City Visit: Oslo Part 1

Oslo Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55City Visit: Oslo, part one – the Aker Brygge area and its marina

The Oslo Boat show was winding down when we arrived in the Oslo area, which meant that the Aker Brygge marina was still closed to the public.  We decided to stay in one of the lovely anchorages not far from the city.  The Ostøya-Grimsøya-Kjeholmen group of islands is only about 6 nautical miles from Aker Brygge in Oslo and outside of the “high” season in the middle of summer, it’s not crowded at all.  Several houses dot these islands so lying at anchor is the best solution so as not to disturb the inhabitants.

Anchorage near Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Anchored in beautiful weather at Ostøya

The Aker Brygge marina had announced on their website that it would open to the public on the Tuesday after the boat show, so we left the anchorage for Oslo city.

Surprise!  The workers who were taking down the tents and temporary pontoons were not yet finished with their task.  We were given the choice of lying on the outside of the pontoons or finding another marina.  The wind was brisk and coming straight into the marina making the waves in the entire harbour quite choppy.  We clearly did not want to moor on the outside of the marina.  The ferries and cruise lines that enter and exit Oslo also create a lot of waves.  We opted to go to Dronninghavna.

Dronninghavna boat club, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

A view of the Dronninghavna boat club, with the Holmenkollen ski jump in the background

Unfortunately, Dronninghavna did not a berth for our boat and we were given a waiting pontoon. We weren’t pleased with the situation.  We were told that all of the marinas in Oslo were full because all of the visiting boats and even the permanent renters of berths at Akerbrygge were relegated to the other Oslo marinas.  There was nothing to do but accept the situation. At least they let us use the waiting pontoon free of charge (there’s no water, electricity or access to toilets, etc.)

Dronninghavna boat club, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Dronninghavna boat club on the island of Bygdøy, just outside of Oslo city centre

The Dronninghavna is otherwise a good choice for those of you who want to visit the most famous of all of the Oslo museums: the Viking Ship Museum, the Kontiki Museum, the Fram museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum.  They are all on the same island as the marina, Bygdøy.

Finally, on the Wednesday after the boat show, we were permitted to up at the Aker Brygge marina.  This is the marina closest to the city centre of Oslo.  Aker Brygge is a modern waterfront neighbourhood that successfully blends restaurants, cafés, boutiques, offices and living space.  For anyone who loves modern architecture, this place is just amazing!

Aker Brygge Marina, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Aker Brygge Marina

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The marina at night

Marina Review: The Aker Brygge marina

The marina is relatively new and you’ll find everything you need, including toilets and showers, a laundry room, wifi, and a small café.  The toilets, showers and laundry room were all spotless and in brand new condition. We absolutely loved staying here!

It’s relatively expensive, but you get a pristine marina and walking distance to downtown Oslo for the price.

The only downside is that it can get quite noisy if the weather is nice and there are lots of people out.

Marina Prices: 14 NOK per foot.  This includes WiFi, use of toilets, showers, washers and dryers, electricity and water.

Contact: https://www.akerbrygge.no/marina/  Telephone: +47 930 50 655, Email: goh@npro.no

Akerbrygge Marina, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Senna on a sunny Oslo morning at the Aker Brygge

Akerbrygge Marina, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Freja moored at the Aker Brygge Marina. The harbour office and facilities are to the right in the photo

Akerbrygge Marina, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The view towards Tjuvholmen from the boat

The Akerbrygge/Tjuvholmen borough of Oslo

The Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen area was built from land that served as a shipyard and small mechanical factories until 1982.  It was then developed, step by step, into the amazing architectural wonderland that it is today.

Aker Brygge, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Aker Brygge on a sunny morning

A few of the buildings were not removed, but renovated and reborn as shops, offices, restaurants and apartments.

Aker Brygge Marina, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

A late evening view of the Aker Brygge Marina

Aker Brygge, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Walking Senna through the Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen area at night

Aker Brygge, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Another part of our dog-walking route

Aker Brygge, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

More of the amazing architecture at Aker Brygge

Some of the more well-known architects represented here include Niels Torp (who also designed the beautiful SAS building outside Stockholm), Space Group and Renzo Piano, who designed the Astrup Fearnley Museum on Tjuvholmen.  Renzo Piano is also the architect responsible for the Shard in London, the Paul Klee Centre in Bern, Switzerland and the New York Times building in New York. If you are passionate about architecture as an art form, you will love this area.

Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Tjuvholmen by day…

Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

And Tjuvholmen by night

Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art on Tjuvholmen island

The Aker Brygge is the part of this new area  with the most restaurants, shops, bars and cafés.  We had dinners or lunches here and found what we think are Europe’s best croissants for breakfast (it’s the incredible Norwegian butter)!  You’ll find lots of different shops and boutiques, but for essentials, there is the Coop grocery store.  You can get your internet access card for your router at Telia.

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Another part of dog-walking route (and tour of amazing architecture)

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

One of the many sidewalk restaurants at Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen. This one has a view of the marina and the Oslo Fjord

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Here’s another of the many cozy sidewalk restaurants in the Aker Brygge area

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Lovely sculpture and water art in front of yet another sidewalk restaurant

Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen, Oslo | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Another view of the incredible modern architecture in Aker Brygge

In my next post, I’ll go over our favourite places to visit in and around Oslo.

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Great Discoveries: Norwegian anchorages, part 1

Great Discoveries: Norwegian anchorages part one: the eastern Oslofjord area

Sailing the Oslofjord | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55It seems that most people who sail to Norway skip over the entire Oslofjord region.  If they’re coming from Sweden they’ll sail directly to Farsund or Eggersund. If they’re coming from Scotland, they’ll sail straight to Stavanger or Bergen.  It’s really a shame, because the Oslofjord region is breathtakingly gorgeous!

We use three different guides to Norwegian anchorages and marinas.

1. Havneguiden

2. Norske Los (free to download as pdf files)

3.  Norwegian Cruising Guide by John and Phyllis Harries (morganscloud.com)

We recommend them all, but the Havneguiden is the one with the most photos, taken from the air so you can really see what the anchorage looks like. If you download the inexpensive Eniro charts (charts for Norway and Sweden) for your iPad or smartphone, you see lots of anchorages marked.  In addition, the paper charts for Norway often have anchorages marked out.

Fredrikstad

If you’re coming up from Sweden, a good stop may be Fredrikstad.  It has a marina in the middle of town and a lovely historic old town, Gamlebyn, to visit.  We arrived from the east, first going up the fjord, then river Østerelva that leads to the city of Sarpsborg There’s quite a current here, so consider yourself warned.  You can also approach from the west side, in which case you’ll avoid having to wait for bridge openings.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Fredrikstad | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Vintage boats in Fredrikstad

When you enter from the east to enter the city, you’ll see an old mill in full working order — that’s how strong the current is.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Fredrikstad Mill | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The mill at Fredrikstad

You’ll have to request and wait for a bridge opening to get to the marina if you come from the east side.  They don’t open the bridge at request, but if you call, they know someone wants to pass and they will open the bridge at the set times.  If you don’t let them know, the bridge doesn’t open at all (because they think no-one needs an opening).  You can wait for the bridge opening along the quayside just before the bridge.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Fredrikstad | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

View towards the centre of Frekrikstad

The town itself is quite small but has a good choice of restaurants, cafés and bars along the quayside.  We had dinner at a tapas restaurant there – excellent dishes and good prices (for Norway, that is).

The prices of berths at quayside range from 250 NOK to 600 NOK (15 meters and up).  They have showers, toilets and laundry facilities.

We planned Fredrikstad as our first stop because we thought we’d have to check in our boat and our dog.  We well called the Norwegian customs , we found out that you just need to carry your dog’s passport (with the stamps for all of the necessary vaccinations and the special worm treatment for Norway) in your pocket or purse — just in case anyone wants to check. The customs explained to us that since our boat is registered in a Schengen county and we are from a Schengen country, we didn’t need to clear in.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Fredrikstad | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Filling up the diesel tanks. Diesel is a bit cheaper in Norway than Sweden.

If you leave Fredrikstad from the eastern side, you may want to fill your diesel tanks at the Nøkledypet marina. Glommen Bunkerservice is open between 8.00 and 20.00 during the summer season (until end of Sept.)

Sailing the Oslofjord - Fredrikstad | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

It seems that you don’t pay the road tax on diesel at marine fuel stations. You do pay the VAT though.

Korterødkilen anchorage

Another idea for a first stop in Norway is the charming anchorage of Korterødkilen on north side of the island of Kjeøya.. It’s kind of a Norwegian summer neighbourhood, though there’s not much activity outside the vacation period and the weekends.  It is protective of winds from any direction.  You just need to be careful of your anchor scope as there are several boats lying on buoys.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Kjeøya | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The lovely anchorage on Kjeøya called Korterøkilen

The anchor bottom consists of sticky mud/clay — good holding.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Kjeøya | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Summer houses in Korterøkilen

Sailing the Oslofjord - Kjeøya | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our anchorage at Kjeøya. The GPS coordinates: 59°5’48N, 11°13’8E

Hankøhavna anchorage

Our first anchorage on the way up to Oslo was Hankø’s west side.  Hankø also has a big marina on it’s east side.  We chose the anchorage because we didn’t want to waste time going around the island.

Sailing the Oslofjord - anchorage at Hankøhavna | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Dramatic evening skies at Hankøhavna

In hindsight, we should have done so because the Hankø anchorage is not really suitable for a large boat like Freja. The problem here is that many boats are lying on buoys, and there are additional buoys for the Norwegian cruising club to use.  The anchorage is so crowded with buoys, it’s difficult to put out enough chain to have a proper scope for strong winds.

Sailing the Oslofjord - anchorage at Hankøhavna | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

We had strong winds at the anchorage of Hankøhavna

If your boat is 9 tons or less, you can use these buoys if they aren’t taken by a cruising club member.  Since our boat displaces far more than 9 tons, (about 27 tons fully bunkered) hooking onto one of these buoys wasn’t possible. We prefer to use our big anchor in any case, as we know once it’s bedded in, we aren’t going anywhere.

Our 55kg Spade held throughout a night of 30-38 knot winds, even on short scope (about 4:1) but I didn’t get a lot of sleep.  I was constantly waking up to check my iPad (which acts as a remote for our Furuno TZ plotter) to check the wind speed and to see if we were dragging.

Sailing the Oslofjord - anchorage at Hankøhavna | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our anchorage at Hankøhavna. GPS coordinates: 59°11’53N, 10°46’7E

Son Marina

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

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We found the seaside town of Son utterly cozy and charming.  Hyggelig as they would say in Danish.  We arrived  on a Saturday, so the village was full of activity and all of the littles shops, restaurants and cafés were open all weekend (except for the Vinmonopolet which is always closed on Sunday.)

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

View of Son Marina

Speaking of the Vinmonopolet — this is the Norwegian version of the state-run shops that sell alcoholic drinks.  You see the same system in Sweden (System Bolaget) and in Finland (Alko).  Norway has the most expensive wine of the three countries, so you may want to stock up before arriving.  In Norway, Finland and Sweden, you can buy light beer (lower alcohol content) in grocery stores, but normal beer is also sold only at the state-run shops.  You may think that because it’s a monopoly system that the prices are higher than in “normal” shops, but that isn’t always the case.  We saw, for example, a 75 cl of 2014 Tignanello for sale at 600 SEK (61 Euros or 68 USD) in Sweden.  The same bottle in Switzerland would cost twice that.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Out for a walk in the seaside town of Son

Sailing the Oslofjord - the town of Son | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The beautiful cobblestone streets of Son

Getting back to Son Marina,  we spent 2 and a half sunny days there.  We sampled one of the restaurants, “Solsiden”, had coffee in one of the pleasant cafés, “Torvgården”, both very good. Jacques even had a haircut at the marina salon.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

A view of the boardwalk at Son marina

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

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Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Having some early morning cappuccino in a café at the marina.

Be warned though, that outside of the normal summer holiday period (from around the 25 of June to around the 10th of August, the restaurants and cafés are only open on the weekends.

Sailing the Oslofjord - the town of Son | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The fire brigade museum in Son

Sailing the Oslofjord - the town of Son | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

A view of the town square in Son

We will definitely come back to this lovely marina town!

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

This dachshund was out for a ride on mom’s kayak.

Information on Son Marina:

This marina is open all year ‘round, with lower prices between around mid-September to mid-May.

Prices include:  electricity, water, wifi, toilets, showers, laundry room, exchange-a-book library, septic tank pumping station.

Prices: 250 NOK to 500 NOK depending on the size of the boat.  We paid 500 NOK for Freja (55 feet).  A warning about prices — if you reserve a place with Dockspot, the price is 100 NOK higher than the official price.  We reserved our first night with Dockspot. It was 600 NOK instead of the official prices of 500 NOK.

Marina telephone: +47 649 587 38

Marina email: post@sonhavn.no

Sailing the Oslofjord - Son Marina | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

This cutie was waiting for his owners to get back to the boat.

Fredagshølet anchorage

This anchorage is extremely well- protected from winds and seas from all directions.  It’s located on the north side of the island of Seiløy (Sail Island!).  Getting to anchorage is a bit tricky, no matter if you’re coming in from the night or south, so pay attention — there are underwater rocks on both sides of the channels.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Anchorage of Fredagshølet | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The anchorage of Fredagshølet

The nature is that of a typical outer archipelago island — mostly smooth, rounded granite and small bushes and trees. It’s easy to find a warm rock for sunbathing if that’s your thing.  The anchoring holding is excellent — we brought up lots of sticky mud on or anchor.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Anchorage of Fredagshølet | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Smooth granite islands around Fredagshølet

If you prefer marinas, there is a small marina close to Fredagshølet called Bukta Gjesthaven.

Sailing the Oslofjord - Anchorage of Fredagshølet | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

A view of the small marina near Fredagshølet called Bukta Gjesthavn

Sailing the Oslofjord - Anchorage of Fredagshølet | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our anchorage at Fredagshølet. GPS coordinates: 59°7’21N, 10°51’21E

Stockholm Archipelago, Part 2

Great Discoveries: Stockholm Archipelago part 2

Discover Stockholm's beautiful archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Enough already about the city of Stockholm!  Stockholm also has one of the world’s finest, most beautiful archipelagos.

To be truthful, only one of these islands, Lisselö, was a real discovery for me. For Jacques, they all were new discoveries, except for Sandhamn and Träskö-Storö, which we visited together back in 2013 in a chartered Bavaria 40.

Lisselö

Lisselö was a true find for us.  We visited it twice and each time, we were the lone boat in the anchorage.  It has a cozy feel since there are a couple of fishing cottages and a few summer houses here.  We liked observing the fisherman coming and going in their little semi-open boats, called Snipa in Swedish. They are kind of like  pick-ups for the sea.

Lisselö in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The anchorage of Lisselö, not far from the outer edge of Stockholm’s archipelago

We did need a couple of tries to finally get the anchor to hold here, at around 10 meter’s depth. Perhaps there’s some seaweed growth on the bottom.  If you’re anchored just so, you’ll have a view of the open sea through a shallow channel towards the east.  Lisselö is well-protected from all winds except for hard easterlies (that blow through the little channel).

Lisselö in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Senna drying off after a swim. You can see out to the open sea through this little channel.

Lisselö in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our anchor spot was at 59°20′.43N, 18°54’59E

Lådna

We had a visitor at our anchorage in Lådna — a grey seal hunting for a meal.  We were sitting in the cockpit after dinner, each reading a book, when we heard a strange sound. It sounded like a whale exhaling through its blowhole.

It was a seal!  The sound is produced when they come up for air, open their watertight nostrils and exhale. We took some photos, but in all of them, the seal looked like a tiny black dot, even with a 120 mm telephoto lens — not worth putting up here.

The anchorage we chose was a new one for me. I’d been to the well-protected Lådna many times before but always on the western part of the island.  The entire series of small coves at Lådna was already crowded when we arrived at around 18.00, so we didn’t have a huge choice of spots.  Our little inlet on the far southeastern part had no boats at anchor when we arrived, so we quickly choose a spot there. We found good holding at about 8 meter’s depth.

Lådna in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

It’s nice to have some flowers in the cockpit – here’s our little geranium.

Lådna in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The GPS coordinates for our anchor spot: 59°24’53N, 18°44’18E

Själbottna

This is another anchorage I’d visited before, but never in the western part.  With a small boat, you can use the eastern inlets and tie to land, but with Freja, we need a good place to turn around our anchor.  And turn around we did! During the evening, the wind died completely, and all of the boats lying at anchor floated every which way.  We saw the track we made on the plotter — we had turned 360° around because of the lack of wind.

Själbottna in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

We had no wind at all in the Själbottna anchorage

The western bay of the island is protected from all winds and seas. We were anchored in about 10 meters’ depth (mud).

Själbottna in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Cozy atmosphere in the anchorage

Själbottna in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The GPS coordinates for our anchor spot (star): 59°33’32N, 18°46’44E. The places marked with an asterisk are ones I’d used with my former boat.

Sandhamn

Sandhamn is the archipelago’s version of St. Tropez.  It’s the summer base for the Royal Sailing Society of Stockholm (KSSS), which means that almost every member will spend some time there during the summer.  If you enjoy bars and house music, people and yacht watching, this is your place during the summer.  Outside the period of June 20th to August 10th, it’s a much calmer place, and during the colder months, when only the year ‘round population is left, it’s pretty much in hibernation mode.

Sandhamn in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Sandhamn is the most popular marina in the entire archipelago

We visited Sandhamn with guests from Switzerland, just to show them another, livelier side of the archipelago.  There are several small boutiques selling clothes, home décor, souvenirs, local artwork and boat “stuff”.  Sandhamn also has a small grocery store and a lovely bakery.  You’ll find ice cream stands everywhere during the high season.

The marina berths are expensive during the summer and they are hard to come by, so you really need to reserve a berth or risk ending up with nothing.

Sandhamns Seglarhotellet in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The Seglarhotellet houses part of the hotel as well as 2 restaurants and bars.

There are two sides to the marina — one that’s managed by the KSSS and one that’s managed by the restaurant called Seglarhotellet. We reserved a berth in the Seglarhotellet part of the marina.

The prices there run from 310 SEK to 380 SEK for a boat up to 38 feet, depending on the season, plus a restaurant voucher fee of 300 SEK.  For a boat like Freja, 55 feet, it’s either 550 SEK or 620 SEK, plus the voucher fee, depending on the season.  The restaurant voucher, for which you are billed 300 SEK  is worth 350 SEK in any of the hotel’s restaurants or bars.  We had planned to have dinner at the restaurant, anyway, so we got 50 SEK out of the deal.  It’s a strange system; obviously to strongly encourage you to eat at one of the restaurants.

Sandhamn's marina in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

This is the marina attached to the Seglarhotellet. It was a tight squeeze for Freja.

I don’t think we would return to Sandhamn during the high season again, unless we had guests that really wanted to go there.  It’s just so much more expensive than any other marina in or around Stockholm, and it’s not really our style, especially at night with all the noise!  During the off-season, it’s much more quiet, but then all of the little shops have closed and the bakery is open only three days a week and a few of the restaurants have closed for the season…

Träskö – Storö

Träskö – Storö is a huge anchorage that spreads out over a few different islands and inlets, so there’s always room for one more boat.  There is just one area to avoid if laying at anchor, though, especially with a west wind blowing.  I’ve marked this on the map.  It’s one of the most beautiful anchorages in the archipelago, in our opinion. That explains why we stayed for 2 or 3 days each time we came here.  On weekends, there’s usually a “bakery boat” that sells bread and pastries by going from boat to boat.

Träskö-Storö in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Just a tiny part of the anchorage on Träskö-Storö

Träskö-Storö in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The GPS coordinates for our anchor spot: 59°26’42N, 18°46’45E

Gällnö Hemfladen

Gällno is one of the few genuine islands left in the archipelago.  It still has farms and fisherman, unlike most of the other islands which are 80-100% summer cottages. You may hear a tractor working a small field or cows mooing.  It’s an anchorage relatively close to Stockholm, so it’s a good choice if you’ve gotten a late start to the day, or if you want to drop the anchor for lunch.  The anchor bottom is thick, heavy mud and it’s well-protected from winds and seas.

Gällnö Hemfladen in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our guests from Geneva swimming with Senna. The water was only 20° C.

Gällnö Hemfladen in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

It felt like we’d gone 100 years back in time here

Gällnö Hemfladen in Stockholm's Archipelago | Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The GPS coordinates for our anchor spot: 59°23’49N, 18°38’8 E

City Visit: Stockholm, Part 3

Part 3 — Where to have coffee and other ideas for exploring the city

Stockholm City Visit - Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Our Top 10 places for “Fika” (Swedish for “coffee break”)

Did you know that Fika is coffee said backwards?

Under Kastanjen

This café is located in the “oasis” in Gamla Stan, a little square called Brända Tomten.  If it’s a hot day, the chestnut tree in the square will seem to call out to you to sit under the its shade-giving leaves.  Under Kastanjen (Under the Chestnut Tree) serves all kinds of hot and warm drinks, pastries and light lunch.  The lunch selections run from fresh salads to soup and sandwiches. They also service a daily lunch special.

Under the Chestnut Tree in the Old Town of Stockholm - Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

Having a “fika” at Under Kastanjen in the Old Town

Under the Chestnut Tree in the Old Town of Stockholm - Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

View of the square called “Brända Tomten” in the Old Town

Under the Chestnut Tree in the Old Town of Stockholm - Cruising Attitude Sailing Blog | Discovery 55

The chestnut tree at Brända Tomten

Tössebagariet

Possibly the most famous bakery in Stockholm, the pastries and cakes here are just a little too tempting. It’s a dangerous place for the waistline!  It was founded back in 1920, and has taken quite a few prizes in various pastry-chef competitions.

Vette-Katten

If you are really into beautifu, old-school kinds of pastry/coffe shops, you’ll love Vette-Katten on Kungsgatan. It was founded in 1928 and frequented by Grete Garbo. In addition to the delicious pastries, cakes, bread and biscuits, light lunches are served between 11.00 and 14.00.

Sture Katten

Sture Katten is not at all like Vete-Katten and there is no connection, save for the word “katten” (the cat) in their names.  Sture Katten is like going back to your great grandmother’s house.  The pastry shop is laid out on three different floors of a building that dates back to the 1700s.  Each former apartment in the building is a group of small dining rooms at Sture Katten. Each dining room is different and even the plates and glasses are different — it really feels like visiting three different apartments.  It’s beyond cosy!  I used to come here quite often for a dose of “hygge” when I lived in Stockholm.

Cafe Ektorpet (about 100 meters from the Navishamn Marina)

Café Ektorpet is an old coffee house hidden amongst the trees and flowers close to Print Eugens Waldemarsudde (a beautiful art museum).  They are noted for their “våfflor”, a kind of waffle, lighter than then Belgium or American versions, heavier than the french one.  In addition to pastries, cakes, våfflor, and ice cream, they serve a couple of daily lunch specials. “Simple, but delicious typical swedish food” is how we describe it. During the summer, the café moves outside, and you have a wonderful view of the sea leading in to Stockholm as well as of the Navishamn marina.

Rosendals Trädgårdscafé

Rosendals Trädgårdscafé is well-loved by the locals and tourists alike. It’s placed right in the middle of a series of greenhouses selling plants and flowers.  It’s wonderful for a fika, but you can eat a light lunch (between 11 and 14.00), a sandwich, or a bowl of soup if you’re hungry.  All of the food, including the cakes and pastries are certified organic.  All of the bread, biscuits, pies and cakes are baked in their own wood-burning oven. There’s even a little farm shop!  It’s not far from the Navishamn — a 10-minute walk.  If you’re staying at the Wasahamn marina, you can take the tram towards Waldemarsudde and get off at the “Bellmansro” stop. From there, it’s about 5 minutes’ walk.

Svenskt Tenn Tea Room (best ice cream in town!)

This is yet another of Stockholm’s elegant tearooms. Svenskt Tenn is a home decorating shop (Swedish Design!) with its own tearoom. The best thing about Svenkt Tenn is it’s mini side-walk café/ice cream shop during the summer. It really is the best ice cream in town!  Each day, you can chose from 5 or 6 flavours in the ice cream cart and it’s served in either a cone or a bowl. We were told the ice cream is hand-made in small batches by a mom and pop-style company on the island of Kungsholmen.  Since the weather was sunny and warm almost every day during the month we spent in Stockholm, we were there at least 15 times.  That’s a lot of ice cream tasting.

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We saw this beautiful super yacht across the water from the sidewalk café at Svenskt Tenn (yellow building with green awnings).

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We saw this 55 meter-long Royal Huisman as well – so impressive!

Grillska Huset in the old town

This café/restaurant/bakery is housed in a building from the 1600s at Stortorget (The Big Square) in the Old Town.  Skip all of the tourist trap cafés at the Stortorget and come here.  The Grillska Huset serves organic, home-made food (you can buy bread, biscuits, pies and cakes in the bakery part of the building. We bought lots of their knäckebröd (for me) and cinnamon buns (for Jacques) to stock in our galley.   In addition, the Grillska Huset is run by a official charity called Stockholms Stadsmission, so you’ll be doing good by eating or buying here.

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View from the café “Grillska Huset” in the Stortorget, Gamla Stan (Grand Square in the Old Town)

Kaknästornet

For Stockholm’s best views, go to the Kaknästornet.  After walking around the tower with your camera/phone in hand to take photos, you can relax in the Sky Bar.  We had a glass of wine and then coffee (it was late afternoon) while enjoying the amazing view.

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View from the Kaknästornet’s café/bar

Roberts Coffee in the Östermalmshallen

If you’ve been shopping at the Östermalmshallen (and it’s really worth a visit), you can take a break at Robert’s Gourmet Coffee. We enjoyed cappuccinos and Jacques and our visitors some delicious cinnamon buns (called kanelbullar in Swedish).

Top 10 “other” things to do that are reasonably close to the either marina

Ride your bike (or rent a bike) around Djurgården.

We rode from the Navishamn out to the eastern end (Blockhusudden), then back along the canal.

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We came across the “King’s sheep” while biking through Djurgården.

The shortest tour would be to do a “tour de canal” ride and the longest would be to ride along the shoreline and come back on the “other” side (the Gärdet side) and back over the Djurgård’s bridge. You can rent a bike at the Durgård’s bridge.

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Map of Djurgården from visitdjurgarden.se

For a really great tour of the city, ride your bike into the centre of town, then along Södra Mälarstrand. Continue over the “Västerbron” bridge and then back along the Norr Mälarstrand. You can ride over Slussen (the locks) and then catch the ferry  to either Kastellholmen or Djurgården from Gamla Stan.  You’ll pass lots of places for coffee or a meal along the way. And you’ll pass lots of photo opportunities, so pick a beautiful sunny day.  I used to do this tour often when I lived on Södermalm, near Hornstull (minus the going to Djurgården part).

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Beautiful vintage wooden boats at Kastellholmen

Moosebacken Terrassen

Go for drinks, perhaps even a meal and a wonderful sunset view over Stockholm.  Mossebacken Terrassen is located high up on the cliffs of Södermalm, providing a great view of the city. It’s open during the summer only.  Check the website for opening times (depends on the weather as it’s outdoors).

Rent a kayak and paddle Stockholm.

You can rent kayaks at the Djurgård’s bridge, so it’s just not far from the Vasahamn marina.  It’s great fun to paddle the canal.

Drinks along the Strandvägen waterfront

Strandvägen has lots of cafés/bars along its waterfront.  We tried a few during the warm summer evenings as we’re always up for a glass of wine. You really can’t go wrong when you have the beautiful view of the Stockholm waterfront right in front of you as you sip your favourite drink.

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Here you can see some of the “sidewalk” cafés along the Strandvägen Waterfront.

Go up to Fjällgatan for the view of the city

The area around Fjällgatan (means Fell or Mountain street) is a great place to visit. The low-slung row-houses lining the cobblestone streets were once housing for the working class back in the day.  They are now some of the most expensive apartments on Södermalm.   The view from Fjällgatan is so amazing all the tourist busses stop here on their site-seeing rounds. If you’re hungry or thirsty the famous (in Stockholm) Herman’s vegetarian restaurant is here.  Otherwise, there’s a small café, Fjällgatan’s Kaffestuga.

Have Drinks at the Himlen Skybar

This is a relatively new restaurant and bar in a “skyscraper”  that used to be where the tax authorities worked. The building is known to the locals as the Skatteskrapan (taxscraper).  The restaurant and bar are located on the two top floors  — the 25th and 26th respectively. Because the other buildings around it are much lower, the view is incredible. Have a look at the website for photos of the view.

Have a look at Stockholm with an “Under the Bridges of Stockholm” tour.

These are run by the Stromma Turism company. We took both of the couples who visited us (friends and family from Switzerland) on this tour and they all loved it.  Even though we’ve done several times, we love as well.  You’ll see a lot more of Stockholm by boat in an couple of hours than you will walking or riding your bike in a week.  And you’ll see places that you probably would never have visited otherwise.

Go swimming like the locals at the beach called Smedsuddsbadet in Rålambhovs Park.

This is the most well-loved beach in town, and on hot sunny days it gets really crowded.  It’s on the lake side of town so you’ll be swimming in fresh water — no need to rinse the salt off!

Take the ferry (or your own boat) to Fjäderholmarna (The Feather Islands)

This little group of islands hosts seven different cafés/restaurants, several different artisans (glass blowers, painters, potters, textile artists, etc.) a smoke house for smoking fish, and lots of choice picnic spots.  If you do sail over to the Fjäderholmarna, be warned that the marina is small and there aren’t many berths, so call ahead to reserve or see if there’s space (+46 8 716 39 10).

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We saw this beauty just off the Fjäderholmarna (Feather Islands)