Enjoy the Swedish Winter in Stockholm
Written by Marcus Cederstrom
Despite the cold and the darkness, and there is plenty to go around, Stockholm in February is a beautiful place.In fact, it might be because of the cold and the darkness. During those few hours of daylight, the city is alive with action. People bundled up and out sightseeing. Even just enjoying the cold winter with a walk or a run. And the winter landscape couples Stockholm’s beautifully lit urban center with its natural scenery covered in snow and ice.
Few things demonstrate this as a walk around Djurgården. Stockholm is built on a series of islands, Djurgården being one of the small islands near the center of town. A short bus ride will take you right to the island, or walk through town and along the water to get there. Once there, Djurgården introduces you to Sweden’s natural environment while at the same time reminding you of its history. To take in the beautiful environment surrounded to the north by the frozen Djurgårdsbrunnsviken. You can pop into the various museums dotting the island such as the Vasa, where you are met by the breathtakingly well-preserved ship. Nordiska Museet is also on the island as well as the open-air museum.
So while the cold and darkness may be intimidating, and you may face an iced over environment that doesn’t necessarily look all that inviting, wandering around Djurgården in the middle of February is well worth braving the elements.
More Stockholm Tips
You’ll find lots of tips for things do do in Stockholm in our best of collation post.
Marcus – my only trip to Sweden was to Gothenburg in December and I was lucky with mainly sunny although very cold weather,
I did outdoor things in daylight and found some museums open in evening.
This makes me homesick… Great post. I’ve got a quick guide to Stockholm over at my site as well. Glad to see Sweden’s getting a bit of attention, it’s so rare in the blogging world.
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i have been to stockolm in winter 2005. Dont miss the vasa museum, thats really great. there is also a aqyarium nearby, but i think that wasnt a good deal (quite small but pretty expensive).
Jack – we do try to highlight destinations which are not high profile on Europe a la Carte, as there’s so much to do and see in Europe in addition to all the really popular destinations.
Daniel – thanks for your comment. Their is a post about the Vasa in the blog:
http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog/2008/07/08/the-vasa-a-whole-lot-of-swedish-wow/
Marcus – I loved my trip to Stockholm last summer. It was still really cold for me, but the food and the sights made up for it. I am hoping to make my way to Gothenburg this summer, fingers crossed. I did a piece on the old city for an Indian paper, you might enjoy it – http://flyingsuitcase.blogspot.com/2008/04/lost-in-gamla-stan.html
@Karen – It’s a beautiful country and absolutely full of museums. Stockholm alone has over 70. Which is perfect for those dark winter days.
@Jack – Glad you enjoyed it. It really is a wonderful city.
@Daniel – The Vasa is pretty impressive. Definitely a wow moment when walking in there. As Karen suggested you should check out the post about the Vasa.
@Neha – Stockholm has a bad habit of sometimes being a bit cold in the summer. But when that sun is shining late into the evening, it’s hard to beat.