10 FUN THINGS TO DO IN STOCKHOLM IN FALL / WINTER

20 Nov 10 FUN THINGS TO DO IN STOCKHOLM IN FALL / WINTER

Are you thinking of visiting Stockholm but fear that fall and winter would not be the best period?

While Stockholm is certainly a great destination during spring and summer, and especially during the midsummer’s long nights, in fall and winter it has a whole different charme.

If I previously listed 10 fun things to do in Stockholm during spring/summer, here I want to show you that there are as many you can do and see in the colder months!

 

GLOGG TASTING

Glogg is a traditional swedish warm drink made of red wine and the typical spices from the Scandinavian tradition.

It reminds very much the mulled wine and it’s actually prepared almost in the same way, but with a touch of spirit in it, and served with raisins and almonds.

I personally go mad for this drink.

In town you can find it pretty much everywhere during the cold season, but if you want my advice you should go to Helfried’s Bergakungen “glogg cafè” in Västerlånggatan 56 in Gamla Stan.

Helfried is the lively grandpa owning the glogg cafè, and as soon as you will enter it he will make sure to serve you a glass of glogg after another, together with the swedish traditional gingerbread biscuits pepperkakor, while entertaining you with a lot of stories and secrets about this delicious drink.

You can even buy a little bottle of “Santas glogg” extract, to add it to your own red wine and get a taste of Sweden once back home.

 
 

here we are, many hours and many gloggs after

 

ICESKATING

 

During wintertime, starting already from November, if you dare you can take on iceskating in one of the many ice rinks in town.

I guess it depends on how many gloggs you’ve had before

One of the most central ones is the one in Norrmalmstorg, right in the middle of the city center, where you can rent the skates and have some quarter of hour of fun surrounded by the beautiful square’s buildings in perfect scandinavian style.

 

ROOFTOP POOL AND SAUNA

 

Indulge in a sauna is one of the most typical things you can do in Scandinavia, but if I’d tell you there’s a wellness center that features a sauna and a rooftop steaming pool in which you can dive and enjoy the view of the city from above?

This place is the Selma City Spa and it’s one of my favorite places on earth!

Here you can find a dedicated post with pictures and useful infos -> rooftop heated pool in Stockholm.

 

VISIT THE ICE BAR

 

While to experience the Ice Bar sensations in Stockholm all you need to do is buy a bottle of vodka and sit on a bench 😉 I think this place is really worth visiting.

It’s a very touristic and commercial place, mostly visited by drunk people to take pictures bare chested, but it can be also quite amusing: the walls are completely covered in ice, carved with very pretty ice art, it’s completely furnished with ice furnitures and the drinks are served in ice glasses.

I remember as a kid thinking that all the regular bars looked like this in the North

Inside the temperature lays around -5C, and to get in you must wear a funny polar cape provided at the entrance.

My advice? Have a glass or two, snap some pics, have some fun and get out! The temperature is too prohibitive anyway to remain pleasantly seated on the ice sofas for a chat, and so are the prices.

To get in you have to pay 195 SEK (approx 20 EUR), drinks excluded ..

You can find the Ice bar inside the hotel Nordic C Hotel in Vasaplan 4, just next to the Central Station.

 

NORDIC SUNSETS

 

The nordic winter sky is among the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

The sun set earlier, yes, but the dusk lasts longer, offering incredible shades of oranges, pink, blue and purples over the whole sky.

A magnificient sight, worth all the cold you had to endure to enjoy it

 

FIKA

 

The swedes have indeed a word for “take a coffee, a pie and chat with friends”. Fika.

Fika is not only a word though, it’s a very fond tradition, and fall and winter are the perfect seasons to appreciate this tradition fully

 

THE FALL COLORS

 

As leaves start to fall cities begin to color up in a rainbow of yellows, red, oranges, and nordic countries are surely among the first in beauty.

Stockholm in fall is a beauty with scents of smoked salmon and wet wood.

 

THE SNOW

 

photocredit: stockholmtoday.se

One absolute pro to visit Stockholm during winter? You have good chances to see it with the snow! The city is already magnificient itself, but with the snow, you’ll feel as in a postcard!

To get higher chances to see the snow I would advice to visit it during the colder months, such January or February, when you could even withness an iced sea! Brrr!!

 

CHRISTMAS ATMOSPHERE

 

photocredit: get your guide

Is there something more Christmas-y than spending it in Santa’s land?

Stockholm all dressed up for Christmas is even more beautiful, and of course you should expect the Christmas markets! You can find them in the old town Gamla Stan.

 

PERFECT WEATHER TO VISIT THE MUSEUMS

Fall and winter are just the right seasons to be spent sheltering from the cold and the rain inside one of the many museums Stockholm is proud of! A brief list of them can be found here, and of course the Abba one -> 10 fun things to do and see in Stockholm.

 

Which activity to do in Stockholm during f/w would you add to this list?