Probably 11 years ago now (gross), we used the everywhere feature on Skyscanner. Sweden was the cheapest on the list.
We learned this would be the only cheap thing about Sweden.
Oh, how we learned!
getting from the airport to stockholm
We took the direct train from the Sweden airport into the city, and I don’t recommend it. Yes, it was quick and G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S, but when I got back to Amsterdam, I realised the 15-20 min train ride cost 45€ per person (back in 2015- yipes!). We purchased our tickets at the machine, where the different currencies confuffled me (simple exchange rates) into pressing okay, next.
When it was not okay. It was not okay at all.
Getting to the ($$$$) hotel, of course I was hungry. I honestly thought I wouldn’t have to eat for the week we were in Sweden to save money, and I cracked the moment I landed. The only thing that was open and in our vicinity was McDonald’s. After being apart for 1 year and 5 days, we dined.
Troy spoils me like that.
cheap things to do in stockholm
Taking the wee boat (ferry) from Saltsjöqvarn to the Allmänna gränd where the amusement park Gröna Lund is grand. We didn’t go on any rides, but people sounded like they were having fun.
The central library is a treat for the eyes and the wallet because it’s free (I’m 43% sure of this).
The sun was shining, and we wanted to explore the natural beauty of Sweden that we heard so much about. Troy suggested taking the train to Gothenburg since we both heard great things about it. I was convinced the train was really expensive, and it would be much cheaper to rent a car (I’m such a silly billy sometimes).
some misadventures
Not sure why, but we ended up renting a car. Correction: we ended up DESPERATELY TRYING to rent a car. Sweden didn’t want us to have one, the sneaky goose.
A few hours before check-out in Stockholm, we began our search for a rental. Now to reiterate, this is early July, and the vibrant sun is shining in Sweden for the first time in 10 years. While I pack up the last of our stuff, Troy goes to book and collect a car. 45 minutes to 1 hour later, he arrives with a fake smile and a bag of breakfast food.
To soften the news, he hands me a baked good while he explains that there are no cars available today, tomorrow or the next day in the entire Stockholm area, from any car rental.
The silly gooser of ideas (me) steps in to problem solve a problem she created. We pull up Google Maps circa 2015. Some places on said map are shown in bigger font than others. We took this to mean the bigger and more picturesque the location. See how quickly a me turns into we when logic whisps out the window?
We found a largely typed city near the water since we love beaches, and double-checked that a car was available. It was! Then we booked a car, a train to get to this large fonted city and a one-night stay in a hotel- we are so good at this!
What picturesque, large typeface on Google Maps did we pick? Gavle.
a gavle mistake
Let me set the scene. Idyllic seaside village, cute cobblestone cottages and beautiful gardens adorning the pathways, pristine sandy beaches, a light breeze cooling you off from the hot sun.
Not in Gavle.
After we checked into our hotel, we headed to the tourist office, which was only open until noon Monday to Thursday, and we arrived at 1 pm on a Friday. Someone was dressed in a tiger costume causing havoc on the main drag. At this point, we were not saying it’s GRRRRRRREAT!
Those beaches we were hoping to have long walks on were actually a small container port and dirty industrial area. BUT at least the hotel was cheaper than in Stockholm and quite nice.
The next morning Troy sets out on his rental car excursion for the second time, but this time having pre-booked something. I wait in the hotel room, longingly looking out of the window like a sad puppy, thinking every car that pulled down the road was ours.
40 minutes, nothing.
Finally. Troy steps out of a vehicle.
It turns out that when he arrived at the pick-up location, as shown in our confirmation email confirming our car hire, it was deserted. The garage was closed. No rental cars in sight. He consulted the confirmation many a times, then decided to ring the bell of a nearby house. A lady answered and said the garage was closed. After showing the booking confirmation, she called the garage owner, who eventually showed up a bit upset that he had to come in on his day off. Which was absolutely not understandable in the slightest, since the vehicle was available to book online and we selected a pick-up time.
things are looking uppsala
From Gavle, we went to Uppsala where we stayed in (my pick) a small, cute, classic Swedish red barn shack. I tried to add as many adjectives in there as possible to really build it up. Now let me tear it down. This accommodation was somewhat outside the city, some may say, in a camping ground. When we walked in, the porter of sorts handed us a bucket and informed us that we were required to clean up after ourselves or we would be charged 150 Swedish monies (that’s like 1 million euros) for the cleaning services.
Cinderella, eat your heart out.
Sitting on the couch, with all doors and windows closed, with buckets and mops in hand, we could hear our 5-meter-away neighbour sneeze. That’s how thick those walls were.
The sun set at 11:55 pm and rose at about 3 am since we were so far north. Those moth-wing thin curtains did their best but blocked absolutely no sun.
Sturdy Swedish workmanship.
Normally, Troy takes about 2 showers a day, but since we were required to mop and there was no shower curtain or a shower in general, apart from a hose in the wall, he decided to skip it. I, on the other hand, don’t shower often, so it had no impact on me.
There were some nice restaurants and buildings in Uppsala. Coming from Gavle, it was a fairytale.
glad we had a car!
We drove to feed a banana to a moose at Gårdsjö Älgpark i Heby AB.
We were in for another treat with Corrine’s accommodation bookings. In my defence, I envisioned a barn loft, very rustic with soft, homey blankets. Horses wandering the pasture, animals prancing about.
It lived up to about 28% of my expectations, which meant I was improving.
It started off great when we drove towards the accommodation and passed over a low bridge with stunning waterways and foliage very Rivendell-esque. We thought this is the Sweden we pretended to know.
We saw a car parked in the distance (I didn’t have my glasses on and Troy has no excuse), so we went and parked next to them. Up close, we realised a few chaps had fishing waders on and fishing rods in their hands. As I walked towards a sign, a bug bit me. Then another. One more step, then 20 more began to attack me. I couldn’t even scream, or they would fly into my mouth. I ran back towards the car at the same time as Troy, and we sped off in cartoonish fashion with open windows to remove the bugs from inside our precious car.
Now back to the accommodation. We arrived after some classic Corrine navigation (i.e. not telling Troy when to turn and then Troy gets frustrated, then we laugh because we’re so funny). The barn loft is cool, and the horses cost extra to ride, so we got a free tour of the sheep instead, which was good except for the poop on our shoes. Having squeezed what I thought would be 2 days of activities into 1 hour and 20 minutes, we decided to go to a nearby town for a nice meal.
Fool us once and then fool us again, Sweden, because apparently we never learn.
The first actual seaside village was nice, except there looked to be about one restaurant, so we drove through instead of stopping. I love how we were picky.
We arrived at another town and couldn’t find the city centre, which was a good indicator of how small it was. We were driving out when we decided to ask a gas station attendant (it was 2015; this was a thing) which way the town was. He said we just missed it, so we turned back.
There were 4 restaurants to choose from, 3 of which were more like cafes, so we chose the actual dinner option since we were starving. Somehow, and this is always the case, isn’t it? It was a delicious meal, but I got massively sick before my first bite, so I couldn’t even taste it. I pushed through because it’s food and it was overall a really good meal, apart from me almost vomiting in the bathroom.
Back to our trendy barn loft where we sat awake staring at each other until a reasonable hour like 8:30 pm, when we could respectably go to bed.
missing the best part
The next day was our flight out of Sweden to Paris, so we got up early to see an area that we learned halfway through our travels is stunning, and it’s right next to Stockholm. You can’t miss it! Islands! We went to one called Lovon and saw Drottningholm Palace. We walked into an open (throwing shade on Gavle) tourist office where they explained all the beauty of the area- we’re talking historical palaces, Viking ruins and gorgeous scenery.
Good thing we had approximately 3 hours to enjoy what the tourist office lady says “can really only be done in four days minimum”.
Four days you say? Why, that was the exact amount of time that we would have had if we didn’t go all the way to a large-fonted town on a map for a car rental and then aimlessly drive around. Money flying out of our pockets every step of the way.
Classic us.
Due to our clear lack of planning, the lady suggested we go for a nice lunch by the water, which we did and enjoyed very much.
