Stockholm in Winter …

Arlanda airport getting ready for christmas.

My flight landed in Stockholm Arlanda airport in a cold winter afternoon. I had my connecting train to North at 4 o’clock from Stockholm central station, so I thought I would take Arlanda express there. I had many things in mind, to take exchange, buy ticket of Arlanda express, board the train at right time with my heavy trolly bag etc. I went to the visitor centre at terminal 4, and one kind lady suggested, I can catch my train right from the airport, don’t have to go to Stockholm central as the train passes through here. I was relived for one thing, I don’t have to rush and secondly I saved 200 SEK. I had two hours in hand, so I walked around a little, had some hotdogs, clicked some pictures. The train was almost 2 hours late increasing my waiting time. Arlanda offers 3 hours free wifi, it got exhausted. At last, when the train time was not changing anymore, they gave me a pass for 85 SEK and I board the train from the Arlanda central (as you can see the platform in the left side picture).

The train journey was comfortable. I had a nice co passenger  Nina,who and I shared similar interests. Nina saved me from giving my Mac charger to a swedish lady who asked repeatedly for it saying she forgot her charger at home. But Nina said to me, she is getting down in the next station and it was weird she wants the charger now. At night, a Pakistani refugee sat beside our cabin and started singing loudly in Urdu. Everyone was annoyed, but ignored, so ultimately he had to stop. Other than these two, we had nice time. I offered Nina one of our traditional desert: Kaju barfi. She gave me the Swedish christmas special , the saffron bread.

 

My adventures to the North are already written in my previous posts like, Bromsgatan, Northern lights, Ice hotel, More Jukkasjärvi, winter in Lapland. But here I want to focus on Stockholm in winter. So, after my 40 days in North, I came back to Stockholm. I stayed in a hostel and roamed around in the light snow. I have been here, in summer. But in winter everything looks different. I went to several museums and walked around a bit. Most of the streets have light snow but the parks have heavy layers. In front of  Konserthuset,thin white snow gave a beautiful contrast, so it did in the statues.

One problem in this thin snow is that roads become extremely slippery. You must be very careful. The hostel offered two hours free iceskating. But unfortunately , I do not skate. I think many of you do, so it can be one fun activity during winter. Also, there are options of free sauna, viking sauna tour etc which can be extremely relaxing after a tiring day of travel.

People skating in the city

An interesting place for winter photography can be Vasaparken. It is near the odenplan tT bana and close to the city centre. Infact, Stockholm is not too big and many part of the city can be covered by walking. But in winter it is difficult .

I was coming back in January, but still the christmas decorations persisted. The elks and reindeers made of lights and christmas tree lighten golden and  silver at night looks amazing. Overall, the local were in  holiday trance and due to extreme cold, few travellers are seen in the museum. Altogether, there is no rush in winter, which is extremely relaxing.

 

Another great location for photography in winter can be the musieparken. I would definitely say you go there in winter.  Not only the great view from Kaknästornet, but as whole the park and snow covered fields are beautiful. Moreover, you are getting few museums to see for free here like  Sjöhistoriska museet.  You can ride the heritage tram 7 in djurgarden or take a bus to the tv tower. I think Stockholm is beautiful in summer, but in winter too, it has an unique charm.

Tram 7

Nordiska museum from Musieparken

kaknästornet

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