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Published: August 12th 2008
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Hej !
Sweden is the Scandinavia's biggest countries. Almost everybody knows what Sverige is famous for. Sweden is best explored by trains and buses through its counties. Some have even explored it along with their donkeys, as recently as this year in 2008, when a french citizen with his two donkey Nonu and Monu achieved that. Well Sweden train fares are quite expensive and mostly run in the day time. The only night one's which I have seen leave at around 11 pm in the night to border town of Norway to Stavangergatan from the Central Station, its a sleeper coach, for correct schedules check with the sj.se, the official train services.
You can get around in cities with their local passes specially designed for Tourists visiting the country or if you are a student then you can have a monthly pass. In Stockholm Connex is the transportation company which issue a monthly pass around 700 kroner s for a month. You can access almost all modes of public transportation systems, if you are for a longer duration say for 4 months May till August then there is a special discount which is handy. Next things before you could find a decent hotel according to budget is to get admitting into a Youth Hostels which dot through out the country, you need to provide the ID of your country to get accomodation. It is particularly an alternative for students who have just landed in thewithout any accomodation and are curious to go where.
Swedish climate is cold through out the year, particularly the December-April. You need to be weather conscious in the country and bring some warm clothing just in case and particularly If you are a traveling during winter months. In summer the weather is quite good. You could find almost any food here thanks to the large immigrant population in Sweden living in harmony. It is one of the safest countries to get around even in the night.
You have a public Library on the fourth floor at the city centre called the Sergels Torg just in case you need to check the newspaper from your home country. Many newspapers in respective languages from different countries can be accessed there. You even have an internet facility (also there are many terminals can be accessed at Central Train station, keep some change which is very handy to access these kiosks ) there but you need to have an account for that and it takes time. Drottninggatan ( Queens Street ) is the main thoroughfare of Sweden you pass through most of the important monuments including the parliament and palace building. There's some thing special on Sunday's at palace which I have noted. A parade by the Royal guards through the city which is good. Cigarettes are expensive here, as many of the food items as taxes are high a bit. You can carry as some amount of stock with you instead of purchasing in Sweden, check out the limits that you can carry with Swedish customs.
Souvenirs and Gift shops dot through out the Drottninggatan where you can look for memorabilia also there are big souvenir shops at Hotel Sheraton complex, which are the places to look out for real good Crystals like Orefors, Swarovski etc.., . Which are cheap when compared to other places. The way from the central train station's main exit is just go towards your right downhill. If you have exited through the tunnelbana end then follow the Drottninggatan towards the palace which is well before you enter the Riksdag ( Parliament Building ) and take right from where you see the Townhall building. Also remember to get your tax rebate voucher issued at most of the shops even if there is a very very heavy rush, you can refund those tax rebate vouchers at the airport while leaving the country.
There is one Sushi bar Restaurant at Drottning gatan near the Sergels Torg end and some good kebab shops. Many people look for toilets while at Drottninggatan, there are no toilet system in any places except the Central station complex and one at Slussen, which you can find near the Slussen tunnelbana or the katarinehissen. The important buildings which you are never going to miss starting from Drottninggatan Sergels Torg ( Tory ) end are the Rosenbad ( the PM's official residence ), the Parliament building the Riksdag ( The Parliament Building ) and the palace. The entrance inside is like huge Stone sculpted structure which is awesome. Go around the building which most visitors don't do, they just walk straight and exit near the Old Town ( Gamla Stan ). You will miss this part of the Parliament building. You can have good look and also you can have a look of the Swedish Opera house from there and also the side view of the palace and other important hotels like Hotel Grand where most of the international dignitaries stay while in Stockholm. So don't forget to make cicumbulation of the Parliament building to dig out the views for your lenses. Then march straight towards the palace. And the rest is easy. There are lots of museums in Stockholm, Vasamuseet is one among them, a famous warship which sank on its inaugural voyage ( the story goes as the King at the time ordered for more Cannons than the ship could handle). Which was retrieved and is there for all to see. And also af chapman the Youth Hostel on a boat.
Vikings are famous in this part of the world for their notorious voyages across Europe and at times they even traveled across the Atlantic to make a bounty, the Swedish history is rich , you need to spend some time studying these ancient times to understand the true Swedish culture which is very rich. There are many memorabilia's representing Viking T shirts, Helmets, Swords, magnets, Kitchen gloves, spread sticks, caps, boats of many many types. For kids there are some toy helmets and swords made of plastics which are very funny.
Spend some time in the evening at Slussen, particularly at sunset, though the sun never sets in summer times in Scandinavia, still the evenings are great at Slussen, you can have a beautiful view of the city from the Katarinahissen ( Lift ) to the hotel atop the building. The other major palces are Riddarholmen, Stortorget, Nybrokajen, Concert Huset which is at far end of the Drottning gatan from the palace side.
And if you are an international student take a tunnelbana towards from Central station towards Ropsten to get down at Tekniska Hogskolan stop to visit the Royal Institute of Technology main campus, the IT campus is 10 km away at Kista Science city, a conglomerate of the IT world. The Campus also houses departments of Stockholms Universitetet and DSV. The Micro electronics department is further away from this campus just a few metres of walk. The student housing is the responsibility of the respective Kommun and the Universties provide full assistance in providing one, you need to book early if you need a fair deal.
Also famous is Djurgarden a recreational park which can be accessed by a small ferry from Slussen, the travel passes work to visit the recreational park or through a bus from the Sergels Torg. Check the number at the stop before boarding the bus. Other thorough fares famous are Sveavagen, Kungstragarden, Kungsgatan, Drottningholm, Medborgarplatsen if you are a party bug, ice bar. Casino's are at the city center at the Central station end.
Arlanda Express 20 minuter runs between Arlanda Airport and City centre at scheduled times. Stockholm is also best explored by boats and they take you around all of the monuments. But if you are a die hard shopper then get down on your 11 no bus. People waste lot of time looking at gimmicks in the streets it is often observed beware there are some pickpocketing incidents which I have been a witness to. So don't try to be a fool in the street. Its a really busy thorough fare and there is brisk business, always try to preserve time to spend some good moments at good places instead of making a sprint dash to tape.
Keep a single day for shopping or start early to return back to the street to buy some cheap souvenirs.
Sweden's climate is getting better by the day and it is simply the one of the most exquisite places to be around. People are warm, friendly and English is common, you don't need to press hard your nose to extract any info which you like, normally Swedes are a reserved people, but they are a very good hosts. And do not forget to say Hej !(Heyy) before starting the conversation and a Hej do ( Read: Hey do like in (Donuts) ). Enjoy the ABBA in Sverige.
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