After spending an amazing week (almost) in Croatia, I actually had to book a flight home. Even though I really didn’t want to leave. All the flights were coming out about 3x more than the flight I had paid for flying out there. Apart from one that had a 7 hour layover in Stockholm. Of course I had to book it, it was the cheapest.

HOW TO SPEND A 7 HOUR LAYOVER IN STOCKHOLM

It also meant got to touch down in another country/city so I thought “why the hell not!”.  I’ve always wanted to visit Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. It was nice to tick one off my list, even though I need to go back ASAP.

Arriving in Stockholm

We landed in Stockholm at around 1:30pm after a just over 2 hour flight from Croatia. We had the good times of the day to explore Stockholm before heading back to the airport. For our evening flight home which was meant to be at 9:30pm before it got delayed. It was delayed to just over an hour which was rather annoying.

We sort of lost a good hour to exchange some money and figure out the best way to get in to the City. Before we booked our bus tickets, so we really had a good 4-5 hours in Stockholm which wasn’t too bad. It definitely beat being stuck in the airport for that long.

Are you booking a trip to Stockholm or Sweden and need a quick guide full of information? Check out my Travel Guide: Sweden.

We decided to grab the Flygbussarna transfer bus from Stockholm Arlanda airport to Stockholm City. We decided on the transfer bus as although it was a 10 minute longer journey, it was much cheaper compared to the Arlanda Express train. The journey takes around 30 minutes to get to Stockholm City from the airport. But it’s great as you get to see a bit of rural Stockholm on the way there and enjoy the scenery. We had about 7 hours to kill before our flight home, so we didn’t really worry about the journey into the city being 10 minutes longer.

The bus stop is right outside the exit of the airport and you can either purchase your tickets online via their FREE app. Or there is a ticket machine outside next to the bus stop which you can pay using card or cash. I paid using my Monzo card as that doesn’t charge outside of the UK for payments or withdrawals. Plus it gives me the local exchange rate accurately.

Top Tip: Download the app “Currency Plus” to get currency conversions on the go. It updates daily and when connected to WiFi or Network to give you the latest conversion and you can have multiple currencies shown in one go.

Transport into Stockholm City

I was able to buy multiple tickets and also adult return tickets. An adult return ticket to Stockholm City costs 198SEK (Adult tickets are from 18+ years). Each ticket lasts up to 3 months from the date of purchase. There are 3 destination choices to choose from Arlanda Airport, which are Stockholm City, Liljeholmen or to Kista/Sundbyberg/Bromma (which costs a little more to get to).

Make sure you download their app so you can check the bus timetable for your return journey and also if there is any traffic on the roads that would affect your journey. Make sure you pick up the bus from where it drops you off – in Stockholm City it drops you off at the main bus station which is the very last stop for the bus to make. The buses are great: very prompt, heated or with air con, FREE WIFI and helpful staff.

Once we arrived in Stockholm City, it took us a little while to get our bearings so we decided to pop into a 7/11 to grab food whilst I figured out Google Maps and how we got to the main bit of the city. We decided to visit Gamla Stan which is a very popular place for tourists to explore and get a feel for Sweden as it’s filled with gorgeous coloured buildings and plenty of coffee shops to grab a warm drink and cinnamon bun to eat.

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NAVIGATE YOUR WAY AROUND STOCKHOLM…

Open this map on your phone when you arrive in Stockholm to help navigate your way around the city and find my recommended spots to see.

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Heading to Gamla Stan

It took a little bit of figuring out the road names and how to find Gamla Stan but we finally managed to find part of it and explore that for a little bit. Gamla Stan is roughly a 15 minute walk from the bus station in Stockholm City that the Flygbussarna bus drops you off at so it’s a quick destination to get to if you don’t have lots of time to spend but I’m sure there is plenty of other attractions to see.

We also came across Stockholm Half Marathon on the way there and also a group of muslims protesting in the centre which was interesting as well as loads of other tourists banter. On our walk around Gamla Stan, we had a great view of Stockholm Natural History Museum and the Parliament Building.

On our way back to the bus station, I was in desperate need of a hot chocolate to warm up so I ran into Espresso House and grabbed a yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. I definitely want to take another trip to Stockholm and definitely Sweden and spend some more time exploring.

Quick fire tips to help if you have a long layover in Stockholm: 

– Travel from Arlanda Airport with Flygbussarna transport bus (check out their website for more info.)
– Pop into 7/11 if you want to buy cheap food on your layover/travels
– Buy a coffee/hot drink and Swedish cinnamon bun
– Plan what you are going to do in Stockholm before you get there
– Make sure you have enough travel time either side of your layover time to allow you enough time to explore
– Use Google Maps – otherwise you will be stuck and pay attention to the road names
– Use a card that doesn’t charge you abroad for payments/withdrawals – I personally use Monzo!

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Do you plan on visiting Stockholm yet? Have you been – what are your recommendations? Let me know in the comments below.