Stockholm, Sweden
People
Swedish people are extremely nice to foreigners. The caveat is when you try to pick up the girls (below). But at any restaurant, store, bar, anywhere, people go out of their way to help you. Also, everybody appears to be in good moods walking around during the day. But you will notice that everyone has earbuds in their ears during the day. Expect a lot of girls with chokers, and guys well dressed in suits. It was kind of odd seeing every guy with skinny pants, no socks, and dress shoes.
Meeting Swedish girls
Sweden is known for the most beautiful girls in the world. This is a bit exaggerated. First, you don’t see too many overweight girls or ugly girls. Most of the girls are above average but not drop dead gorgeous “10s.” One thing I was happy about was that I didn’t see the hipster look or every girl wearing Converse tennis shoes like I had heard.
As for meeting girls, Swedish girls do not talk to random guys during the day like they do in the U.S. (I was told Gothenburg, Sweden is friendlier) Almost all of the girls I met during the day were from outside of Sweden – London, Norway, and Estonia. Swedish girls were helpful when I asked for directions, but that was it. After a few days, I just left picking up girls for night time.
But, if you want to try your hand meeting girls during the day, I found two malls – one called the Galleria, and another called NK Stockholm. These malls are not that big, and I didn’t see that many cute girls.
However, just outside the Galleria around the streets Hamngatan and Sveagan, there are thousands of people shopping on the streets similar to 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica, California, or Times Square in New York.
At night, it’s much easier to meet girls. They especially like Americans. They like Americans because most of the good looking girls have lived in the U.S. working as Au Pairs in the past. Therefore, as an American, you remind them of the good times they had in the States.
Tip: If you can get girls in the U.S., you can get girls in Sweden, if you can’t, you won’t
Tip: The usual guy travel rule exists in Sweden – travel where you look different than the local guys. Black American guys do well in Sweden.
Costs
Sweden lived up to its reputation as being a very expensive city. A Jack Daniels on the rocks cost $16. An average meal at McDonald’s costs $9.00. Sweden uses the Krona. When I was there, it was about .08 Krona to $1 US dollar.
The good thing about Sweden is you don’t have to tip the bartender or waitress. (but I did anyway).
Also, if you’re from the States, it will take a while to get used to the fact that the bartenders and servers don’t bother you. They are not being rude, you just have to get their attention if you want a drink even if your glass has been sitting there empty for 30 min.
Thankfully, Swedish girls are helpful.
Game plan
You can find great flights on skyscanner.com. Look for flights into Arlanda or Bromma in Stockholm.
Arlanda Airport is a pretty big, cool airport in Stockholm. Definitely, take the $7.00 Arlanda Express train to the city center. It will take you about 30 minutes. Here is the website. Arlanda Express
I flew out of Bromma Airport in Stockholm and that is not a great airport. It is small and a bit dated, but closer to the middle of Stockholm.
I suggest staying in the Stureplan area of Stockholm. Stureplan is a very cool hip area with high-end clubs and nice stores including Tiffany, Prada, and Burberry. I stayed at the Elite Hotel Stockholm Plaza and it was great. The staff, rooms, and free breakfast every morning could not have been better. This hotel will cost you about $190.00 per night.
Nightlife
There was not much to do during the week. On Thursday, I checked out the casino in Stockholm.
On Friday night I went to the Opera Café. This was a good club. Sweden has a reputation of having terrible bouncers. Maybe because I’ve been to many clubs in LA, NY, Miami, and Vegas, I had no problem getting into the clubs. In fact, the bouncers were pretty cool. The Opera Cafe got busy at about 1:00 am, and it was a pretty good looking crowd. Also, there were more girls in the club than guys.
Tip: Guys are not expected to buy girls drinks, and if you do, expect the girl to get the next one.
On Saturday night, I went to Sturecompaniet night club. This place is known as Stockholm’s most exclusive nightclub. It was a bit overrated. Yes, it was the best looking girls I’d seen during my entire stay in Stockholm but there was a lot of guys and the girls were pretty standoffish. The club was similar to Miami clubs, you can meet girls but you gotta work.
Tourist things
The two tourist attractions that I went to where the changing of the guard at the Palace in old Stockholm, and the Vasa Museum. The Palace is in Gamla Stan which is the old town of Stockholm. The changing of the guard is at 12:15 pm every day I think. I didn’t walk around the old town area, but you should if you go.
The Vasa museum is very cool. The museum centers around a ship that sunk in the 1600s and was found and recovered in the 1900s. More information here: Vasa Museum
The Vasa museum is the most visited tourist attraction in all of Scandinavia.
I regret that I did not have a chance to take a boat and do all the water things and see the other islands. However, I didn’t really notice a lot of tourist things to do. I’ve been told that there’s not a lot to do in Stockholm.
Black in Sweden
Before I visited, I knew Sweden has a reputation as being very open minded. As a black American man, I had no problems at all. There’s not a lot of black people in Stockholm, but you do see diversity. Being from Scottsdale, Arizona, I saw more black people in Stockholm than I do at home.
Slutgiltiga tankar (final thoughts in Swedish)
Coming from the States, you will find Sweden very familiar. Sweden is definitely a very first world country, and if you have never been out of the U.S., Sweden is a great country to start with – just remember to bring a power adapter.
And remember, for your trip – The best headphones for travel are Bose headphones. Specifically, the Bose QuietComfort 35 (Series II) Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling – Black
