Stockholm, slowly
Two unhurried days in the Swedish capital, measured in bakeries, market halls, a quiet museum and the water, with a short list of things to bring home.
Stockholm rewards people who refuse to rush it. The city is spread across fourteen islands, and many of its best moments happen in the gaps between them: a bridge crossed in low sun, a terrace that holds the last of the light, a bakery that has been doing one thing for longer than anyone can remember. This is a route rather than a ranking. Two days, almost entirely on foot, through the places in our collection, and a handful of objects that carry the city home with you.
Day one: Östermalm to Vasastan
Start in Östermalm, a district of wide boulevards, stone apartment blocks and unhurried mornings, and let the city decide the pace. By evening you will have walked from a three-hundred-year-old bakery to a rooftop park.
- 01
Stora Bageriet
Begin where the city’s bread was baked for more than three centuries. The former crown bakery on Sibyllegatan serves sourdough, pastries and breakfast to drop-in guests; take a seat on the terrace and let the morning set the pace.
- 02
Östermalms Saluhall
A short walk away, the red-brick hall of 1888 shows how good a market can look. Fish, cheese, bread and chocolate beneath a carefully preserved interior. Come to browse, not to hurry.
- 03
Sturegallerian
Cut through the covered arcade at Stureplan, threaded through old courtyards all the way to Grev Turegatan. The Sturebadet bathhouse is here too, should the day call for it.
- 04
NK Stockholm
Walk on to Hamngatan and Ferdinand Boberg’s granite department store, open since 1915. Look up in the glass-roofed light court, then lose half an hour in the NK Saluhall food hall.
- 05
Tehuset
Lunch under the elms of Kungsträdgården, at a tea house the same family has run since 1953. Order the fish soup; stay for the trees, which Stockholmers saved in 1971.
- 06
ALLTET
In the afternoon, walk up Sveavägen to Vasastan and a concept store devoted to incense, natural soaps, teas and ceremonial cacao. It is as much about slowing down as shopping, which suits the day.
- 07
Urban Deli
Come back down Sveavägen and take the lift to Takparken, the year-round rooftop park on the ninth floor. A glass-walled bar with the city spread out below: the place to watch the evening arrive.
Day two: Skeppsholmen and the water
The second day belongs to Skeppsholmen, a small island a short walk across the bridge from the centre. The traffic falls away, the water is never more than a few steps off, and its great museum of modern art sits among old naval buildings and trees.
- 01
Moderna Museet
Arrive as the doors open. Rafael Moneo’s building, completed in 1998, holds Picasso, Dalí, Matisse and Meret Oppenheim, with photography reaching back to 1840. Give it the whole morning.
- 02
Café Blom
Lunch at the ArkDes café in the same building, which has its own entrance through the garden where Picasso’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe stands. Soups, salads, Morgon Coffee and, in summer, seats outside.
- 03
Café Skeppsholmen
Walk to the far side of the island for coffee and a pastry facing the Old Town and the Royal Palace. In winter the same view is just as good from indoors.
- 04
Glashuset
Cross back over the bridge and follow the quay along Strandvägen to a glass pavilion that began life as Peter Celsing’s petrol station in 1949. Dinner by the water, boats moored outside: the right ending.
Many of Stockholm’s best moments happen in the gaps between its islands.
What to bring home
The best souvenirs from Stockholm are things you will actually use. Sweden has produced an unusual number of brands that treat everyday objects, a perfume, a face cream, a tube of toothpaste, with real care. Each of these carries something of the place back with you.
- 01
Ode Stockholm Auster
A Stockholm summer in a 50 ml extrait: laurel, hay, cedar and incense, with warmth and salt in place of anything conventionally fresh.
- 03
1996
From the Swedish fragrance house: juniper and black pepper over violet, leather, amber and vanilla.
- 04
Day Cream
Skincare from Stockholm in amber glass with a black spherical cap. Vegan, and kind to every skin type.
- 05
TGC212 Mint Toothpaste
Made in Sweden, in an aluminium tube. The most useful souvenir you will ever pack.
