Swedish sights?

Lorri_L

Hi

Myself and my boyfriend are going to Sweden in June for a week. We will be in Stockholm for three days and Gavle for the rest. Has anyone got any suggestions on where to go and what to do?

Rockee

I was living in Malmo in southern Sweden so not too sure about Stockholm, I do know that there are a lot of beautiful islands scattered off the Stockholm coast and apparantely are an absolute must....take a train journey too, the Swedish scenery is vast and beautiful! Enjoy!:D

Lorri_L

Would you recommend North Sweden or South? And is it hard to get a hold of the basic swedish language?

Rockee

I was living in the south for 2 months from October to Christmas, as I said Malmo. Its in a really flat province called Skane. No mountains, kinda like the Irish midlands but still beautiful. I didnt really spend anytime in the North, the extreme north is almost uninhabited, snow, forests, reindeer!:D I was only in Stockholm for a few hours cos I had to fly home from there. The advantage of the south is you can get a train every 20mins to Copenhagen in Denmark which is well worth a visit. You cross a bridge called the Oresund bridge which is over water for 7km, nice view! The language is very hard to pick up by listening but if you read it there are some words which bear a litle resemblence to English. I grasped the basics while there, but also if you're stuck dont worry because EVERYBODY and I mean EVERYBODY speaks fluent English...

Lorri_L

Totally out of context, but did you start the thread called Rush?

Rockee

I did! You live in Rush?

Lorri_L

Yeah I do. Have lived there my entire life and agree totally with you about how the town has got a lot rougher and more dangerous. That period of attacks on young girls a couple of years ago just goes to show.

Rockee

Probably went to school with ye! Im 24. Yeah, one of my friends was attacked in the woods a couple of years back. I ended up in the Coyote last night...:eek:

Lorri_L

no you wouldn't have gone to school with me, i dont know what the rules are on this board so i wont start posting names but im 18, is it likely I would have gone to school with your friend who possibly lives right beside the national school?

Rockee

The very girl...used to be in a band with her

Lorri_L

Yeah I know her quite well. Have to say Im not a huge fan of the nightlife in Rush

Rockee

Nah, the pubs are too clingy, everybody knows everyone which can be good and bad! What made you want to go to Sweden?

Lorri_L

My boyfriends parents are from there. He was raised there but doesnt remember to much of it.

Rockee

Ah, ok! Summertime there is beautiful but during the summer a lot of Swedes live in log cabins in woods, and countryside that have been handed from generation to generation.:D For Paddys week 2 of my friends from Sweden are going to be staying with me in Rush, if you want to get in touch with me about maybe meeting them and having a yarn, pm me, no problem.

Lorri_L

Yeah will do i have work in the morning. going offline now! bye!

franksm

Hey - about Sweden - Stockholm is one of my favourite places, I spent a lot of time there not so long ago. If you like walking, it's a great city - full of parks, as well as shops and pubs, cafes, etc. But the parks... beautiful.

Gamla Stan is the old town, and there's plenty to see there.

There's a TV tower that you can go to, about 2 miles from there, it's situated in one of the parks. On the top of that there's an observation deck from which you can practically see the whole city.

You'll probably get around most of the city in a couple of days. There's a great underground railway system too. Most of the city-dwellers depend on it.

Outside of Stockholm, I mostly went as far north as Uppsala (beautful university city) while staying close to the coast - lots of towns, villages and islands there.

It's a great place - although I took my car with me last time, which helped. One of the ferry companies (Stena maybe) did a "landbridge" option for about €400 which got you ferries to/from Dublin/Holyhead, and Newcastle/Gothenburg.

BTW if taking a train from the airport to Stockholm, that's all fine and well (and easy); if taking a taxi, make sure you get one of the fixed-charge taxis (about 38 euro I think) otherwise they'll use the meter and it's a 70 quid trip

biko

Check out http://www.stockholmtown.com or you can just go to Södermalm. Södermalm is a big island south of Gamla Stan (Old City) filled with little [and big] street shops, all kinds of restaurants, ice cafés, sushi bars etc. It's almost a city itself, very well connected & planned to become an interesting destination. The best way to check out Södermalm is by foot. Although it can take a while, you're gonna get a feeling of the city.
Take the Tunnelbana (or T-bana) to Slussen [two stops from Centralen] & start cruising... Or go one more stop to Medborgarplatsen (Citizen Square) and have a drink in Kvarnen (The Mill). Kvarnen is home pub for the Hammarby soccer team and has a lot to offer. Medborgarplatsen has several bars and clubs. Just ask at the bar for stuff to see, there's loads...

Zlatan

I would suggest going to see the old town in Stockholm, because it is really nice.

Gavle is not to far from Sundsvall which has a Gatufest or Street party every summer which is well worth going to. It has some good bands and a great atmosphere. It takes maybe 3 hour by car from Gavle. There is also a fantastic amusment aprk in Stockholm (can't remember the name) that is well worth spending a day in!:)

javelin

hi lorri..

are you going to Gavle?
That's where I'm from what're you doing there ?

Lorri_L

I'm going to Sandviken really, but will spend a lot of time in Gavle I'm sure! Going there because my boyfriends grandmother lives there!

gline

anyone been to gotenburg???
im going there in june. What is there to do? Looking up a few sites and found plenty to do but is there any nice smaller places that wouldnt be mentioned on websites?
Also what can i expect weather to be like on the start of June?

Lorri_L

The weather in june is normally pretty warm, some years it can be pretty cold around 15 degrees is the coldest you can expect to get. If its a normal year it will probably around 20 or 25 degrees.

demosuzki

i'm irish. i've lived in stockholm for 7 years.

as mentioned.
great city for walking and great public transport.

you have to go see and possiblely stay on the islands if you have 3 weeks.
i'd recommend svartjo but there are 100s.
hostels reasonable and great standards.

musumes are mostly free.
the modern art is very impressive.

try soder (the south island)
especially mossebacke and the areas around sofia and kathernia.
bohemain (sp?) in character.
best bar is the chech soldier on gottgatan.
best irish bar is the foggy dew on sveavagan. its the one the ex=pats drink in.


gamla stan (the old town) is pretty touristy

skanska is like a mixture of a nordic zoo and living history park.
worth a view.

eating out at lunch time is usually very cheap.
most resturants have a 'dagans' lunch menu.


the far north (norrland/lappland) is very interesting.
both summer and winter for the extreams.

you won;t need any swedish.
they love speaking english and are all very good at it.

weather will be like a good irish summer day.
midsummer (around the 21st of june) is a big holiday.
all shops with be closed

pm me if you have any direct questions.


/ds

franksm

Wow DS, you are living my dream. I remember trying to get Microsoft to transfer me to their Kista office permanently, just outside Stockholm, back in 2001 but nothing came of it. Pity, I absolutely loved the place.

I drove over from Ireland for a while as I was on assignment for a few weeks - it's a great place to travel around in a small convertible. Great roads, great countryside. And the islands... talk about "getting away from it all"...

demosuzki

franksm wrote:

Wow DS, you are living my dream. I remember trying to get Microsoft to transfer me to their Kista office permanently, just outside Stockholm, back in 2001 but nothing came of it. Pity, I absolutely loved the place.

I drove over from Ireland for a while as I was on assignment for a few weeks - it's a great place to travel around in a small convertible. Great roads, great countryside. And the islands... talk about "getting away from it all"...

actually moved home in 2002.
but still spend most summers there.
considering moving back.

drove back about 2 weeks ago via denmark, germany etc.
2300km in 3 days. snowed most of the way.
not exactly wind the the hair weather. !

-ds

Chaosopher

Stockholm is beautiful, myself and my boyfriend were in the Dubliner bar in the central city for Paddy's Day. Lovely place, plenty to see and do.
Try the Cosmonova museum/theatre, the cinema in Stockholm itself is just like the UGC...Globen is great for hockey matches and concerts alike...the shopping is really reasonable (think--jeans for like 30 quid!!), and the food is amazing. Semlar...mmmm....