Known by locals as ‘beauty on water’, visit Stockholm to experience a beautiful city set on 14 islands with more than 50 bridges.

Our Southeast Asia trip had come to an end and we booked flights to Sweden as they were the cheapest available from Bangkok. We only booked a two night stay as we knew that Stockholm was not cheap.

Where To Stay In Stockholm

These are some of the best budget hostels in Stockholm, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• City Backpackers Hostel
• Castanea Old Town Hostel
• City Hostel
• Archipelago Hostel Old Town
• Generator Stockholm
• STF af Chapman & Skeppsholmen
• STF Zinkensdamm Hostel
• Skanstulls Hostel
• STF Langholmen Hostel

City Backpackers Hostel Stockholm

We booked a stay at ‘City Backpackers Hostel Stockholm’ (map). On arrival, we got an immediate positive impression of the hostel.

The hostel had 4 common areas, a kitchen, computers and a cafe. The common areas were popular with the guests who were probably trying to protect their budgets by not drinking in the expensive bars. The showers and WiFi both worked well. It was a good base for our short stay.

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We paid £50.01 for two beds in a 8-bed dorm for two nights.

Click here to book a stay at ‘City Backpackers City Hostel’.

Things To Do In Stockholm

By the time we were checked in, it was already dark. We were hungry after a long flight from Bangkok so we headed out for food and a beer. We found a bar called ‘Herschenkeller’ (map) that did typical pub grub. Unfortunately, we had missed the happy hour but the beer wasn’t as expensive as we had feared. We paid under £5 for a pint. The food was an enjoyable return to European cuisine.

Stockholm Free Walking Tour

On our only full day in the city, we decided to take the Stockhom Free Walking Tour of the old town to ensure we made the most of our limited time here. The walking tour was three hours long and took us to all the main sites in Stockholm Old Town. I highly recommend the tour if your time is limited in the city.

Our tour took us to Stortorget where up to 90 people were beheaded by the Danish-Swedish king Christian II in 1520. The building is painted red in their memory.

Avoiding The Rain

As the walking tour came to an end, it started to rain. We looked around for a coffee shop but they all seemed very expensive. Realising that we would not find anywhere cheap, we headed into the nearest cafe. We had a hot chocolate which came to just under £5. It wasn’t the greatest hot chocolate but it was very nice sitting in an old, quaint cafe sipping hot chocolate and avoiding the rain. How very European!

Stockholm Royal Palace Changing of The Guards

Every day at 12.15 pm (1.15 pm on a Sunday), you can go and see the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace of Stockholm (map). It was minutes away from where we were and was due to begin. The rain had stopped so we decided to go and watch. I have to admit, I found the whole thing incredibly pompous and dull.

Götgatan

We decided to head towards Götgatan as I had read it was a bit of a hipster street.

I found Götgatan to be undeserving of its hipster tag. I was expecting cafes, bars and boutique shops but found it to be nothing of the sort. It was just like any other main street to me. We did, however, find a very good small supermarket that had many vegetarian and vegan food items so we stocked up on groceries to take back to the hostel.

Swedish Meatballs

It would have been criminal to spend even a short time in Sweden without trying some meatballs. Luckily, our hostel had a special deal with ‘Nomad’ (map), the Swedish restaurant next door, that entitled us to four reduced price beers and two Swedish meatball dishes. Whilst I had no other meatball dishes to compare them, I certainly enjoyed the dish. Especially at a reduced price.

I spent the evening sharing beers with some fellow travellers in the hostel and that brought our short trip to Sweden to an end. Despite being sad at leaving Southeast Asia, it felt good to be back in Europe. Particularly in a city as pretty as Stockholm.

For more information, visit https://www.visitstockholm.com/