Stockholm in January, what you need to know.

Our trip to Stockholm in January was fabulous, this is what you need to know to make your trip to Stockholm any time of the year an awesome, memorable and totally perfect long weekend. We are happy to share Mind over Money Matters tips and tricks so you can make your trip just as good. 

Read our blog Can you have an awesome trip to Stockholm with really cheap flights? to see how we booked it. And this blog How we made the trip to Stockholm in January awesome, to see how we made the answer YES of course.

These are our most memorable and best parts of our trip and some useful tips on Stockholm that we found out along the way.

We had a list of 5 things we wanted to do. When you are planning, try and keep it short and allow yourself plenty of free time as other experiences will find you. We made this list after researching online, mainly tripadvisor, the lonely planet guide (love these guides, we get one for wherever we go, great size for reading on the plane and have a pull out map. It’s so much fun getting lost, standing looking at a map. We ALWAYS get someone asking if they can help. Reading Adam Grant’s book Give and Take, which I feature in my article 1 book won’t change your life but 5 books can shape your world, (coming soon) taught me that people want to give, want to help, it makes people happy. Opening ourselves up to this theory, by talking to people really elevates our travel experience. One lady actually walked with us to our hotel, she shared her stories and helped us and we all were richer for it. This is what was on our 5 things we wanted to do in Stockholm, and how they went.

• Have a Swedish massage and eat meatballs in Sweden. Meatballs in the breakfast buffet along with everything else you can imagine, and we both had a massage at the hotel spa, so relaxing.
• Try some of the new activities offered at the Hotel like rooftop yoga class. We totally made the most of the hotel, we didn’t do the yoga but did do an organised walk and Friday night cinema. Also there’s plenty of chill out areas which we used and every floor has a table tennis table in the lift lobby, so we played ping pong whenever we got out the lift. That was a first , and fun. Our review of the Downtown Camper Hotel is coming soon, subscribe to make sure you see it.
• Visit the Vasa Museum. Yes, yes and wow yes, read more about this below. This is a Viking ship that was unsunk and has been restored.
• See the Metro Art. Yes totally enjoyed, see more about this below. Glad this was on our list.
• Find the picture on our Stockholm Blog in real life. Wherever we go we have to find the iconic picture and see it in real life. This one was hilarious. It’s not even real in real life. Look.

Stockholms iconic houses in real life.

All of these were absolutely fantastic and we would totally recommend, but you’ll have your own list, whatever suits you. You need to make things happen, theres a whole world of experiences you’ll enjoy that you don’t even know about. Find them and make them happen.

So we always say – What were the best 5 things about the trip? We use the answers to make sure that the next trip is as good or better. I It’s best to leave it a while, the answer’s straight after the trip are not always the same as say a month later when your memory has had a chance to process those experiences. will be writing an article with more information on that, and why its so useful. Subscribe to the site to be alerted once it’s published.

The best things about our trip to Stockholm in January were

• The people we met. 100% totally, our trip was made truly special by the warmth, the happiness and the talks with strangers really made our trip. At breakfast, the hotel, seats some people on long benches. One morning we were seated opposite two gents travelling alone. There was Mika from Finland and Timoe from Brussels. We spent an hour and a half talking, they were the most interesting, friendly people with fascinating stories and that truly was an inspiring and uplifting breakfast experience. You pass by people every day, it’s a real joy to stop and spend time learning about and from people with such different lives from your own. Both of these guys would be so welcome in our homes if they ever visit England again, feel free to get in touch. Timeo even just let us know how to spell your name correctly, apologies, we did not write it down. We went on the camera walk organised by the hotel and spent most of that chatting to our hosts and a lovely couple from Scotland. Again such interesting stories and views, it really opened our eyes and minds. Hotel staff, coffee shop staff and a lovely friendly lady in the body shop – all amazing. £8.50 for a chap stick in body shop was a shocker though, and we lost it the next day!
• Vasamuset. The Vasa Museum. This was Taz’ pick and what a mind blowing morning spent here. So this ship took 2 years to build by the finest shipbuilders in Stockholm, it was the biggest, the best warship ever built. It set sail in 1628 to celebrations and parties. It got 1000 metres and sank. Basically there was not enough ballast in the bottom for the height of the ship. Someone’s calculations were wrong. Pay attention in Maths and Science kids. The ship was rescued in the 1950’s, restored and is now on display in this Museum. Seriously go and experience it, watch the video – it shows the full story and footage from the resurrection. The ship itself is breathtaking, huge, you can imagine it in all its former glory, how imposing and amazing it would have been sailing off to war. Thing is though, because it sank so quickly, it is the only one in the world saved totally complete. They can tell from the clothes and bones of the sailors how old they were, what their diets were. There’s all the tools that were on board and the paint powders and well everything. You could easily spend most of a day here, immersing yourself in the wonder and history.
• The hotel pool. So this pool is on the rooftop, heated of course and overlooking the city. It’s part of the spa experience, sauna, relax, drink delicious teas, eat little bowls of dried fruit or olives or gerkins. We went in the pool in the evening when it was dark. It was -13 degrees outside and we went into that steaming hot pool, lit with different colours and looking out over the city. That was magical, we felt like we were in a brochure. Getting in and out was fun too, it was so cold the pool rails were iced. We’ve never done anything like that before. Perfect
• Wandering around enjoying the breath-taking beauty of the buildings and the water. Stockholm is made up from 14 islands! Stopping to have coffee – all delicious and the amazing breads. We even bought a bread book, hows that for a souvenir, along with our customary fridge magnet. We know we only touched the surface of what Stockholm has to offer but we feel that we saw enough to have ‘been’ there, there’s plenty of the City in our memories.
• Art on the Underground. This was a 75 minute trip getting off at all the stations we’d found out had art on them. We’d get off at the station, wander around (no need to go up and out, the art is at platform level), get on the train to the next stop and repeat. We’d seen pictures but had no idea how impressive this 75 minutes would be. These stations are dug out of caves, and the whole of the caves have been painted differently at each station. Seriously awesome, we’d never seen anything like it. Absolutely worth seeing.

Stockholm metro station art.

Things that are handy to know about Stockholm. Some of these we found out before we went, some during our trip. I hope you find them useful.

• The currency is Swedish Krona SEK, we had to order ours -make sure you get the best deal, don’t leave it to the last minute or change at the Airport.
• You’ll need a debit or credit card. Sweden is aiming to be cashless by 2020 so many places already do not accept cash. Coffee shops, restaurants etc – all card only. So make sure you have a specialist overseas credit card, info here, otherwise you’ll be wasting money. We went with £200 worth of Krona and were left with £140, that’s how cashless it is. Luckily our hotel took the cash against our bill on check out, else we would have been left with wasted money.
• It’s expensive. Coffee and a roll (absolutely delicious and worth it, but still just lunch). Works out around £16. Small bottle of water £2.30 and a Twix £1.50. Cinammon rolls are too delicious and irresistible, budget for quite a few of them at £4 a time.
• January is cold, for us it was colder than the coldest cold imaginable. Seriously minus 8 in the day. Minus 15 at night. But that’s only outside, and you are totally wrapped in thermals, layers, hat, scarves and gloves. Make sure you have proper decent thermal everythings. One day we went out with no thermal leggings, got 5 steps and turned round, went back to the room and put them on. It’s like someone is stabbing you with ice.
• When you’re walking in that cold, your eyes are streaming and nose is running. When you take photos you have to dry your eyes and take your gloves off, and take the photos really quick before your fingers turn blue. It’s hilarious, take some tissues and if thermal touch screen gloves are a thing then get some.
• The Metro is easy, ask the ticket office attendant for help – everyone is super helpful. We got a single ticket for less than a couple of pounds. This lets you ride for 75 mins. This was perfect for seeing the art on the underground. Our lady at reception gave as a Metro map, and marked which ones to see. Easy and fabulous. We just managed it in the 75 mins but as the gate opened automatically for us I think we could have taken longer. This is a must do / see.
• There is a Nobel Prize museum but it’s closed on Mondays. When we found the square with the colourful houses (canvases!) we saw in the same square the Museum, I was so excited. Two of my favourite Authors Richard Thaler and Daniel Kahneman (featured in my blog coming soon) are prize winners so I could go and see them honoured. But it was Monday , and it was closed. So if that interests you then plan to go a different day. Our hotel receptionist told us a fascinating story of the square, won’t spoil it for you but read up or ask someone to tell you, it’s up there with Game of Thrones Red Wedding, but this was real.
• Winter is a fantastic time to go. Yes daylight is shorter and it’s cold but its a whole different beautiful experience, you still get to see the glory of Stockholm but at half the cost of going in the summer when flights are double and hotels are too. You’ll also experience less crowds.

So you’ve probably realised we totally recommend a trip to Stockholm in January, or anytime. Please feel free to add your Stockholm tips and experiences in the comments below and share with anyone who may be going, or has been, or even anyone like us hadn’t even considered Stockholm. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to Mind over Money Matters for more articles like this and tips on money saving and maximising Joy and maximising value.