Student blogs

The great thing about Stockholm, is that you can escape the hustle and bustle of the city life very easily in any direction, where nature can be found. It does not take long to find a quiet spot and embrace that feeling of “being at one with nature”, which can be deep in the forest somewhere or gazing at beautiful lake view. Another great thing about Stockholm is that you can explore its archipelago, made up of thousands of islands, with boat trips taking you to many of these islands from Stockholm city. Thus you can enjoy scenic nature day trips without having to travel long distances, however some journeys to more distant islands of the archipelago will take several hours. Nevertheless it can be nice to also explore outside of Stockholm, and check out a few nearby cities, which will be quieter than the capital! I shall share some of these day trip experiences that I have had, as I haven’t traveled great lengths outside of Stockholm yet (saving it for better weather), but have enjoyed some lovely day trips.

Fjäderholmarna

Try pronouncing this name when you move here, and see how it goes, it has been one of my lingo struggles, and have repeatedly been corrected by my Swedish friend (It’s good, I like being corrected). This was, however my first day trip visit when I arrived, with only a 30 minute journey time and can be booked online or in person at the ferry port departure at Strandvägen. I looked at the island on the map and thought, I will give myself 4 hours which should be enough time to explore everything, haha (how funny this was), I walked around the island in about 10 minutes! It is incredibly beautiful, with some forest areas, some small rock cliffs, and many spots to bathe in. You can therefore enjoy a bask and a bathe with the view of Stockholm in the horizon. There are also some cafes and restaurants on the island, including a very nice brewery, where you can purchase some tasty beers and even try out their beer tasting menu (which I will do next time…).

Uppsala

A top recommendation given by a lot of students living in Stockholm for a day trips is to go to Uppsala, because it is very close to Stockholm, is quieter and holds Sweden’s oldest University. It takes around 50 minutes by train to get there and unfortunately the access card won’t get you all the way there, a little extra is needed to be paid for the journey, as it is outside the “Stockholm area”. The place certainly has a University town feel to it, and the students make up a good proportion of the population, during the academic calendar. Things to do on the day trip (although my friend and I stayed overnight in a hostel, which is another option) include: visiting the castle, roaming around Linnaeus gardens (that’s right THE Carl Linnaeus studied at Uppsala), looking up at the Uppsala cathedral, enjoying the Universities’ botanical gardens and going to the student union pubs. To the best of my knowledge despite having several student unions, Karolinska Institutet don’t have student “pubs/bars/social venues” allocated to students. In Uppsala, as long as you are a student you can purchase a pass for different time periods to go to these “Student Nation” run pubs and enjoy some board games and student-friendly prices.

Norrköping

This city is between 1hr and 15 minutes to 1hr 45 minutes from Stockholm. The place was not recommended to me, I just thought let’s tick off another city and another “Köping” (I had previously visited Linköping before living in Stockholm). Unfortunately due to covid-19 the museums were closed and there are a few museums in Norrköping that seem to be worth a visit! Therefore me and my friend enjoyed a long and leisurely walk around Himmelstalund which is a vast green space with prehistoric petroglyphs engraved onto stone. We also enjoyed a scenic walk along the Motala ström; a canal running through Norrköping, which is connected to the Baltic Sea. The town itself is quite small (especially relative to Stockholm) but cafes and restaurants can be found. I would say it is worth a visit and a chance to jump on a pleasant SJ train and escape Stockholm for a day.

Vaxholm

I suppose, one day I just wanted to get out into the nature and escape the city for a day, so I took the bus to Vaxholm, which can be taken from Universitetet norra or another bus stop in Stockholm taking the number 670 bus. This took around 50 minutes to get to Vaxholm, alternatively you can take the ferry, taking a similar amount of time and is more scenic. I opted for thus bus due to the in-frequent ferry times on the day but wish to experience the ferry next time. When arriving there, I simply walked around the whole island (pretty much) and especially enjoyed the forest area and water-views in and around Eriksö camping ground- on the west of the island. This was certainly a nice get-away and an enjoyable walking day out!

I hope this has been a fun blog to read and given you some inspirations for day trips from Stockholm, which are in abundance and easy to achieve! Keep your eyes peeled for another blog post about day trips, if and when I decide to do so…

As always you can contact me at: callum.morison.regan@stud.ki.se