Advice for Swedish short visit

[DaveB]

The wife and I are flying in and out of CPH this August/September primarily to do a Baltic cruise which finishes in Stockholm early morning. We have seven nights available to make our way back to CPH which we have seen on a past visit. We will be staying at CPH one night either end of the trip.
With three full days, I thought 3 nights would be fine for Stockholm supported by some friends who have also done Stockholm. With the 4 remaining nights, we originally were going to take a train to Oslo and then Gothenburg staying 2 nights at each. Oslo has been described to us as nice, but would only bother if you want to cross off a list of capital cities visited.
My initial research of Sweden is that whilst it is a very beautiful country, it has few 'must see' sights. Also besides Stockholm, it seems the smaller towns and sites along the way are more worth visiting than say Gothenburg and Malmo, lending the hiring of a car on leaving Stockholm probably the better option. One way hire into Denmark is OK price wise and I would compare price/convenience with a Malmo drop off and train instead of hire and toll across to CPH.
We have always driven in Europe so this option would not faze me with hopefully the moose issue no different to kangaroos.
Would love to hear any suggestions and experiences.

 

[craven morehead]

Can only comment on Malmo . It is nice but nothing outstanding :mrgreen:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

DaveB we spent a week on Stockholm (ARN) in june 2012 - my grandfather Swedish and still have lots relos there who took us under their wings and escorted us around so much of my experience is kinda non-self-initiated - does that term make sense?

Couple of points - ARN hotels extremely poor value in terms quality / price - low quality / high price. We stayed at Lydmar Hotel - kinda boutique / new / funky - great bar - great restaurant - FABULOUS service - but not cheap. Had 2 stays - first stay 2nts in a dog box - second stay 3nts in much bigger / better room but had to demand it. We were not happy with 1st room 1st night and wandered down to Grand Hotel to look - very grand and stately - but very dated - they were doing renos though.

Old Stockholm a must - loved it - and we also did dinner cruise - just gorgeous at night - Swedish people are beautiful people but very conservative - you really feel like saying get up and get going for gods sake - push in please - move forward - god they are so patient and conservative.

We spent most of our time down south with family doing family stuff - as I say I have lots of family there - but to be honest ARN and Sweden in general are just beautiful - you will enjoy - it is totally civilised - hope that helps a little.

 

[smit0847]

I've only been to Stockholm but its one of my favourite cities in Europe. A beautiful city that I did not know was all-islands until I got there. I really like the Swedish way of life and apart from the climate could easily see myself living there. Foods great, everyone speaks English, they're happy, beautiful, relaxed people, and there's heaps of history.

I will warn you it is eye-wateringly expensive as they do not have the Euro. I was there 18 months ago and it was without question the most expensive city I have ever visited (much more than Tokyo, NYC, Sydney, Paris, Iceland etc). I think Oslo is the only city more expensive for Australians to visit in Europe than Stockholm.

 

[Mal]

Having visited malmo, Gothenburg and Stockholm, none really stood out. Yes nice towns, but could be done in 1-2 days generally. Hotels are reasonable, but can be expensive.

 

[Anna]

What kind of things are you interested in seeing?

Eg, old Viking sites, beautiful landscapes, museums, castles?

If you are driving from Stockholm to Malmo in Aug / Sept, you might consider driving south to Oland and Kalmar and then west along the south coast. The scenery would be attractive at that time of year and there are some historical sites along the way.

 

[DaveB]

Cheers for the advices.
I had heard about prices being high, however normally paying for four instead of the two of us should help on this front.
We are early 50's and the wife is into photography and looking forward to playing with her first full frame Nikon. Really enjoyed Copenhagen last time and have heard good things about Stockholm. We love natural scenery, smallish quaint towns and historical sites, though castles and monasteries typically out due to wife being constrained by seriously bad knees.