... visit unique markets and festivals, indulge at your favorite patisserie, and enjoy nights at rooftop bars ...

Colorful Stortorget Square is the oldest main public square in Gamla Stan. Image credit: Mistervlad/Shutterstock

DAY 2: Discover the HEART OF STOCKHOLM

Cozy café Kaffekoppen in Gamla Stan. Image credit: WR7/Shutterstock

After visiting the bigger names such as the Swedish History Museum and Nordic Museum, check out the nearby Army Museum, a lesser-known gem with three floors of exhibits covering centuries of Swedish military and civilian life. At Strandvägen, Stockholm’s grandest waterfront boulevard, elegant 19th-century buildings overlook a lively harbor. Stop at the century-old interior design store Svenskt Tenn, famous for its brightly patterned Josef Frank textiles and pewter products.

Day 1: Explore the Colorful Capital

The passenger ferry from Skeppsholmen is a quick ride to Djurgården – yes, it’s worth stopping at the entertaining interactive ABBA Museum – where you can go on to Rosendals Trädgård, a biodynamic garden that’s a favorite urban oasis for Stockholmers. Treat yourself at the cozy greenhouse café, whose pastries and breads are baked in a wood-fired oven on-site, as well as weekly lunch menus spotlighting seasonal ingredients from the garden.

DAY 3: Visit gardens AND GALLERIES

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NEIGHBORHOODS

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Eat & Drink

Shop

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While the Danish have hygge – the concept of coziness – the Swedes have fika, a social coffee break that’s a cornerstone of everything from personal friendships to workplace culture. The nearly century-old café Vete-Katten, on Kungsgatan, is the perfect fika spot to savor classic Swedish pastries – be sure to try the marzipan-covered princess cake. Wander the boutiques around Hamngatan and Biblioteksgatan, home to Scandi minimalist Filippa K and luxury lifestyle experts J Lindeberg.

Cruise around Djurgården or farther out into the archipelago, dotted with forest and brightly colored cottages, for a sense of how much Stockholm’s character is defined by water. For a more active option, a kayaking tour offers a unique perspective of iconic sights such as City Hall and the beautiful old town, Gamla Stan.

Along Skeppsbron, past the Royal Palace, Skeppsbro Bageri is an award-winning organic artisan bakery sitting on the waterfront with mouth-watering views of the Baltic and a menu to match.

Spend the morning wandering Gamla Stan, a delightful warren of cobblestone streets and squares lined with narrow houses. Look for quirky details such as the city’s smallest statue, the 6-inch-high Iron Boy behind the Finnish Church, and the Viking Age rune stone walled into the foundation of a medieval house on the corner of Prästgatan and Kåkbrinken.

The downtown waterfront runs past the National Museum to peaceful Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen, two small islands that were once the preserve of the military, as evidenced by the small castle atop Kastellholmen. Admire the spectacular views here as well as historic ships and museums dedicated to modern art, architecture and design, and toys.

Sweden’s capital city features waterways including the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren. Image credit: Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock

Image credit: Shutterstock. Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake are roughly ten miles from Aspen

Each island on the sprawling Stockholm archipelago has a personality all its own. Take a deep dive to experience Scandinavian sophistication

Stockholm

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At Strandvägen, Stockholm’s grandest waterfront boulevard, elegant 19th-century buildings overlook a lively harbor

December 2024 (Volume 26)

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Blending history and tradition, Stockholm has a hip creative spirit that’s reflected in its lively arts scene and top-notch restaurants emphasizing farm-to-table cuisine. Here, we outline some of this remarkable city’s best parts that you can experience over three days.

Hantverket means “the craft” and accurately describes the philosophy of Restaurang Hantverket, where every dish is finely honed in an open-kitchen atmosphere. Order several dishes to share from a menu that includes salmon tartar, green tomato soup, and citrus-marinated cod.

7 p.m.

Immerse yourself in the city’s rich heritage in Södermalm, a former working-class district that has been transformed into one of Stockholm’s most popular neighborhoods. After visiting Stockholm City Museum, linger to admire the panoramic views from nearby Monteliusvägen, overlooking Lake Mälaren, City Hall, and the church spires of Gamla Stan.

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Combine dinner with art at Fotografiska, a museum of contemporary photography with eclectic changing exhibits housed in an old customs building on the Södermalm waterfront. It has a casual bistro and upscale restaurant options, both with large windows framing views of Djurgården and Gamla Stan. The menus emphasize plant-based cuisine alongside sustainable meat and seafood.

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At the eastern tip of Djurgården, the Thiel Gallery is a palatial early 20th-century mansion housing an exquisite collection of paintings by Scandinavian greats Carl Larsson, Edvard Munch, and Anders Zorn, along with contemporary European masters. Art fans can carry on to Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, the former home of Prince Eugen, a royal prince, painter, and art collector, who left the waterfront property and his impressive art collection to the Swedish state.

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Head back toward The White House to The People’s House: A White House Experience for interactive exhibits that highlight daily life in the Executive Mansion.

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Indulge in a filling lunch at Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown. Try to nab Booth #3, where then-senator John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953.

3 P.M.

While in Georgetown, spend some time admiring the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks. If time allows, visit the on-site museum, home to an impressive collection of Pre-Columbian and Byzantine art.

Feeling hungry? You’ll find D.C.’s Little Ethiopia in Shaw. Try the Michelin-recommended Chercher Restaurant. Then explore Meridian Hill Park, once the site of President John Adams’ home and a campground for Union soldiers during the Civil War. Today, D.C. residents can be seen picnicking with friends or joining the rhythmic Sunday afternoon drum circle, a tradition since 1984.

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Start your day with a guided tour of the U.S. Capitol for a behind-the-scenes look at the Crypt, National Statuary Hall, and the Rotunda. The grounds lead out onto the National Mall, a roughly two-mile-long green space lined with free Smithsonian Institution museums, art galleries, and sculpture gardens. Just south of the National Mall, the International Spy Museum offers displays featuring the world’s most famous spies – fictional and real – and their gadgets. See James Bond’s car collection from the 007 films (through September 2025) and test your spy skills by completing undercover missions around the museum.

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Dine on classic Swedish cuisine at Ulla Winbladh, the site of a steam bakery at the 1897 Stockholm World Fair set in rolling parkland near the Skansen open-air museum. Take a table on the patio to enjoy the long Nordic evening, while sampling local specialties including fish roe and sweet and sour herring.

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