The sun never quite goes down in Sweden during the summer, and the long days make it an ideal time to visit Stockholm. The city sprawls over 14 islands, surrounded by a lake and dozens of bridges connecting the boroughs. There are great cycling lanes, quality independent shops, and kardemummabullar (Swedish cardamom rolls) at every bakery. It’s a festive season for the locals as well, who ride out the darkness of winter to earn this chimerical stretch from May to August. They will be outside en masse, picnicking, boating, and opening a second bottle of elderflower snaps. Visitors should follow their example. Skål!
Ett Hem Common Area
Photographed by Jo Rodgers
Where to Stay:
Ett Hem
This quiet, independent hotel operates from an Arts and Crafts townhouse in Östermalm, the most elegant neighborhood in Stockholm. There are 12 bedrooms, individually decorated with features like freestanding bathtubs and linen armchairs. The common spaces are chic and comfortable, and include a serene walled garden. In the afternoon the kitchen sets out a warm chocolate cake for the guests, a generous ritual to look forward to after a morning of sightseeing. The name of the hotel translates to “a home,” an apt epithet for this intimate property.
Miss Clara
Miss Clara was a headmistress at the turn of the 20th century in Stockholm, who oversaw a girl’s school where the eponymous hotel is now based. Rooms are stylish and affordable, with airy windows and hardwood herringbone floors. The emphasis is on clever, minimalist design rather than luxury; there aren’t a lot of frills, but there is brisk Wi-Fi and a young on-the-ball staff. For travelers looking for a practical, good-looking base in Stockholm, this is a terrific option.
Lydmar Hotel
Situated on the waterfront in the center of town, this family-owned property has the best location of any hotel in the city. The decor is colorful contemporary with lashings of artistic flamboyance (a dog portrait here, a clown sculpture there). Bedrooms are nicely appointed and include a good cold breakfast. The upstairs roof terrace, open only during the summer, is a charming place for lunch or drinks and hugely popular with the locals. Don’t miss the tuna tartare and the charcuterie plate.
Ulla Winbladh
Photographed by Jo Rodgers
Where to Eat:
Oaxen Krog
Experimental and ambitious, Oaxen Krog is the most exciting restaurant in Stockholm. The small dining room is located in a converted boat shed, refitted with large windows and sleek neutral furnishings, and it has a pleasant view of the nearby island of Beckholmen. Chef Magnus Ek serves delicious, progressive Nordic cuisine from a tranquil open kitchen, compiling dishes like reindeer with roe and mustard, and quail with grilled spruce cream. For guests who prefer a simpler meal, there is a casual restaurant, Oaxen Slip, run by the same owners next door.
Operakällaren and Bakfickan
Stockholm’s opera house is home to its grandest restaurant, Operakällaren, which has been open since the end of the 19th century. A vast marble fireplace dominates one end of the impressive wood paneled dining room, and the mounted head of a stag decorates the other. The diners are primarily locals celebrating special occasions, here for continental European fare such as Bresse chicken with chanterelles and flambéed Swedish strawberries. Around the corner, still within the opera house, is the more relaxed Bakfickan, which serves excellent Swedish classics. If you are keen to try regional dishes like meatballs with lingonberries or beef Rydberg, this is a great place to do it.
Matbordet
Mathias Dahlgren is one of Sweden’s best-known chefs, and he runs three restaurants all out of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. The newest and most informal of these is Matbordet, a communal table of up to 10 guests who look on while a chef cooks a multicourse dinner. The food is approachable and satisfying; on a recent evening, there was lamb with summer truffles and rhubarb over vanilla ice cream. It is a treat to watch each course come together, buckets of butter and all, and the chef and assistants are cheerfully informative. Despite the possible difficulty of a language barrier—when we visited, all of the other guests were Swedish—the experience of eating with strangers is surprisingly convivial, and makes for a spirited evening.
Ulla Winbladh
Located on the island of Djurgården, a national park about a 30-minute walk from central Stockholm, Ulla Winbladh serves traditional Swedish cuisine in a bucolic setting. Typical guests range from walkers and cyclists who stop in for salmon on toast to large families who have planned a long meal on the terrace. Service is welcoming and the menu is indulgent, offering dishes like fillets of sole in champagne sauce, or veal with truffle cream and fried potatoes. Unsurprisingly, the meatballs are also terrific, arriving in a puddle of rich gravy with buttery mashed potatoes.
Rosendals Trädgård
About a 10-minute cycle from Ulla Winbladh, deeper into the green expanse of Djurgården, Rosendals Trädgård is a café and nursery with a tremendous local following. There is open seating in a greenhouse and at picnic tables spread out over the grounds. The café serves lunch and tea, offering a short daily menu plus sandwiches and pastries. Don’t forget to have a look around the farm shop, which sells beautiful, well-priced garden accessories.
Stockholm from the water
Photographed by Jo Rodgers
What to Do:
Stockholm is very cycle-friendly, and a bicycle tour is a useful way to get oriented. Stockholm Adventures organizes private and group cycle tours from their centrally located office in the city. Getting out on the water is also a wonderful way to explore, and GoBoat rents small motorboats by the hour. The boats are easy to drive and come with a fixed communal table, perfect for a picnic. If you prefer to stay on your feet, a local guide can take you through Stockholm’s neighborhoods; we went on a walking tour with Elisabeth Daude that took in everything from architectural history to the best place for toscakaka (a nutty, marzipan-filled cake; pick one up at Il Caffé on Mäster Samuelsgatan).
There are many Swedish brands worth seeking out while in town. From their shop on the island of Södermalm, Stutterheim sells well-cut, practical raincoats that will last you for years. The glove-maker Hestra does expert fittings at their beautiful store in downtown Stockholm, which has been run by the same family since 1936. Wonderful Swedish textiles can be found at Svensk Hemslöjd, and the fine metals company Skultuna is well known for their shapely cuff links and candlesticks.
Of the many museums in Stockholm, the Fotografiska is one of the most absorbing. It is an exhibition-based photography museum showing a diverse group of artists, with a café on the top floor that has a sweeping view of the lake and city. The Vasa Museum contains an almost fully intact excavated 17th-century warship that sank on its first voyage, and makes a fascinating study of maritime history. The official tourism bureau, Visit Stockholm, is a great resource for other cultural experiences.
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