Photo by jamieca

While a visit to Stockholm’s Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) requires a ticket, the palace’s guards put on a delightful daily floor show that won’t cost you a krona!

The palace is located in the epicenter of Stockholm, perched above the charming island of Gamla Stan. The fact that the royal family no longer resides here shouldn’t dissuade you from visiting, as there are royal apartments, a royal armory, and a museum of antiquities to discover. (The first family lives on another island — Drottningholm, which you may also visit.) These museums, however, are not free.

Stockholm’s Changing of the Guards

The Hogvakten, or “Royal Guards,” are stationed in the palace and feature “Stockholm’s finest boys” (according to Stockholm’s office of tourism). The guard, part of the Swedish Armed Forces, is comprised of 30,000 soldiers. Tourists are invited to watch the daily ritual in front of the palace as one squad of 20 hands over their guardianship to the next squad.

During the summer, the spectacle begins at the Army Museum (Armemuseum, Riddargatan), from which the new squad takes off 30 minutes prior to the palace ceremony. The guards march in snazzy blue uniforms and tight formation to the Royal Palace, often accompanied by a military band. Upon arrival at the palace, they launch into a 35-minute display of precision marching, flag waving, and all-business attitudes.

Hours

The Changing of the Guard takes place every day at the Royal Palace. Monday - Saturday, 12:15. Sunday 1:15. (The parade, with band, occurs only during the summer months.)

More information: Stockholmtown (the city’s official website) and the Royal Palace website.

See also: our recommended budget hotels in Stockholm.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Photo by phototouring

Baltic cruiseferry giant Tallink-Silja is currently offering one-way overnight ferry rides from Stockholm to Riga for as little as SEK100 (€10.90; $14.80)!

Ferries depart from Stockholm’s Frihamnen terminal, which can easily be reached by bus. (Note that in the summer it will also be possible to take Viking Line from the more conveniently located Stadsgården terminal in northeast Södermalm.)

Approximately 18 hours—and lord knows how many banana cocktails—later, the mammoth cruiseferry pulls into Riga’s Juras Pasazieru Stacija (Sea Passenger Terminal), less than one km north of Riga’s old town. In addition to being entirely manageable by foot, Riga’s rosy cheapness will heal memories of those SEK50 hot chocolates purchased back in Stockholm.

Here’s another tip: from Riga, other Baltic capitals can be reached by bus for next to nothing. By “next to nothing” we mean to suggest €5 to Tallinn and to €6 to Vilnius.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Ryanair announced today that they’ll fly three new routes from Stockholm’s secondary Skavsta airport: Skavsta-Marseille (as of May 7), Skavsta-Venice (as of May 23), and Skavsta-Alghero (as of May 24.)

In line with their expansion/contraction move last week, the airline will eliminate three current routes in and out of Skavsta as well: Skavsta-Brussels (ending May 22), Skavsta-Gdansk (also ending May 22), and Skavsta-Kaunas (ending May 23).

Though the last of these cancellations doesn’t really surprise us—we flew between Skavsta and Kaunas in January on half-empty flights, both ways—we’re missing those rapacious Ryanair route expansion announcements.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Photo by quinnsolomon

Beneath the grand Sergel Filmstaden cinema complex at Hötorget is a hidden food court. Entering through the glass doors on the southern end of the building one arrives at the escalators and descends.

It’s a hive for foreign exports, with exotic fruits, stores specializing in the goods of particular countries, and religious food stuffs. There are also many eateries and a customer-friendly Systembolaget. For the uninitiated, Systembolaget is the Swedish state liquor store chain. This particular link in the Systembolaget chain has kindly placed turncounters all over the shop, so one is free to walk around (as opposed to waiting by a single counter) whilst waiting to buy alcohol. For a snarky take on the Systembolaget experience, check out this review.

The best value discovery at the Hötorget Food Court? The Turkish snack bar offering ox tongue and eggplant hot sandwiches, of course.

–by Adrian Sluzky

Popularity: 4% [?]

Photo by Lena Mollergren

Since 1991, the six-piece Swedish glam rock band The Ark have been sailing on a spiritual voyage for the spark of frivolous individuality in the lost and the fallen. We’re not just being wordy. This is more or less their mission. Their 2002 album “In Lust We Trust” was a testament to the ethic of free expression, damn the suppression.

A year ago, no one would have imagined that The Ark could possibly have won Melodifestivalen last month. For the uninitiated, Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national qualifying competition for Eurovision. It’s widely watched—the 2006 final was viewed by an astounding 47% of the population—and this year, the Ark were the clear favorites. They’ll head to Helsinki in May to represent Sweden in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

That will teach them for having the best song. Their entry, “The Worrying Kind,” is a flamboyant exercise of happy pop. When The Ark find land at Helsinki on 12 May 2007, the lost and the fallen of Sweden and beyond will be watching.

–by Adrian Sluzky

Popularity: 3% [?]

When we think Hostelling International, we think ping-pong tables and bunk beds. But during a recent research jam session, we also found a range of HI hostels with adultish, cheap double rooms. The best of these deserve a plug or two, so keep readin’.

South of the Wista River on Grochowa Street—a bit of a (beautiful) walk from the sights pictured above—Krakow’s Hostel Szkolne Schronisko Młodzieżowe has 20 basic private doubles for PLN80 (€20.50, $27). The hostel boasts a spacious guest kitchen, and on-site laundry facilities make living out of your suitcase a fresh affair.

Långholmen Hostel, located on a small island in the middle of Stockholm, has a jaw-dropping 79 private doubles for SEK520 (€60, $74). Housed within a stately 19th-century building, Långholmen is also easier on the eyes than some of HI’s big box hostels. Also on the premises: a boutique, beach, garden, and museum that chronicles the building’s unromantic past—it was once a prison.

The Zurich City Hostel in Wollishofen has 16 private doubles starting at CHF116 (€72, $95). Wollishofen is a quiet suburb—15 minutes by tram to the city center—and there’s on-site cycle rental, perfect for a short ride to the banks of Lake Zurich.

Proof positive that HI hostels aren’t just for whipper snappers with nothing but a rucksack and a dream.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Malaysia Airlines continues to tout its New York City-Stockholm route, which takes off three days a week and then continues onto Kuala Lumpur.

Through Spring 2007, round-trip fare on this direct flight is only US $199. Sure, taxes add on at least another $180 and the offer doesn’t extend into Sweden’s sunny summer season…

But $390 is an unparalleled deal for an eight-hour, transatlantic flight, and we think Stockholm is fantastisk most any time of year.

Tickets must be purchased by March 9th, 2007.

Popularity: 4% [?]

photograph courtesy of Viven Kim Thorp

Through February 18th, the little Swedish ski hamlet of Åre is hosting the 2007 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Visitors from Lebanon to Austria are there—a contingent of the latter has even set up a tent bar on the town square!

We’ve been lucky enough to visit Åre three times. Heck, we learned to ski there last year! The tiny lakeside town, an hour from the Norwegian border by car, is Sweden’s premier ski destination as well as the training spot for the Swedish women’s national ski team.

Since the summer of 2005, locals have been prepping for the Championships, building a massive downhill run over the main highway, tearing down the cute old train station, and opening a slew of new restaurants and shops.

Changes haven’t gone unnoticed. Dagens Nyheter—a daily Swedish paper—made note of Åre’s transformation in a recent article.

Åre is fairly easy to visit. You can board a sleeper train in Stockholm or Arlanda airport or fly to Östersund and catch a train or bus. Either way, you’ll end up smack in the middle of town, just across the street from the massive Holiday Club hotel.

We’ll be back on Friday with tips and suggestions for making the most of Åre.

Popularity: 3% [?]