A trip to Northern Europe
Introduction
Map of Europe
Sweden
A map of Sweden, and a map of Stockholm.
Information on Sweden is available at VisitSweden,
and information on Stockholm is available at StockholmTown,
and at Wikitravel's page on Stockholm.
Travelling
The national railroad company is Statens järnvägars (SJ).
Alternatively, "through Boka tåg you can purchase your entire journey through Sweden no
matter how many changes the journey requires or whoever the train or
bus services operator is." You can also travel by bus with SweBusExpress.
A trip from Stockholm to Göteborg takes 7 hours and costs about 250SEK (25E).
The public transportation company in Stockholm is Stockholms
Lokaltrafik.
To travel to Göteborg, you can book tickets through Resplus
("purchase your complete journey on trains from SJ,
Tågkompaniet, BK Tåg or Veolia Transport, together with any connections
for the regional public transport authorities, Arlanda Express and
Destination Gotland"), or Säfflebusse.
The trip takes about 3h by train, 6h by bus.
Where to stay
Stockholm
Södermalm or Stockholm proper? You can find accomodations through
StockholmTown
or
HostelWorld (including
RyanAir).
Other sites are
http://www.fuaj.org/fra/information/ibn.php
and
http://www.hihostels.com.
Almost all youth hostels ("Vandrarhem" in Swedish) are run by the
Svenska Turistföreningen
(STF, ie. Swedish Tourist Association) which has a network of about 300 hostels.
Some are operated by SVIF. You should get the
Hostel membership in your home country to avoid paying the daily supplement
of 50 SKE for non-members.
Those in Stockholm are mostly outside the city. Here are some recommended
places to stay:
- Zinkensdamm youth hostel (Södermalm)
- City Backpackers: Clean, friendly, free net access, a tv room, and free
pasta if/when you run out of money; The main train station is also easily within walking distance and so is
the T-Bana (metro). Within walking distance of the main
tourist attractions in the city
- Rygerfjord: Boat hostel in Södermalm with a view of the west side of gamla stan... free internet, really helpful staff
- Långholmen: A prison until the 1970's, so the rooms are former prison cells but it's
actually kind of interesting; basically on its own little island connected to Sodermalm by a
footbridge, but a little far from Gamla Stan
- The Red Boat
(Södermalm)
- Fridhemsplan:
Immaculately clean and well-run
- The Af Chapman hostel is in a great location (an old boat) not far to wlk to the old town or the underground;
Big place
- Skeppsholmen: Same management as the Chapman
hostel, and across the dock from it
- City lodge: Very nice, clean, affordable, and well located
- Queens Hotel: Quite nice if you prefer a hotel to a youth hostel.
Pretty central, and about 5-10 min walk from the train station
- http://www.hostelbedandbreakfast.com
Göteborg/Gothenburg
www.goteborg.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Gothenburg
Malmö
http://wikitravel.org/en/Malm%C3%B6
What to see
Up North
- The royal track (Kungsleden?)
- Lakes: Siljan, close to Gävle
or, further North, Östersund
with some nice islands
- Islands around Luleå
- The Abisko national park (depending on the season, make sure you're
well equipped)
- Kiruna, mostly known for its ice hotel in the winter
- The trip between Arvidsjaur and Norway. There's also some well-known
falls in the North called something like Jok-whatever
Göteborg
http://wikitravel.org/en/Gothenburg
- Nordstan - which is the main shopping centre.. right next to the train
station. Just ordinary shops.. in the middle of it is also a tourist
office
- 'Avenyn' - the Avenue - the main street in the city
centre.. filled with restaurants, bars (quite expensive though).. some
shops.. on a sunny day, lots of people sit around here.. both on the
verandahs of the restaurants and on the benches etc. On top of the
street is the statue Poseidon which I suppose is a typical tourist site
for a photo shot
- Paddan ('the toad') boat - which takes you
around on the canal of Gothenburg, quite nice. It leaves from
"Kungsportsplatsen" (just on the start of the Avenyn).. And across the
street from here is also the Tourist office
- Haga - old
Gothenburg. Lots of cosy cafés, small shops.. Close to here is "Skansen
Kronan" - which is kind of like a castle where you get a good view over
the city
- Vasagatan - a street with lots of cafés
- Slottskogen
- a park. very popular for picnics, playing games etc on sunny days..
there is also a small "zoo" (free) with seals, birds, pinguins, mooses,
etc.
- Universeum - a mix between a science center, green house
(w a rainforest) and museum. Quite expensive to go in but good for a
rainy day.
- Saluhallen - a indoor market with vegetables,
meat, greek specialities (olives, tzatziki..), bakery.. There are some
cheap eateries in here.. like a greek one (Alexandra's, from 30SEK) and
one with kebab and falafel (from 25 SEK). Saluhallen is just next to
the Paddan, on Kungsportsplatsen
- Saltholmen - you can take the tram (no 9) to here and then catch a boat out to the archipelago of Gothenburg
- Liseberg
- amusement park with rides etc but also quite nice gardens, flowers..
so even if you dont want to do any rides, it is still worth a look. I
think the entrance is 60 SEK
- Heaven 23 - a bar on Korsvägen,
inside Gothia Towers hotel, this is the place to go to get a
"Gothenburg by night" view.. famous for its "prawn sandwich".. quite
expensive though
- Skatås - if you feel like seeing some
nature.. it is basically a forrest area with lakes, running tracks etc.
Tram no 5 takes you there. There is also a cosy café here close to the
lake Delsjön which sells waffles.
Malmö
http://wikitravel.org/en/Malm%C3%B6
Denmark
Where to stay
Copenhagen
The
Danhostel Copenhagen City, it's right near the train station and
jam packed with travellers. If I went back to Copenhagen I wouldn't
think twice about staying there again.
Germany
Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein)
http://wikitravel.org/en/L%C3%BCbeck
Hamburg (Hamburg)
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hamburg
Baltic States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states
http://wikitravel.org/en/Baltic_states
Resources
