Much of Stockholm’s allure lies in its beautiful situation on the water. Sightseeing trips by boat are a good introduction to waterside Stockholm, to its boats, and to its connections with the sea. Visiting Stockholm with our three-month old daughter, our tourism ambitions were more relaxed than they would have been a few months ago. We enjoyed a couple of leisurely boat cruises around the city, admiring the water and the boats and relaxing to the hum of the engine.
"Stockholm Sightseeing" boats leave from their embarkation point in front of the Grand Hotel. We tried both the "Royal Canals" tour (50 minutes duration, SEK 110 per person) and the ""Bridges of Stockholm" tour (1 hour 50 minutes, SEK 170). We took the first sailing each day (at 11am and at 11.30 am) and were able to buy tickets from the dockside ticket office just before sailing time. The October weather was sunny and warm on both days, and we chose to sit in the small open area at the back of the boat on each occasion.
Both tours offer headphone commentary in a variety of languages. This was interesting, and enlivened by occasional contributions from ABBA between sights. There are more seats than headphones, so they may not be readily available if the boat is full. Unlike most of our fellow-passengers, we preferred to sit outside – with fresh air and good views – rather than inside where it is warmer and the seats are softer.
The "Royal Canals" tour circumnavigates the leafy island of Djurgarden. We passed beautiful fall foliage, ducks, herons, and harbour cranes painted to resemble giraffes. We saw beautiful turn-of-the-century mansions and plenty of beautiful old boats. On more open water, we saw large cruise boats, and a "new" wooden Viking tour boat resting until next summer.
The "Bridges of Stockholm" tour is twice as long. Much of it is in sailing around the suburban island of Sodermalm. We saw the Stockholm City Hall – with its beautiful waterside location, and where the Nobel Prize banquets are held – and chugged under some very high bridges. We also saw a lot of woodsy apartment blocks and leafy jogging paths. It looks like a pleasant place to live.
The "Royal Canals" tour was our favourite of the two. The boat is smaller, and the views on the way are always interesting. This tour also leaves more often – hourly, from 11:30 and 3:30 every day in October – than the "Bridges" tour (every two hours from 11 am to 3 pm from Friday to Sunday in October). Also, it appeared to us that the earlier sailings were emptier than the later ones – with more headphones to share around, and more space to move around in.