FINDING YOUR WAY
Stockholm is easily manageable on foot,
as it takes only about 40 minutes to walk across the whole city—most
locations are only minutes apart. The heart of the city is Gamla Stan
(“Old Town”), the small island that sits in the middle of the stream
transferring the waters of Lake Mälaren into the Baltic. This historic
and picturesque island is located just below Norrmalm, the city’s more
modern commercial centre, and above Södermalm, a hipster-heavy
“bohemian” island that was once working-class but has since established
itself as the location for all things cool.
The three remaining major
neighbourhoods border Norrmalm: Kungsholmen, the quiet, mostly
residential island to the west; Vasastan, another mostly residential
area to the north; and Östermalm, the fancy prepster-dominated district
to the east. The remaining areas of note are the island of
Skeppsholmen, just east of Gamla Stan and home to various museums,
notably Moderna Museet. Further east, there’s Djurgården, the city’s
island equivalent of New York’s Central Park, accessible from Östermalm
by bridge or Gamla Stan by ferry.
GETTING AROUND
Stockholm
is simple to navigate even if walking isn’t your thing. Like all of the
city’s public transit, the subway system is clean and efficient, and
well-posted with signs. It’s called the tunnelbana in Swedish,
so look for signs with a simple black “T” in a white circle—it runs
from about 5am until midnight on most days (5:30am to 3am on Fridays
and Saturday). The city’s commuter train lines (taken from Central
Station) and bus lines can also be boarded with the same tickets,
priced according to which of three zones you plan to travel to (A, B,
and C) and how the ticket is purchased (pre-paid, cash, sms, or vending
machine). In the city, an adult fare will cost between 15 and 30
kronor, and is valid for an hour once stamped. Alternatively, a one-day
travel card costs 100 kronor, 3 days for 200, 7 for 260.
Waxholmsbolaget is the company that runs ferries out to the
archipelago; their boats can be boarded at Strömkajen, just in front of
Grand Hotel.
