Sailing into Stockholm on a cruise ship is one of the most beautiful passages in Europe. The Stockholm archipelago consists of over 24,000 islands, and cruise ships must carefully navigate their way around and through the maze of rocky islands.
If your ship is sailing into Stockholm in the early morning, the summer sun will be rising very early, so get out of bed and enjoy the scenery!
When your cruise ship arrives in Stockholm, it will dock at one of seven ports, depending on the vessel length and draft.
Stockholm is a very busy cruise ship port, summer days will sometimes find seven or eight cruise ships docked at one of the seven berths scattered throughout the city. Although there are some berths near the city center, the furthest docks are only about 10 minutes (by taxi) away.
Exterior View of Sheraton Stockholm Hotel
After disembarking the Silversea Silver Cloud, we spent one night at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Stockholm. This hotel was in an excellent location, within easy walking distance of Gamla Stan, the City Hall, and the Central Train Station. Our room had a spectacular view of Gamla Stan and Lake Malaren.
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary accommodation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.
Sheraton Stockholm Hotel Room
Our room at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel was spacious and had a wonderful view of Gamla Stan. The mid-July night we spent in Stockholm was very warm, so we greatly appreciated the air conditioning.
One word of caution--when booking a room anywhere in Scandinavia or the Baltic States, note that air conditioning is NOT the norm! Even many of the finest hotels in northern Europe do not have air conditioning since it is needed so seldom.
Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theater
Famous Swedish actress Greta Garbo got her start in acting at the Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theater, and Ingmar Bergman, the equally famous Swedish director, still stages two productions here each year. All of the performances are in Swedish only.
Stockholm History Museum
The free Historyiska Museet (History Museum) or Museum of National Antiquities is a good place to learn more about Swedish history. There is a wonderful exhibit of Viking relics, although there are no ancient Viking ships like at the Viking Museum in Oslo. The Viking artifacts include many items unearthed from ancient burial sites.
The History Museum also has a spectacular Gold Room, which is located underground under tight security.
The Gold Room has many pieces of unique Viking gold and silver jewelry.
View of Stockholm's Riddarholm Church and Gamla Stan
This wonderful view of the cast iron steeple of Riddarholm Church was taken from the window of our room at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel.
Stockholm has the Baltic Sea on one side and freshwater Lake Malaren on the other side. The Swedish Royal Family lives at Lake Malaren's Drottningholm Palace, which is about an hour's boat ride from Stockholm.
Drottningholm Palace was originally built in the 17th century as a summer palace for the Royal Family, but is the full time residence now.
After walking around Gamla Stan and touring the sites on Deer Island (Djurgarden), our Stockholm guide Susanne Aberg decided it was time for lunch. She took us to Stockholm's produce market, Ostermalms Saluhall in Nybrogatan, for a delicious lunch at Lisa Elmquist, which opened in 1926. This seafood restaurant is owned by one of Stockholm's largest fish distributors, and the menu changes daily with the catch.
My mother loved the pickled herring, while I had some of the best fish and chips I've ever tasted. We felt like we got a real "taste of Sweden" in a delightful atmosphere.
Ostermalms Saluhall has been a food market since 1888, and with its soaring roof and wonderful aromas is a great place for exploring for those of us who love to look at (and taste) good food.