Dodecahedron

Solar System

And the four elements of nature...

The Östermalmstorg station is also one of my favourite ones and it was decorated by Siri Derkertand. She decided to focus on women's rights as well as in world peace, so this station also symbolises the green movement. 

The Hallonbergen station was decorated with drawings made by children. So sweet!

The Slussen station is located in the hippest district of Stockholm, Södermalm (totally recommended place). Here you will see the “Opponer” by Sune Fogde, which is made by lacquer and plaster.

Västra skogen station is decorated with coloured tiles and it includes Western Europe’s longest escalator. It was done by Sivert Lindblom.

I will add more photos of new stations that I visit. I hope you like it, and don't hesitate to visit them!

What do you think about the Stockholm Subway? Is it as cool as the Moscow Subway or the Naples Subway?

FOUR FREE MUSEUMS IN STOCKHOLM

In this post I am going to talk a bit about four Museums in Stockholm with FREE ENTRANCE. The past days it has been raining most of the time and I didn’t want to stay at home, therefore I decided to visit some Museums because they are always a good option when the weather is not good.

My first option was the Moderna Museet, which is situated in Skeppsholmen. This museum has permanent artistic works but it also offers different artist exhibitions each week.  It does not take too much time to see it because it is small, so it is a perfect plan for any day. The entrance to the permanent collection is free.

Salvador  Dalí

The second option is the Etnografiska Museet, which I found really interesting. Once you are at Stockholm’s Central Station you have to go outside and take bus 69 Stockholm Blockhusudden, the stop is  Museiparken (travel time 18 minutes). Be aware of the time, because this museum usually closes at 17pm.

It is one of Sweden’s four National Museums of World Culture. Specifically, in this museum you will see objects, clothes and some things from the Native Americans, Japanese and Indian cultures, among other things.

The next option is the Museum of Medieval. In this museum you can experience the medieval part of Stockholm. You will see the original Stockholm's city hall in the 16th century, as well as a war ship, reconstructed buildings, workshops, that is, how was everyday life in the past. By the way, this museum is near the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet), so if you are planning to go to this museum, I will then recommend you to go at 12 to the Royal Palace to see the guard change, and then visit the Museum.

Finally, I visited the Hallwylska Museet. This is a small museum that is situated in the centre of the city. Here you will find many antiques, guns, swords, porcelain, silver, paintings and other collectibles. The day I went it was raining a lot and the museum was crowded, so we had to wait a while in queue. When I entered the museum, I saw that most of the people were doing a guided tour that costs 60 SEK. I think it might be a good option because in this museum there aren’t placards with information about the objects. By the way, this museum closes on Mondays.

Venice Carnival

Venice Carnival

Made with sugar