Anyone been to Stockholm or St. Petersburg?

[Exterous]

We're headed there next June so I'm curious to know what people liked or didn't like

 

[zinfamous]

I only have one of those syndromes, but I am not familiar with the other.

 

[dullard]

Stockholm is pleasant. Worth spending a couple of days there. I very much liked walking around the city streets, especially the Gamla Stan region, around 11 PM when it is still light out (should be true for you in June). There was a very memorable restaurant we found on one of the charming narrow side streets in that region, eating outside at nearly midnight, sun just setting as the appetizers come on a plate of slate (although in the years since that trick has now been overdone). I doubt that I can find that restaurant's name any more. A lot of people like the 400 year old gunship in the Vasa museum.

By coincidence, one of my favorite photographers had a show the week that we were there at this museum. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really into photography as it is just a normal museum otherwise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fotografiska

The rest of Sweden was fairly blah. Not bad, but not stunning or otherwise spectacularly memorable. I didn't make it to the far northern regions, however (only went as far north as Are in central Sweden). A far more memorable part of the trip was taking a boat along the fjords in Norway up to hike this glacier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jostedalsbreen_National_Park I know that isn't Sweden, but beyond a few great days in Stockholm, I didn't find enough good things to recommend the rest of Sweden.

I do really want to take a trip to St. Petersburg but I haven't yet found a great excuse to go there.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Have been to both. Was in St. Petersburg in 1994 so I can't be much help with that.
Took a ferry from Stockholm over there. Was fun.

Uppsala is a nice town to visit. Former capital of the country. The cathedral is neat to visit. Former kings buried there. The castle is blah. Main university building is pretty cool.
It's about a 45min to 1hr train ride. Well worth the trip.

The Absolut icebar in Stockholm was fun. It's quite mad, but worth doing.

If you go southwest, Helsingbörg is cool. 15 minute ferry ride over to Helsingør in Denmark. Kronborg castle (Macbeth) is cool. From there you can take the train into Copenhagen which is a fun town.

If you want to stay in Sweden, the Skåne region is scenic.

 

[Exterous]

Thanks guys. (except Zin ) We're taking my mother so we won't be hiking as much as we normally would. I think Norway will be a separate trip. We're thinking about Copenhagen too or maybe some of the Baltic states

 

[lxskllr]

Never been, but I'd like to go to the Swedish Match tobacco museum.

 

[Exterous]

Fwiw I'm seeing a lot of days next June and July with sub $600RT tickets to Copenhagen or Stockholm from Boston on the fare consolidator momondo. Says 'major us carrier' but I'm guessing AA given the airports involved. (might be a code share though so that would be BA for London connections or Iberia for madrid)

Never been, but I'd like to go to the Swedish Match tobacco museum.

Interesting. Not sure how many days we'll be there yet so not sure if that would make a short list for us though

 

[zinfamous]

Thanks guys. (except Zin ) We're taking my mother so we won't be hiking as much as we normally would. I think Norway will be a separate trip. We're thinking about Copenhagen too or maybe some of the Baltic states

well, fine

Now that I can help you with. I am the official self-appointed ATOT Latvia expert.

 

[Exterous]

well, fine

Now that I can help you with. I am the official self-appointed ATOT Latvia expert.

Any recommendations for Riga then?

 

[Cappuccino]

It's boring. Been there so many times.

 

[zinfamous]

Any recommendations for Riga then?

Riga is awesome, but I stayed with a crazy old man that spoke no English and really hated Americans (luckily the GF, a relative of his, was there to translate...filtered though it was). Latvia is pretty expensive, though. The Euro only arrived there a few years ago and prior to that, Dollar:Lat was 2:1. Food is basically dill + something. usually some pork or fish, in some soup most likely.

I spent most of my time around Liepaja which is smaller and a bit more chill, but ~ 3 hours from Riga (the airport is no longer active there, so getting there requires a 3 hour car or bus ride).

Riga is a bit like a mini-Prague. Stay within the main city, old/square area. The more you venture out, as with any city or area in the Baltic countries, you stumble into the Russian project communities, which are entirely different worlds. Honestly, there isn't a major destination to see there--all of these towns are somewhere that you just wander around and check things out. The occupation museum in the center of Riga is worth visiting, though. If you can, I would suggest renting a car and driving around to surrounding area and checking out the old Pils (palaces). It's a place with a ton of history that really isn't evident, because these countries are only recently free. 700 years of occupation by German landlords, then Russians, then 20 years of independence (post-WW1), then Russian occupation, German, then Russian again until 1991. So, it's a very different perspective on the world as it was and as it is now, and while Latvians tend to be very cold and unassuming, they are incredibly generous and nice, when you approach them.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

That part of Florida is rough that time of year. It rains a lot. Otherwise, have fun.

 

[kinev]

Really liked St. Petersburg, but we were a little rushed there. Because it is part of Russia you need a visa to enter and we stopped there on a Baltic cruise. So, we HAD to arrange a guided tour with a company. Normally, I'm more of a let's explore on our own, but it was still really neat. We only had two days there, though, and that probably wasn't enough. Between the Hermitage, St. Peter and Paul's fortress, Yusupov palace (Rasputin), St. Isaac's cathedral, etc. it got to be, "Oh, look, another ornate room covered in gold..." after a while. Really cool city, but 2 days was not enough time to really see (and appreciate) everything.

Although, one of the most memorable parts was a guy with a bear cub on a leash in St. Issac's Square; don't see that everyday!