I'd like to present my updated Guide to Stockholm, with lots of new places to experience! I know many of you have been waiting for this, so here you go!
These are my personal favorites, and I'm skipping the more traditional guide book spots as I figure you can just get a book for that. I have moved to the countryside outside of Stockholm since I wrote my last guide, so in some ways I feel like I'm a tourist in my own hometown now… Every time I go into town I find something new that wasn't there the last time, and I don't know if that's a sign that I'm losing touch with the city, or just that Stockholm is a vibrant and ever-changing city. I hope for the latter. Enough babbling now, on to the guide!
Södermalm is my favorite area in Stockholm. This part of town used to be for the working class, not-so-hip people. That has all changed in the last decades, and Söder is now Stockholm's trendiest area, very bohemian chic and full of cute little hipster kids. It's a great place to go barhopping or shopping, or just do some people watching in one of the many parks. The two most happening areas are the SoFo area around Nytorget and the blocks around Mariatorget, you will find that most of my tips are located around these spots. There is also a nice area called Hornstull in the western parts of Södermalm.
Eat and drink
Morfar Ginko and Pappa Ray Ray, a very nice restaurant and cava bar with lots of cool dj's and clubs, and a ping pong table. Swedenborgsgatan 13.
Debaser Slussen, a restaurant/bar with clubs, concerts with popular artists and a big outdoor area in the sun. There's another Debaser at Medborgarplatsen, also on Södermalm.
Södra Teatern, beautiful old house with a great big terrace with Stockholm's best view and some great clubs and concerts. Mosebacke Torg 1-3.
Snotty, small and crowded indie rock/pop bar. Hip but relaxed. Skånegatan 90.
Trädgården, café and clubs under the Skanstull bridge, Hammarby Slussväg 2
Samba Sushi, the best sushi in town. Götgatan 28.
Hermans, for the spectacular view of Stockholm and for their delicious vegetarian lunch buffet. Fjällgatan 23b.
Urban Deli, probably the only combined grocery shop, seafood bar and restaurant in Stockholm. And a very nice one at that! Nytorget 4.
Nyfiken Gul, a charming place by the water where you can barbeque your own choice of meat for dinner, and order some nice side dishes to go with it. Hammarby Slussväg 15.
Fika
Coffice, a mix between a café and an office for freelance workers needing a space to use their laptop and have meetings, or for anyone craving some nice coffee. Tjärhovsgatan 5.
Copacabana, a nice and queer-friendly café by the water in Hornstull, serving great smoothies, pastries and sandwiches. Hornstulls Strand 3. Next door is Bio Rio, a little movie theatre in a beautiful 1940's building with all the nice details preserved.
Vurma started out as a café and bakery and is now a whole chain of nice cafés all over town and even a restaurant with a bar hosting dj's and live bands. Friendly staff and excellent sandwiches! Check their site for addresses.
Chokladfabriken makes incredibly tasty choolate. Renstiernas gata 12.
Rival is a café, hotel, bakery, bistro, bar, conference centre and theatre located on Mariatorget. The outdoor tables are an excellent place for people watching in the afternoons.
Shop
If you would like to buy your own groceries and cook them yourself, Cajsa Warg is a good choice for organic groceries. They also sell readymade picnicbags that you can take with you to the park Vitabergsparken next to the store. Renstiernas gata 20.
Across the street on Renstiernas gata 27 is organic food manufacturer Saltå Kvarn's shop. They have the best packaging, so the shop is very nice, and the food is excellent.
When it comes to fashion, I like the Swedish brands Filippa K, Monki, Weekday, Nudie Jeans, Acne and Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair. All these brands are available in the SoFo area or on Götgatsbacken, a part of Götgatan full of great shops!
Brandstationen, vintage furniture and accessories in an old fire station. Krukmakargatan 22.
Papercut, a great shop for magazines, dvd's and books. If you are lusting after Nesting by Cilla Ramnek and Pia Ulin, also called "The Swedish version of The Selby", this is the place to get it. Don't miss the neighbouring stores Nitty Gritty and Our Legacy. Krukmakargatan 24-26
Granit, for all sorts of storage, from glass jars to clothes racks. They also sell basic houseware products like drinking glasses, candles, towels etc. Everything is kept in a simple style within a natural color range.
KIKI, selling design products made by skilled Japanese craftsmen and ecological green tea. Renstiernas gata 41
Konst-ig, the largest independent art bookseller in Scandinavia. Åsögatan 124. There is also a great online shop here.
Grandpa, a mix of fashion and interiors. Last year they added a basem*nt full of carefully selected vintage items like old lab bottles, school chairs and biology posters, a real treasure trove! Södermannagatan 21.
Manos is ceramicist Karin Eriksson's shop where she sells, besides her own goods, a nice mix of design and crafts. Renstiernas gata 22.
Fotografiska, Stockholm's photography museum that opened last year always has great exhibitions, and a nice little museum shop as well where you can buy posters and postcards. Stadsgårdshamnen 22.
Norrmalm and Östermalm are two more uptown areas (but with busy commercial areas too) usually divided into several smaller districts, but I don't hang out there too much, meaning I don't have so many places to write about from those areas, so I just combined them into one category here.
Eat and drink
Restaurang B.A.R. run by the same prized cooks and gastronomic visionaries who started Lux, one of Stockholm's very best restaurants. Restaurang Bar's fish and seafood focused menu is in a much lower pricerange though, and the interiors are minimalist industrial chic with a touch of Parisian bistro. Blasieholmsgatan 4A.
Ramen Ki-Mama, for the best ramen dishes in town. The interiors don't look like much, except for the funny huge whale on the wall, but you can concentrate on the food instead, or go for take away. Budget friendly! Birger Jarlsgatan 93
Rolfs Kök, a Stockholm classic where the food, co*cktails and service are always excellent. Small place with a relaxed atmosphere and an open kitchen where you see the chefs cooking your meals. Designed by Jonas Bohlin och Thomas Sandell in the 1990's, but the interiors are still holding up quite well in my opinion. Tegnérgatan 41.
Hjerta, rustic Swedish country food with French influences served in a former shipyard on the small island of Skeppsholmen. Slupskjulsvägen 28 B.
Svartengrens, a brand new restaurant opening in May 2011, with a focus on good quality, locally produced meat. I haven't been there myself yet, but from what I've heard, both the food and the interiors are great. Tulegatan 24.
Shop
Asplund, for the best of modern Scandinavian style. Sibyllegatan 31.
Design House Stockholm is full of products in the essentially Scandinavian style with clean lines and pale colours, focused on function and sustainability. Smålandsgatan 11.
Pärlans konfektyr makes and sells delicious handmade oldfashioned toffee with flavours like seasalt or candied ginger. The shop/workshop is decorated completely in 1930's style, and the cute shop assistants/toffee makers are all kitted out in matching 30's outfits. Artillerigatan 56.
Nunc is a tiny store/showroom on Vikingagatan 15, only open on Fridays and Saturdays, with a great mix of industrial, vintage and modern pieces, and also a great webshop.
Mor Karin is a children's shop with stylish clothes and interior products. Tegnérgatan 6.
Snickarbacken 7, interiors, art, clothes and coffee in an old stable.
Cow parfymeri is THE place to go for excellent skin care and make up products that you won't find anywhere else in Stockholm. They also sell some of my favourite perfumes. Mäster Samuelsgatan 9.
Byredo, super hyped Swedish scented candles and perfumes. I love them! Mäster Samuelsgatan 6.
Dusty Deco has Stockholm's best selection of vintage furniture. Östhammarsgatan 69.
And lastly my favourite museums, Moderna museet (modern art museum) and Arkitekturmuseet. They are both in the same building on Skeppsholmen. The exhibitions are always well curated and are usually quite interesting, but what I like the most is the shop and the café and restaurant with a view. They serve brunch here on weekends. Don't miss it.
Hotels:
Nobis Hotel, designed by CKR, one of the most well known Swedish architect and design firms. This hotel oozes understated luxury and is located in a beautiful old bank building from the late 1800's in the most central parts of town. Read more in my post about Nobis here.
Berns Hotel, I wrote a whole post on this hotel last year, and to this date, it's the best hotel I've stayed in. It's stylish, has a great location and very serviceminded staff. And the breakfast is to die for! You can read the post I did on Berns Hotel here.
Story Hotel, with interiors inspired by worn down New York restaurants and chic bohemian hotels in Paris, mixed with the spirit of the progressive musicians and artists that used to live in the building. Add a wonderful restaurant to that, and you have greatness. To see more pics and read more about Story, visit my old post here.
Hotell Skeppsholmen is another one of CKR's projects. This hotel is environmentally friendly, the staff's clothes are designed by the Swedish brand Acne, the bathroom products are from Byredo who also designed a special signature scent for the hotel and it's located in a historical building from 1699 right by the water. I haven't tried it myself, but it sure sounds nice, doesn't it?
As of October 2011, Stockholm will get a new design hotel called Scandic Grand Central, located right next to the central station. I can't tell you much about it yet, but I'll update this post when I know more.
There are more locations mentioned in my previous guide from 2009, so take a look here for other nice places! Just be aware that I haven't updated it, so the places I mention there may have moved or closed, so please check that up before you decide to visit them.
I hope you enjoyed this guide and that it will be useful for those of you visiting Stockholm in the nearest future!
