We spent five nights and five days all up in Stockholm and it was a really different experience to our last few stops. We took it easy here, going out a bit each day but not really pushing ourselves to spend whole days walking around the city. I think the weather has contributed somewhat to this. Being from Adelaide in Australia we are just not used to such freezing cold temperatures. While the weather was bearable, it did make it less appealing to spend long periods of time outside as our faces would just get too cold!

We didn’t do as much site seeing in Stockholm either. On our second day here we visited Gamla Stan (Old Town) but that was really about it. Old Town is located on one of Stockholm’s islands and is made up of historic buildings, including the Royal Palace. It was here that we viewed the Changing of the Guard, which was pretty impressive. There was much more to see than the Athens equivalent as it goes for approximately 45 minutes and has a bugle, drum, marching soldiers and flags.

Our other days were spent wandering the shopping district along Drottningsgatan, relaxing at the hostels and, my favourite, snowboarding at Hammarbybacken!

We shared our time between two hostels while in Stockholm. The first was at City Hostel in Kungsholmen and the other was Skanstulls Vandrarhem in a trendy area called Södermalm. We both liked City Hostel a lot more despite Skanstulls Vandrarhem being in a bit better location. City Hostel felt more welcoming, more organised and was just more cosy. The fact that we didn’t have to share a dorm with a sleep apnoea sufferer who sounded like she was drowning in her sleep helped too!

Despite the cold, we really enjoyed our getaway in Stockholm. I know Jase was absolutely blown away by all the beautiful countryside we passed on the bus ride out of the city and I appreciated the different style of travel it brought to our adventure.

Our Getaway in Stockholm on the way to somewhere - ..you're only lost if you know where you're going..