The City of Stockholm - the capital of Sweden and arguably Scandinavia.
Transport & Access:
The transport system here is pretty good with trams, buses, trains and the metro all running within the city.
The metro, T-bana has 100 stations and the hole network is step-free, meaning on paper it is great for wheelchair access however it just isn't - the gap between the train and the platform is too large for most wheelchairs and no stations have staff on the platform with the only staff members there being at the ticket gate - meaning it's pretty much pot luck depending on the exact platform and type of train whether a wheelchair user could get on/off with ease.
(https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/stockholms-tunnelbana-stockholm)
If you are using the city's public transport system, most of it is operated by MTR on behalf of SL - I would strongly suggest getting a pass for how many hours you're there, giving you unlimited use of the network - or perhaps an SL city card if you're there longer with buses and trams contactless, in many ways the SL card is similar to the Oyster of London (yet sadly you can't use your contactless debit card in lieu of one with capping like London)
(https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/sl-stockholm)
Many of the stations, however, are HUGE and can be really difficult to navigate - do check out my other reviews for stations for more information.
Most crossings have dropped curbs - but they seem to have cut costs by only dropping part of it, meaning you have to walk in single-file.
Shopping:
Many malls do operate and exist around Stockholm County, but I've heard many of the stores are put off operating directly in the city due to huge taxes which can be over 50 %: there are multiple malls around the city including Galleria and MOOD, the latter is very interesting and mainly consists of small independents - if you don't mind going out a bit further you have many other great malls including Mall of Scandinavia and Taby Centrum, which are easily accessed by public transport around the city into Solna (7 minutes from City Station) and Taby (home to the Apple Store)
Hotels:
There are many hotels around the city - I was impressed with the Hilton Stockholm Slussen in which I stayed but there are 2-3 Radisson Blu hotels near Central Station which also did look pretty nice too.
My hotel cost 1200 SEK a night without breakfast which is average.
(https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/hilton-stockholm-slussen-stockholm)
Sight-seeing:
As with any major, historical city there is so much to do and see around the city - whether you're a football fan and want to see the Friends Arena, home to Sweden's national football team and AIK - this is a really easy ground to get cheap tickets for, even to big games such as Sweden - Norway of which I attended to watch the 1-1 draw during my time there.
It also has many museums including where they hand out the Noble Prize, the ABBA museum and the Stockholm City Museum which is one of the best I've ever visited - there are many others too!
(yelp.co.uk/biz/stockholms-stadsmuseum-stockholm)
Gamla Stan the old town is a fairly nice part of the city and is home to many restauaunts- it's also pretty common to see big chains like McDonald's & BK all over. Although popular, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Old Town
(https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/gamla-stan-stockholm)
Quite an expensive place- I often found it would cost £16 + when converted for a meal with my beverages at Starbucks often costing around £1 more, not forgetting the extra charge at their Central Station locations.
Despite the positives, it does have some other flaws:
- Taxes too high are truly putting off some businesses and larger stores from opening - the proof is in the out of town malls.
- Arlanda Express has a monopoly, owning the only tracks leading up to the airport which means if you don't buy their expensive tickets, you still have to pay a surcharge to get to the airport via the regular train which takes double the timing they do - but to be fair to them they do offer an excellent service which means the extra money is worth it for their punctuality and comfortable trains which go up to 200 kmph.
(https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/arlanda-express-stockholm)
- The Stockholm HalvMarathon was not signposted anywhere around the city until it happened (see Hilton review) which basically left me trapped in my hotel after waiting 15 minutes to cross the road - the fact no one provided notice and it was done during the afternoon is ridiculous - Many other cities minimalise disruption by having it take place on a Sunday morning and provide such notice.
A wonderful place to visit - but it has the potential to be so much better. Let down by the Stockholm Municipality system and SL. 3* read more