DAY 1
D included
After meeting at Stockholm international airport (Arlanda) by 3 pm, we take the Arlanda Express (fast train) into the city and then a private transfer to our 5 star hotel, an 18th century building on the waterfront in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town – the hotel facilities include an interesting library and a plunge pool and saunas in the brick-vaulted 17th century cellars. A short walk through the cobbled lanes of Gamla Stan, first fortified in 1255, bring us to a well-known historic ship that we board for dinner - contemporary Swedish cuisine, introduced by a glass of ice-cold aquavit.
Day 2
B, L, D included
A foot ferry takes us across to the island park of Djurgården, former Royal hunting grounds and now home to several of Stockholm’s best museums. We begin the morning at the Museum of Nordic Design and then walk round the Skansen, an authentic, uncommercialised, open-air museum with 150 reconstructed vernacular buildings from every region of Sweden, including farms, windmills, craft workshops, bakeries (the cinnamon buns are delicious) and Sami dwellings from Lapland made from reindeer hide. After lunch we walk on to visit the outstanding Vasa Museum - the Vasa, pride of the Swedish fleet, sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 and was preserved in mud at the bottom of Stockholm harbour for three centuries before being raised and restored – documentary films and numerous exhibition halls explain every aspect of life on board and the ship itself is magnificent. We have an early dinner introducing Swedish classic dishes before the performance of Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ at the Royal Swedish Opera.
Day 3
B, L, D included
After breakfast we walk to the Storkyrkan, the church where Sweden’s monarchs are traditionally crowned – consecrated in 1306, and recently restored to reveal the mediaeval brickwork – then pass the Great Hall of the House of the Nobility before boarding a turn-of-the-century boat to cruise across Lake Mälaren to the UNESCO World Heritage complex at Drottningholm. Guided tours of the Palace and the Baroque Theatre (one of only three perfectly preserved wooden theatres left in the world) are interspersed with a walk through the extensive grounds to see the Chinese Pavilion (built for Queen Lovisa Ulrika’s birthday in 1753). As a final highlight, we attend a performance in the Court Theatre (details tbc).
DAY 4
B, L included
We begin with a visit to the Stadhuset, Stockholm’s city hall, containing the impressive Golden Hall where Nobel prizes are presented (if closed for a State event, we instead visit the Museum of National Antiquity with a remarkable collection of 5th century gold jewellery and Viking artefacts). After visiting the National Museum, we walk past a fascinating collection of historic small ships to a leisurely lunch in an excellent contemporary restaurant in a converted torpedo shed! By late afternoon we have private transport to connect with the Arlanda Express airport train.
Caveat: The performances described are (rarely) subject to change by the organizers. Actual activities or their order may therefore vary from those described in the itinerary.