Taking Stock(holm)
September 21st, 2008 @ 8:09 | Filed under Family Travel, Travel Gear | 10 comments
Written by Rebecca Tompkins
Here’s a fun travel tip: If you really want to get to know a city, accidentally leave your stroller at home. Even if your 3-year-old gamely keeps up the pace for a while, he’s bound to lose it completely and demand a place to rest eventually.
When this happens, you can frantically search online for local stroller dealers, try to bridge the language barrier via phone (slowly speaking English with a heavy fake Swedish accent is less-than-effective, for the record), and then navigate the city’s subway system and side streets in search of an inexpensive (ha!) buggy.
By the time you’ve wheeled your “wait, we just paid how much and the wheels aren’t even steady?” purchase out of that darling, overpriced baby shop and back through the “isn’t this charming… I could totally live here if only I were tall and blond and skinny and capable of pronouncing 82 consonants at once” area, you will definitely have a feel for the city beyond the usual tourist perspective.
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Fortunately, there is more to Stockholm than its overpriced stroller trade. Small enough that it can easily be learned in a short period of time, yet big enough that there’s plenty to see and do, Stockholm is an ideal family destination. Everything is incredibly kid-friendly and the proximity to all that water gives the city a relaxed, laid back feeling which our family loved.
I could feel myself instantly unwind in the archipelago, but then quickly adapted back into the faster pace of the city as soon as we hit dry land. Definitely a “something for everyone” destination, but unlike many European hot spots, Stockholm is not too crowded or crazed.
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I must confess, Sweden was never especially high on my mental “must see” itinerary before I started researching and planning this trip. But there is more to Sweden than Ikea and I am now one of Stockholm’s biggest proponents. Pippi Longstocking fans should not miss Junibacken, nature fans should visit Rosendahl’s Garden, maritime history buffs should check out the Vasa museum and everybody should spend some time cruising the archipelago.
But no one, and I repeat no one, should buy an umbrella stroller in Stockholm (talk about your pricey souvenirs). Alas, such is the cost of traveling with young kids.
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Need a family friendly place to stay in Stockholm?
Try the Scandic Hasselbacken.
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