The Stockholmtown Blog

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“Larsson’s books have captivated millions of readers around the world and ignited a voracious interest in the lives of its main characters Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomqvist,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. “It’s been exciting to have been a part of introducing so many people to these great books.”

"The capital of Sweden offers a vibrant nightlife, trendy shopping and beaches right in the middle of the city Surrounded by water Stockholm is the perfect stop for a summer trip,  and when you get tired of life in the city the beautiful archipelago is only a boat ride away" writes Metro in their english edition (pages 12-13) of todays newspaper (found at the metros stations for free). They list their favorite places for

Hungry
Blå Porten - Great place for home made food located on Djurgården island surrounded by museums and Gröna Lund amusement park. 95-150 SEK for main Course. Address: Djurgårdsvägen 64
BAR - grill where guests can pick out their own fish.. Fish costs between 80-200 SEK. Address: Blasieholmsgatan 4A.
Gondolen - Good food and an impressing view of Stockholm 33 meters above the ocean. Main course costs around 300 SEK. Address: Stadsgården 6.

Thirsty
Södra Bar & Kök where you can sit and have a drink while getting a great view over Stockholm. It is open Tuesday–Sunday. Address: Mosebacke torg 1–3.
Ljunggrens is a popular bar on one of the liveliest streets of Södermalm. Address: Götgatan 36.
Spy Bar Humlan, Open air bar and restaurant that houses all the trendy people all day. Address: Sturegatan/humlegårdsgatan, Humlegården.

Feel like dancing
F12 - Trendiest out door club. Fun, expensive and cool crowd. Restaurant closed but the bar is open. Address: Fredsgatan 12.
Berns - Lively and large night club with a nice outdoor terrace. Address: Näckströmsgatan 8.
Trädgården - indieclub in the south of the city where you dance under the huge bridge piers. Address: hammarby Slussväg 2.

Top attractions
The Vasa Museum
Skansen
Gamla Stan (old town)

Shopping
Södermalm "and especially the SoFo area (South of Folkungagatan) is the boho-chic part of town with fun shopping and vibrant nightlife. Some of the best restaurants are here, but also the best walks with stunning views over the city and water".

"Typical Swedish food is salted or smoked salmon and pickled herring. You can find them in all grocery stores, or for quality products visit indoor food markets Östermalmshallen, Söderhallarna and Hötorgshallen". 

Department stores: "On Hamngatan 18-20 lies NK, Nordiska Kompaniet, a classic department store that opened in 1902 with six stories of designer goods. Åhléns City closer to the central station at Klarabergsgatan 50 is the other big department store in the city. Åhléns mixes lyxury brands and other more affordable options".

Trendy boutiques: "Visit SoFo, South of Folkungagatan, for trendy unique boutiques and lovely cafés. A cool hopping mall on Södermalm is Bruno, on Götgatan 36, with stores including Filippa K, The Local Firm, Whyred, American Apparel and Avenue Clothing".

Tourism helped to create new jobs and higher export earnings in 2009, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) according to The Local. Total tourism revenue increased by over six percent to 251.7 billion kronor ($32.87 billion) last year and created nearly 12,000 new full-time jobs, while export value, as measured by foreign visitor consumption in Sweden, rose by nearly 13 percent to 93.6 billion kronor in 2009.

This result was higher than the exports of cars, iron and steel combined, added the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association (Sveriges Hotell & Restaurang företagare, SHR).

Total Tourism revenue for Stockholm is 23 billion kronor and creates employment for some 19 000 people.

European Cities Marketing launched the first iPhone application to serve as a mobile tool for discovering 33 cities spread over 19 different European countries, among them Stockholm. The tool has been developed by the European City Card group in which 33 cities work together to develop city cards for visitors. After the launch of the website  in 2008, the group came together once again to produce the innovative tool, the “City card app”. With the iPhone application the visitor has a mobile tool to explore the city. The application is available for free at the iPhone store or via  the website www.europeancitycards.com

See the Youtube film on the app.

Here are one of the new tourist information bikes in Stockholm. Four bikes filled with maps and tourist information will give tourists in Stockholm access to information and help on several locations in Stockholm.

Swedenavi is a new webmagazine featuring popular culture in Sweden in Japanese. The magazine includes a Stockholm guide which is updated  with new addresses every week.

Stockholmsky Gorodvoj is a new blog with daily news about Stockholm in Russian. In order to attract more russian speaking visitors to Stockholm, Stockholm Visitors Board have launched a facebook group and fanpage on Vkontakte.ru.

The project Stockholmsky Gorodovoj* is initiated by Stockholm Visitors Board in collaboration with journalist Grigory Goldenzwaig, the author of the only travel guide to Stockholm written in Russian, Afisha Stockholm. Stockholmsky Gorodovoj is great for those who want to get an inside view of the city of Strindberg, ABBA and Karlsson-on-the-roof and other typical stockholm-stories.

*word game in Russian, the closest translation is Stockholm Guard

Hollywood-version of the Millennium triology will be filmed on set in Stockholm, Sweden in October 2010, according to Swedish television SVT. Director is David Fincher (Benjamin Button and Panic Room), but its not yet been announced who will play the roles of Mikael Blomqvist or Lisbeth Salander.

Stieg Larssons triology has become a huge success. The books have sold in million copies around the world and was listed as one of the top best sellers in 2009 around the world. A swedish film was launched in 2009. Since the books were launched several people have been walking the footsteps of Stieg Larsson in Stockholm.

The swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri has an article about film tourism today. According to Visit Britain Film tourism is attractive. According to their research 40 percent of the potential tourists chooses Britain as destination because of films as Notting Hill, Harry Potter, Midsomer Murders etcetera etcetera.

In 2009 there were a total of 9.4 million overnight stays in hotels, hostels, cottages and campgrounds in Stockholm county. This is comparable with 2008, which was a record year. Stockholm was the capital with the most guest nights in the region last year, thus strengthening its position as the leading visitor destination in Scandinavia.

- ”We’ve gained market share from the other Nordic capitals, which makes us proud. Last year Stockholm’s share was 38.2 percent of guest nights when compared with the number of guest nights in Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki,” said Peter Lindqvist, CEO of the Stockholm Visitors Board.

Stockholm's success is due to a pronounced increase in leisure travel. The number of business travellers spending the night in Stockholm County declined by 9 percent last year, a development that was expected. During the same period the number of leisure travellers spending the night in the county rose by 10 percent, yielding an equivalent number of guest nights in Stockholm County for the entire year.

“Long-term joint marketing initiatives with our partners and a concentrated effort to bring more flights into Stockholm are some of the reasons the leisure travel segment is increasing," said Guri Höjgaard, Manager of Leisure Travel at the Stockholm Visitors Board.

The domestic market is still Stockholm’s most important market. Swedish visitors are responsible for two out of three overnight stays in hotels, hostels, cottages and campgrounds in Stockholm county. Most of our foreign visitors come from Germany, the UK, the US and Norway. The markets that grew the most in 2009 were Italy, Denmark, Finland and Germany.

Wonder what we do at the pressdepartment at Stockholm Visitors Board? This morning my colleague Johanna couldn't find some of her mediaresults. This resulted in a major project structuring our cuts in a better way.  Thanks Johanna!

We help some 650 journalists each year with research and individual programmes. And most of the journalists are kind enough to send us the result of their travel. Reading fantastic articles or see tv-shows is just one of the benefits working with media! 

One of the top interior design bloggers in Norway, Emmeline, have been in Stockholm this weekend and blogs about all the interior design shops she loves....

• Here is what she is writing about interior design stores (in norwegian)
• Here is about her trip to Stockholm

"Whats new?" is I think the most frequented asked question we get at the pressdepartment at Stockholm Visitors Board. So I thought I would share some areas off the beaten track in stockholm.

Götgatsbacken, Södermalm - We talk a lot about the SoFo-area, but Götgatsbacken-hill is the gateway to it. Here you will find young and trendy shopping with swedish labels like Monki, Weekdays and David&Martin but also American Apparel. The Creperie Fyra Knop is a "hidden favorite"

Hornsgatan, Södermalm - is the main road through the island of Södermalm. Its dusty, long and full of cars, but also great for vintage shopping. Here is where you will find the Filippa K Second hand store and Judits second hand + Herr Judits which are two great places to find vintage. Herr means Mister by the way. Mobili is a good furniture second hand store.

Birkastan, Vasastan - A cluster of great shops and restaurants. Among them the dessert shop Xoko, but also Black market with avant garde fashion and the fashion designer Carin Wester.

Odengatan, Vasastan - Continue from Birkastan on Odengatan. here you will find some great antique shops along the side streets Västmannagatan etc. Further between Sveavägen and Birgerjarlsgatan you will also find great places for brunch and lunch such as Deville, Sibiriens Soppkök and Ramen Ki-Mama and bars such as Storstad.

- I spend such great days and I can recommend this wonderful town . It is perfect for disabled people and there is so much to see. I am sure I will come back soon to see the rest for all the places I had not the time to see it know, says

Christine Jakl-Hussmann who did sightseeing in Stockholm from a wheelchair. Here is her report:

• Stockholm-Arlanda Airport - everything was perfect, toilets, lifts
• Arlanda Express - easy to find, no problem to get in and out
• Tunnelbana - I only tried it on one day. On T-Centralen and Gullmarsplan there were elevators dirty and really bad smelling
• Inner City - very easy to do, nearly every pedestrian-crossing is sloped
• Drottingholm Palace - I went there by boat. The Palace was not possible to make, so I visit the beautiful garden and the theatre. The three steps to get in, I have to use a little ramp.
• Skansen - a train brought me up. Most of the time it was difficult for me to drive alone, you need somebody for help going around
• Vasa Museum - perfect with lifts, toilets, electric door-opener and a lot of car park for handicapped
• Boats hop on - hop off - I liked it very much and used it a few times. Easy to get in and standing outside on the platform
• Aquarium - easy to reach without a problem
• Dancemuseum - lift, everything perfect
• Dramaten royal theatre - side entrance and lift