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STOCKHOLM , home of Nobel prizes, with its lively old city, is Sweden's capital and its largest city, home to the Swedish royal family, and the commercial and cultural focus of the nation and perhaps Scandinavia. UPPSALA — 40 minutes from Stockholm — has maintained its walkable medieval inner core town, home to one of Europe's oldest and most respected universities. Outside of Uppsala are prehistoric mounds and other attractions. THE BALTIC ARCHIPELAGO of thousands of islands extends east from Stockholm. A fleet of ships offers regular sightseeing from an hour to a full-day excursion. Visit an island fortress, cycle, hike, picnic, swim, or just cruise. LAKE MÄLAREN extends west and inland from Stockholm, offering a great variety of freshwater cruises including several to island destinations with colorful lakeside villages, nature reserves, and even a royal palace. |
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STOCKHOLM SWEDEN |
UPPSALA SWEDEN |
SWEDEN'S LAKELAND |
GOTHENBURG SWEDEN |
SWEDEN'S WEST COAST |
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Attractions in Stockholm: Stockholm is the most populous city in Scandinavia with about 2 million residents in its metro area. The city — often likened to Venice — is scattered over a patchwork landscape of islands and waterways at the interface of the fresh water maze of Lake Mälaren and an equally complex salt water archipelago extending thirty miles or more east into the Baltic Sea. Stockholm itself occupies at least 14 islands and straddles a fresh- water/saltwater barrier lock — Slussen — where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic. The islands of Stockholm easily lend themselves to separate neighborhood identities: Norrmalm is the busy commercial city center and main transport hub; Helgeandsholmen is a small island occupied primarily by Sweden's Parliament; Riddarholmen is home to noble landmarks of the Middle Ages; Gamla Stan is the historic old city and home to the Royal Palace, city residence of Sweden's Royal Family; Östermalm is upscale residential, glamorous and a little stodgy; Södermalm is the trendy, youthful, |
• Stadshuset - Stockholm City Hall, site of the annual Nobel Prize ceremony; Photo © Home At First • Stockholm harbor: Norrmalm waterfront seen from Gamla Stan; Photo © Home At First. • Fountains at the Royal Park, Norrmalm; Photo © Home At First.
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Side
entrance to the Royal Palace, Gamla Stan;
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Guards
at work at the Royal Palace, Gamla Stan;
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Old
townhouses along Stortorget square, Gamla Stan; • Tree-lined square, Gamla Stan; Photo © Home At First. • Gamla Stan at night; Photo Jeppe Wikström / Stockholm Visitors Board. • Colorful cottage in Södermalm; Photo © Home At First. |
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the world's eye by the novels of |
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• The Vasa Museum on Djurgården. • Stockholm harbor sightseeing boat loading on Gamla Stan. • Entrance to Skansen animal park and open-air museum. • Lynx — one of many native Scandinavian animals at Skansen. • Entrance to the Royal Palace, Gamla Stan. • The Nobel Prize Museum on Stortorget square, Gamla Stan. • Cafés lining Stortorget square, Gamla Stan. • Flyt floating restaurant between Gamla Stan and Södermalm. • Gamla Stan's Magnus Ladulås features Swedish cuisine. |
Stockholm's late writer
Stieg Larsson;
Djurgården, once a
royal park, is now Stockholm's largest green
space and home
to Skansen,
its open-air living Swedish folk history museum and wildlife park, as
well as the city's finest museum,
the
Vasa (Ship) Museum. |
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Getting Around Stockholm: A car is not practical in Stockholm. The city's excellent public transportation system makes it easy to move from island to island using the metro (subway), trams (trolleys), buses, ferries, and sightseeing boats. Various transportation passes and ticket packages enable use the comprehensive transport system. For visitors, the best of these is the Stockholm Card, which provides unlimited use of public transportation within Stockholm County (including many commuter trains), free trips on certain sightseeing boats, discounts on certain tour buses, and free entry to as many as 80 |
All Photos © Home At First. |
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museums and other attractions. |
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• Uppsala Cathedral. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Gamla Uppsala burial mounds. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Uppsala Castle & Art Museum. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Medieval Gamla Uppsala church, early home cathedral of the Church of Sweden. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • The Linnaeum orangery at Uppsala's baroque Botanic Garden. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Picnic at Ulva Mill craft and cultural center. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Uppsala Central Rail Station. Photo © Home At First. • Cycle trip to Gamla Uppsala. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. • Lenna Cat steam train at Uppsala Östra Station. Photo: Lenna Jernväg. |
Attractions & Activities in Uppsala: Uppsala is Sweden's fourth largest city (after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö) with about 150,000 residents, but its old town center core is small and very walkable. Unlike most Scandinavian cities, Uppsala can trace its roots into the mists of the Dark Ages, with neighboring Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) — two miles out of modern Uppsala and a lovely picnic excursion by car or bike — an important Scandinavian habitation since at least the third century A.D. and site of a series of ancient burial mounds of early kings of Sweden. Uppsala has been a center of religion and learning for nearly 2,000 years — first as an important center of the ancient Norse pagan culture, and then, with the 12th century establishment of Christianity, as seat of the high bishops of the Christian Church of Sweden. Uppsala's 15th century gothic cathedral is among the most impressive churches of northern Europe. Uppsala University, oldest in |
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Scandinavia, also dates from the 15th |
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century. Its most famous student, Carolus (Carl) |
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Linnaeus — one of the founders of the science of botany — is commemorated by the university's delightful Botanical Garden. A century after the founding of the university, the construction Uppsala Castle was begun on orders of the great Swedish King Gustav Vasa. The castle remained one of Sweden's most important buildings for at least two centuries. Today, the castle houses Uppsala's fine Art Museum. Happily, most sights are reachable on foot from Home At First's centrally located Uppsala inns, or, if traveling to Uppsala by rail, from the city's Central Station rail terminal. From Uppsala's "other" main rail station, Östra (East) Station (just east of Central Station), visitors take the "Lenna Cat" on a leisurely 20-mile-long, steam-powered, narrow-gauge rail journey through the pretty, rural countryside of Uppland County. Getting Around Uppsala: Uppsala is a small city, compact and very walkable. With the Central Station ideally located in Uppsala, visitors travelling by public transportation will find Uppsala easily explored without a car. Those with rental cars will find considerably less traffic and easier parking here than in Stockholm. Visitors with an interest in cycling will find this university city very bike friendly. Getting to/from Stockholm and Uppsala: Stockholm's principal airport, Arlanda International, |
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Uppsala Cathedral. Photo © Home At First.
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Uppsala Cathedral from Uppsala University
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Uppsala University. Photo © Home At First.
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The Skytteanum by Uppsala Cathedral.
• • Uppsala: weir on the River Fyris near the Cathedral. Photo © Home At First. • Actor at the Museum Theatre at Gamla Uppsala. Photo: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism. |
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is about 35 minutes north of Stockholm and 15 |
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minutes south of Uppsala, and connected |
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Photos 1, 5, & 8 of Uppsala Hotels: Kalbar/Uppsala Tourism Photos 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, & 9, Stockholm Hotels © Home At First. |
to Stockholm by
airport rail and bus services
and to Uppsala by airport bus. High-speed
Swedish Rail
serves both cities, and frequently connects them in about 40-minute
journey times. Rental car
locations are found in both cities as well as at Arlanda Airport. |
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Attractions in the Region's Baltic & Inland Islands: Visitors
staying more than two days in Stockholm and/or Uppsala can experience
some of the region's most delightful excursions: by boat east into the
islands of Stockholm's Baltic Archipelago, or by boat from Stockholm, or
by car from Uppsala to attractions on the shoreline and islands of Lake
Mälaren east of Stockholm. Visiting either island group gives travelers
an opportunity to see the Swedes at play: the islands are the refuge
from the pressures of modern city life, the Swedish ideal of relaxation,
simpler, casual lifestyle on the water, usually with a boat. |
All Photos © Home At First. • Passengers boarding the Cinderella boat in Stockholm.• Cruising at speed into the archipelago. • Passing a remote island. • Passengers sitting aft out of the wind enjoying a sunny cruise. • Colorful archipelago cottages adjacent to the island's landing. • Fishing boat moored by an islet in the distant archipelago. • Cruise boats arrive and depart throughout the day. • Weekenders line up for the approaching boat back to Stockholm. |
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Stockholm's eastern quays on cruises |
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into the hundreds of islands that populate |
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All Photos © Home At First. • M/S Drottningholm underway on Lake Mälaren.• Port of call mid-way between Stockholm & Drottningholm.• First glimpse of Drottningholm Palace from the boat. • Ashore, we encounter the Drottningholm Palace Theatre.• The classical front of the Palace, residence of the royal family.• The palace framed by the long avenue through the gardens.• The rococo Chinese Pavilion is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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We pass the back of the Palace on the way to the boat.
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the archipelago in the thirty miles between central Stockholm and the
open Baltic Sea. Some cruises are short excursions to destinations like
Vaxholm village and Vaxholm Castle on islands near Stockholm. Longer
cruises depart Stockholm for middle and outer islands which can be
visited for a few hours or for a night or two (advance reservations
required). |
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