Stockholm, Sweden was another great destination on our Baltic cruise. The weather was perfect and it was a nice walk from the ship straight into the Old Town (Gamla Stan).
We decided to spend our first day in Stockholm doing a free walking tour of Gamla Stan. Unlike other Old Towns we have come across in Europe, Stockholm's was quite hilly. Some of the cobblestone roads were a bit steep! On our walking tour we came across the Swedish parliament buildings, the city hall where they pass out Nobel Peace Prizes every year, and a lot of grand statues of the many King Gustavs that have ruled Sweden. Prior to the tour we sat in the square and just people-watched. Sometimes it's nice just to do nothing but observe a foreign city over a cold drink!
Our second day in Stockholm was spent taking a small ferry boat from the Old Town to Djurgarden (an island 10 minutes away). This island is home to Grona Lund, an amusement park which we could see from our cruise ship. We didn't end up going there since I was hoping to visit the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen (which we did a few days later).
On Djurgarden we made our way to Skansen, the first "open-air museum" in Sweden. Skansen is basically a museum/zoo spread out over a large area. They have a replica of a 19th century village, but to be honest we didn't feel like doing the historic tour. We just wanted to see the animals! They had a variety of Scandinavian animals such as bears, moose, reindeer, seals, and bison. The ones we enjoyed watching the most were the seals and the bears. The seals were so fast swimming underwater, and one just sunbathed while perched on a rock. The bears were play fighting and chasing each other around. Skansen also has a lovely rose garden overlooking the city.
On our walk back to the ship we had some great views of the skyline. Stockholm was very lively in the summer with many tourists and a cultural festival going on. Another cool city visited on our trip!
We decided to spend our first day in Stockholm doing a free walking tour of Gamla Stan. Unlike other Old Towns we have come across in Europe, Stockholm's was quite hilly. Some of the cobblestone roads were a bit steep! On our walking tour we came across the Swedish parliament buildings, the city hall where they pass out Nobel Peace Prizes every year, and a lot of grand statues of the many King Gustavs that have ruled Sweden. Prior to the tour we sat in the square and just people-watched. Sometimes it's nice just to do nothing but observe a foreign city over a cold drink!
Our second day in Stockholm was spent taking a small ferry boat from the Old Town to Djurgarden (an island 10 minutes away). This island is home to Grona Lund, an amusement park which we could see from our cruise ship. We didn't end up going there since I was hoping to visit the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen (which we did a few days later).
On Djurgarden we made our way to Skansen, the first "open-air museum" in Sweden. Skansen is basically a museum/zoo spread out over a large area. They have a replica of a 19th century village, but to be honest we didn't feel like doing the historic tour. We just wanted to see the animals! They had a variety of Scandinavian animals such as bears, moose, reindeer, seals, and bison. The ones we enjoyed watching the most were the seals and the bears. The seals were so fast swimming underwater, and one just sunbathed while perched on a rock. The bears were play fighting and chasing each other around. Skansen also has a lovely rose garden overlooking the city.
On our walk back to the ship we had some great views of the skyline. Stockholm was very lively in the summer with many tourists and a cultural festival going on. Another cool city visited on our trip!
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