Stockholm – The Best of Both Worlds
Many of the world’s most famous cities divide opinion universally, loved and loathed by tourists and residents. To some, New York and London are the epitome of the buzzing, diverse DIY nature of the best modern cities; to others, they can appear as cramped, dirty urban sprawls with little to please the eye. Cities often lauded as the world’s nicest to live in (the likes of Sydney, Vienna and Vancouver) are derided as dull by others. One city I recently visited appears to strike a great balance between the two extremes: Stockholm, capital of Sweden.
Sweden is universally known for an efficient way of living (not to mention IKEA and its designer bedding), and this can be seen in the layout of its capital city. Stockholm’s setting is virtually perfect – set around Lake Malaren, it spreads out over a series of islands, which decrease in size as the lake flows into the sea. The archipelago itself is an incredible sight, as the islands become so minute each one contains little more than a home and a garden.
Back in the city itself, each island houses a very different district: Norrmalm (literally, North Island) is the commercial centre, filled with enormous shopping centres and ultra-modern office blocks. Sodermalm to the south is the polar opposite, a bohemian borough filled with bars and restaurants. Between the two lies Gamle Stan, a picture-postcard island housing Stockholm’s Old Town. Walking across the island takes only five minutes, but takes you through beautiful courtyards, past ornate buildings and traditional cafes.
If the centre alone makes Stockholm feel like an efficiently devised city, attractions along the river add a sense of the unpredictable. The world famous skansen, replicated everywhere from Cardiff to Cairo, is an island populated only by historical buildings collected from around Sweden, creating a living museum with the feel of a medieval village. A theme park sits between the skansen and the water’s edge; it’s hard to accuse a city of lacking unpredictability when it has an entire island used only to entertain its citizens.
Another factor in Stockholm’s favour is the feeling that, unlike other popular tourist cities, the residents have it just as good as visitors. Plenty of other cities (Tallinn and Milan leap to mind) quickly descend into a depressing industrial sprawl away from the tourist sites. From what I witnessed of Stockholm’s less-explored areas, there was plenty to recommend: housing estates were incredibly well-maintained, and entertainment, eateries and wonderful views could be found in every corner of the city.
Above all, Sweden’s capital treads the line between big city bustle and quality of living better than any other city I’ve visited. Taking the expertly designed subway (which makes the Tube map look like a random scrawl) from the open spaces of the skansen and archipelago into the clean, bright squares of the city centre, before heading to Sodermalm knowing you’ll find somewhere good to go, it’s hard not to feel that if you could make a perfect city from scratch, it’d be a lot like Stockholm.
Comments are closed!